[Word Powers] Friday Fiesta - September 2009

This section covers the origin of certain words.

bug (bug)

Meaning:

A defect, difficulty or imperfection as in a system or design

The term was coined in the lab of Thomas Edison, perhaps by the man himself. Edison is the first to be recorded using the term in 1878. From Matthew Josephson’s 1959 Edison: a Biography which quotes the man himself: “'Bugs'—as such little faults and difficulties are called—show themselves and months of anxious watching, study and labor are requisite before commercial success...is reached.'" [There is, however, a very popular etymology (or perhaps it is entomology in this case) that credits Grace Hopper, naval officer and computer pioneer, with coining the term bug for a computer defect when she discovered an insect in a malfunctioning computer. It’s a fun story, and it’s even true, except in that it is not the origin of the term. Hopper (or perhaps one of her colleagues) did discover an insect in a computer, but as we have seen bug meaning defect dates from the nineteenth century.]

http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/more/204/

[Word Powers] Thursday Trivia - September 2009

This section covers few Indian colloquial words which made it into the English Dictionary.

Dinghy: From the Bengali word ‘dingi’; a kind of boat used in the East Indies.

Thug: From the Hindi word ‘thag’; a cruel or vicious ruffian, robber, or murderer.

Mango: From the Tamil word ‘mānkāy ’, a tropical Asian evergreen tree.

[Word Powers] Tuesday Tutor - September 2009

This section covers basic Kannada words as part of Tuesday tutor section.

mane (ma-ne) (noun): house Nimma mane ellide your house Where is?
kaChEri (ka-che-ri) (noun): office Nimma kaChEri ellide? your office where is?
Odu (o-dhu) (verb): Read ee pustaka Odu This book Read
nODu (no-du) (verb): see illi nODu Here see
ivattu (i-va-thu) (noun/adverb): today ivattu sangeetha kaaryakrama ide Today music programme is there
naaLe (naa-Le) (noun/adverb): tomorrow naaLe nimma manege bartheeni Tomorrow your to house I will come
idu (e-du) (noun/adverb): This / It idu pustaka This (is) book
adu(a-du) (noun/adverb): That adu nanna mane That my (is) house

[Word Powers] Daily Words - September 2009

Rancid (RAN-sid) (adj): 1. Having a stale, unpleasant smell or taste, as through decomposition, esp. of fats or oils: rancid butter. 2. Offensive or nasty; disagreeable. The preservatives keep it from going rancid, thus allowing a storage life of up to five years.
Doggerel (DAW-ger-uhl) (adj): 1. Trivial, awkward, often comic verse characterized by a monotonous rhythm 2. Any trivial or bad poetry They told me that I was singing some insane doggerel about "The Last Man Left Alive!"
Inclement (in-klem-uh-nt) (Adj): Severe, rough, or harsh; stormy. Two IAF choppers had set out to search for the Andhra Pradesh CM but had to return halfway because of the inclement weather.
Aficionado (uh-fish-yuh-nah-doh) (noun): An enthusiastic admirer or follower; a fan. As a cricket aficionado, it bothers me that Test cricket may need to become a circus clown if only to survive and that Twenty20 is now the puppeteer that is running the show.

Memorabilia (mem-er-uh-bil-ee-uh) (noun): 1. Mementos; souvenirs 2. Matters or events worthy to be remembered; points worthy of note MindTree is giving away men’s designer shirts and ladies watches as memorabilia on the occasion of their 10th anniversary.
	Paraphernalia (par-uh-fer-neyl-yuh) (noun): 1. Equipment, apparatus, or furnishing used in or necessary for a particular activity. 2. Personal belongings. Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow in the movie, “The Pirates of the Carribbean” sports the paraphernalia of a pirate.
Abecedarian (ey-bee-see-dair-ee-uhn): 1. (Noun) A person who is learning the letters of the alphabet; a beginner. 2. (Adj) Pertaining to the letters of the alphabet; Rudimentary; elementary. The approach may seem abecedarian today, but his was among the first endeavors of the sort.
Arcane (ahr-keyn) (Adj): Known or understood by very few; mysterious; secret; obscure. The cosmological talk of multiple universes, 11 dimensional space time, strings, branes and other arcane concepts is often hard to swallow.

Kitsch (kich) (noun): 1. Art, decorative objects or design considered by many people to be ugly, lacking in style, or false but enjoyed by other people, often because they are funny 2. Something of tawdry design, appearance, or content created to appeal to popular or undiscriminating taste. His home's full of 1950's kitsch.
Fatuous (FACH-oo-uhs) (adj): 1. Foolish or inane, esp. in an unconscious, complacent manner; silly. Not carefully thought about 2. unreal; illusory. He puts his life on risk when he executes his fatuous ideas.
Lurch (lurch): 1. (verb) To move in a way that is not regular or normal, especially making sudden movements backwards or forwards or from side to side The train lurched forward and some of the people standing fell over. 2. (noun) A sudden movement or change that is not smooth or normal Passengers in lurch as the pilots refuse to fly.
Odoriferous (oh-duh-RIF-er-uhs) (adj): Giving off an odor. The odoriferous food ruined my appetite.

