Manish Gupta's Blog

English Bites! Book Blog Jan 9, 2014 - Domino (or it is Domino's?) Effect

Manish Gupta

Learning New Words/Terms in English is Rather Simple...check this out!

I have pizza. I gain weight. I get depressed. Eat more pizza. Gain more weight. Get more depressed. This is called as:
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a Domino's Effect

Domino Effect: The cumulative effect that results when one event precipitates a series of like events - a chain reaction that occurs when a small change causes a similar change nearby, which then causes another similar change, and so on in linear sequence. The term is best known as a mechanical effect, and is used as an analogy to a falling row of dominoes. It typically refers to a linked sequence of events where the time between successive events is relatively small. It can be used literally (an observed series of actual collisions) or metaphorically (causal linkages within systems such as global finance or politics).

Interestingly, from the 1950s to the 1980s, it was promoted at times by the United States government and speculated that if one state in a region came under the influence of communism, then the surrounding countries would follow in a domino effect. The domino theory was used by successive United States administrations during the Cold War to justify the need for American intervention around the world.

Referring to communism in Indochina, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower put the theory into words during an April 7, 1954 news conference:

"Finally, you have broader considerations that might follow what you would call the "falling domino" principle. You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly. So you could have a beginning of a disintegration that would have the most profound influences."

Funny Oneliner Courtesy - Ajay Gahlaut
Sources: http://www.ask.com/wiki/Domino_theory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domino_e...

English Bites! Book Blog Jan 9, 2014 - Winston Churchill on 'Writing a Book'

Manish Gupta

“Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with it is a toy and an amusement. Then it becomes a mistress, then it becomes a master, then it becomes a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster and fling him to the public.”
- Winston Churchill

English Bites! Book Blog Jan 7, 2014 - Reason why 'MINISTER' rhymes with 'SINISTER'

Manish Gupta

There's a reason 'Minister' rhymes with 'Sinister'
- Ajay Gahlaut

and as someone quipped even 'Barrister'

Did you know that SINISTER is the Opposite of DEXTER??!!@@!

Sinister (from Latin sinister—‘on the left-hand side’) evolved into its current meaning (evil or treacherous, especially in a mysterious way; threatening; ominous: a sinister glance; a sinister remark) as anything on the left-hand side was considered by Roman augurs to be unlucky, unfavourable, even injurious.

It is interesting to note that since a majority of people are right-handed (approximately 90 per cent to 93 per cent), we have, over many generations, come to believe that there is something not right in being left-handed. So much so that a left-handed person is often thought to be less skilled and, by some generous extension, even lacking social polish and tact. This is the basis of the word GAUCHE, which means clumsy, awkward, tactless, and lacking social polish. No points for guessing that gauche comes from French for ‘left’.

The opposite of sinister is Dexter (Latin dexter—‘on the right side’, also ‘favourable’) which developed a connotation of skill and gave birth to words like dexterous or dexterity, which mean skill or adroitness in using hands, body, and even mind (it was a stunning display of vocal dexterity, with music ranging from deeply sacred to very profane).

However, can we forget people who are equally skilled in the use of both hands? They are called ambidextrous (ambi—‘both’) implying thereby that they use both their hands skilfully, as if both were their right hands!

Hope Sinister, Dextrous, Dexterity, Ambidextrous, and Gauche shall now stay embedded in your Hippocampus, the seat of memory in your brain. Don't bother if Hippocampus is a sinister or a dexter... Humans (like other mammals) have two hippocampi, one in each side of the brain.

English Bites! Book Blog Jan 7, 2014 - 'COAL'GATE

Why did the sales of toothpaste brands Pepsodent and Close-up precipitously drop during a particular SCAM involving fossil fuels?
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'cause during that time, everyone was taking about "COAL"GATE

Let me also talk about an interesting misconception about the word SCAM

Most people mistakenly believe that scam, the word for a scandal that involves money, is also a PORTMANTEAU word (combination of scandal and money). However compelling it may seem, it’s not correct. Scam is a word of obscure origin.

Portmanteau is a large travelling case, which opens out into two equal compartments. It originated from French porter—“to carry” and manteau—“a cloak”; it was a travelling case meant to carry a cloak. Amusingly, it also refers to words formed as a result of the union of two different words.

Some of the popular portmanteau words are:

1. Motel: formed in 1920s by combining motor and hotel
2. Smog is a phenomenon seen in pollution-ridden cities during cooler evenings, when fog entraps smoke near the surface, and is literally a combination of smoke plus fog
3. Travelogue comes from a combination of travel and monologue
4. Avionics from aviation and electronics
5. Pulsar is a pulsating star, and
6. Brunch comes from breakfast plus lunch

Did I miss any other popular portmanteau word? What say?English Bites! My 'Fullproof' English Learning Formula Manish Gupta

English Bites! Book Blog Jan 7, 2014 - SYNCHRONICITY

Life magazine once reported that all 15 people scheduled to attend a rehearsal of a church choir in Beatrice, Nebraska were late for practice on March 1, 1950, and each had a different reason: a car wouldn’t start, a radio program wasn’t over, ironing wasn’t finished, a conversation dragged on. It was fortunate that none arrived on schedule at 7:15 p.m., for an explosion at 7:25 p.m. destroyed the church. It was estimated that there is a one in a million chance that all 15 would be late the same evening.

A pioneer in the field of coincidences, Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung coined the word SYNCHRONICITY to explain such weird coincidences. Synchronicity is the state or fact of being synchronous or simultaneous. This word also defines the occurrence of seemingly unrelated events in some unexpected association with each other.English Bites! My 'Fullproof' English Learning FormulaManish Gupta

Last Few Days for the Giveaway

Dear All,

Last 2 days to get a free copy of English Bites! My 'Fullproof' English Learning Formula

Enter the giveaway here:
http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho...

Cheers,
Manish

Interesting Etymology:

English Bites! My 'Fullproof' English Learning Formula

ABOVEBOARD means open, fair or honest (The little puppy finally admitted that the reason she was so sad was because her brutally aboveboard boyfriend dumped her by saying, "You are not longer as cute and spunky as you were when I met you first."

Did you know that this word has an interesting etymology and comes from the games of cards? Let's see how:

"Cards or tiles have been used in divination for many centuries, but their use for recreation and as an indoor game was developed sometime in the thirteenth century. What is not as certain, however, is the length of time it took after cards became gambling material, for the first gambler to engage in trickery, such as changing cards, below the table.

By the late sixteenth century, card-sharping was so prevalent that French sailors began to insist that all cards be held above the level of the table to allow for easier detection of cheating during a game.

From this practice of keeping the cards ‘above the board,’ the word aboveboard came into being!"

English Bites- A Sneak Preview

English Bites! My 'Fullproof' English Learning Formula

Reading books on vocabulary is an exercise in patience, and even if the authors believe they are interesting reads, it can take a lifetime to finish them. A woman on a bus overheard a conversation between two men seated right behind her. One of them confided that he was going to retire soon. His companion wondered whether he was looking forward to that. ‘Indeed yes!’ said the first man enthusiastically. ‘At least I’ll be able to finish my book.’ ‘Your book!’ the second man said in amazement. ‘I didn't know you were writing a book!’ The first man replied, ‘Who’s writing a book? I’m reading one!’ Here’s wishing you much better luck than that man.


PS: The woman on the bus didn't overhear the conversation with malicious intent but if someone does so, he or she is an ‘eavesdropper’. If you wonder what a strange word it is to denote this weird habit, the story goes that, centuries ago, houses in England didn't have any facility to dispose of rainwater falling from the roof. For fear of water dripping into the very foundations, the roofs were made with wide overhangs, called ‘eaves’. So, the first ‘eavesdroppers’ literally stood in the shelter of these overhangs to overhear private conversations!