Jab (jab) (verb): to punch, esp. with a short, quick blow. Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh lost his cool on Wednesday, jabbing at a cameraman at Bangalore International Airport before leaving with the team for the tri-series in Sri Lanka.
Melange (mey-lahnzh) (noun): a mixture; medley. These romances, carrying further the tendency which appears in Sidney's 'Arcadia,' are among the most extravagant of all products of the romantic imagination--strange melanges of ancient history, medieval chivalry, seventeenth century artificial manners, and allegory of current events.
Sacrosanct (sak-roh-sangkt) (Adj) : 3. Extremely sacred or inviolable. 4. Not to be entered or trespassed upon.. Sacrosanctity was a right of tribunes in Ancient Rome to not be harmed physically
Sanguine (sang-gwin) (noun): 1. Cheerfully optimistic, hopeful, or confident 2. Reddish; ruddy His sanguine temperament was disclosed in the deep color of his cheeks.

Errand (ER-uhnd) (noun): 1 A short trip taken to perform a specified task, usually for another. I'll meet you at six, I've got some errands to run first. 2 The purpose or object of such a trip Your errand was to mail the letter.
Apprise (uh-PRAHYZ) (verb): to give notice to; inform; advise (often followed by of) To be apprised of the death of an old friend.
Maunder (MAWN-der) (verb): 1. To talk in a rambling, foolish, or meaningless way. What are you maundering on about, George? 2. To move, go, or act in an aimless, confused manner He maundered through life without a single ambition.
Exhort (ig-ZAWRT) (verb): To strongly encourage or try to persuade someone to do something Police exhorted the crowd to remain calm.

		Doyen (doi-uhn) (noun): The senior member of a group, profession, or society. The late doyen of Carnatic music D K Pattamal was an unparalleled exponent of raag Bhairavi.
		Eugenics (yoo-jen-iks) (noun): The study of hereditary improvement of the human race by controlled selective breeding. He has consistently opposed human cloning, eugenics, coercive population polices, abortion, destructive experiments on human embryos and euthanasia.
Sauté (soh-tey) (verb): to cook in a small amount of fat; pan-fry. You sauté boiled potatoes in ghee with enough cumin, salt and chilli powder to make lip smacking potato curry.
	Scald (skawld) (verb): 1. to subject to the action of boiling or hot liquid. 2. to heat to a temperature just short of the boiling point Scald the tomatoes in boiling water for about 10-30 seconds to remove the peel.
		Empyrean (em-puh-ree-uhn) (noun): 1. The highest heaven, in ancient belief usually thought to be a realm of pure fire or light. 2. Heaven; paradise Empyrean Heaven, is the place in the highest heaven, which in ancient cosmologies was supposed to be occupied by the element of fire.
		Entreat (en-treet) (verb): 1. To ask (a person) earnestly; beseech; implore; beg: to entreat the judge for mercy. 2. To ask earnestly for (something). They entreat her to impart her wisdom. But she is silent.
		Impetuous (im-pech-oo-uhs) (Adj): Characterized by sudden and forceful energy or emotion; impulsive and passionate. He was an impetuous man, quick in his decisions.
		Tamp (tamp) (verb): To force or pack (something) down by tapping it several times. Tamping the tobacco, he fired up a lighter to the pipe.
		Perception (per-SEP-shuhn) (noun): 1. The quality of being aware of things through the physical senses, especially sight Drugs can alter your perception of reality. 2. Someone's ability to notice and understand things that are not obvious to other people She has extraordinary powers of perception for one so young.
		Perspective (per-SPEK-tiv) (noun): 1. A way of thinking about something, especially one which is influenced by the type of person you are or by your experiences; one's viewpoint Because of its geographical position, Germany's perspective on the situation in Eastern Europe is rather different from Britain's. 2. To think about a situation or problem in a wise and reasonable way You must keep things in perspective - the overall situation isn't really that bad.
		Mesmerize (mez-muh-rahyz) (verb): To spellbind; fascinate. Listening to the magical, mesmerizing voice of MS Subbulakshmi is nothing short of a mystical experience.
		Delectable (di-lek-tuh-buhl) (Adj): Delicious. Pav Bhaji is a delectable dish from the state of Maharashtra ; however it is consumed across India and other countries with equal interest .
		Dé-marche (dey-marsh) (noun): 1. A statement or protest addressed by citizens to public authorities; 2. A course of action or maneuver The dastardly attack on the parliament house and the venomous challenge from the terrorists has compelled New Delhi to deliver a demarche to Pakistan about those who are suspected to have masterminded the evil plot.
		Doppelganger (dop-uhl-gang-er) (noun): A ghostly double or counterpart of a living person, esp. one that haunts its fleshly counterpart. Certain passages in Percy Bysshe Shelley's drama 'Prometheus Unbound' are said to have been inspired by frequent encounters with his own doppelganger.
		Pejorative (pi-jawr-uh-tiv) (Adj): Having a disparaging, derogatory or belittling effect or force. He constantly described his wife in pejorative terms such as blubbery, stupid, and lazy.
		Saccade (sa-kahd) (noun): A rapid intermittent eyes movement, as that which occurs when the eyes fix on one point after another in the visual field. He added the bill with a single saccade of his pulsing eyes.