"HI I see that the house next door has now become an office. It has a nice name too. Silent World."
"Silent World, indeed. It's a misnomer."
"A what?"
"M..i..s..n..o..m..e..r. The first syllable sounds like the word "miss", while the second sounds like the word 'no'.""The final 'e' is like the 'a' in 'china', I suppose? But what does the word mean?"
"It means that something has been given the wrong name or designation."
"A wrong word has been used to describe something. Is that what you are saying?"
"I guess you could say that. For example, Silent World is a misnomer for the office next door. It should be called 'Noisy World'. It is anything silent."
"Calling Agarkar an 'all rounder' is a misnomer."
"That's a pretty good example. But the stress in 'misnomer' is on the second syllable. Here's another example. 'First class restaurant' is a misnomer for the run down place we have down the street. And do you know..."
"...what's the matter with you today? Why do you look so grumpy?"
"Haven't you told me a million times that I always look grumpy?"
"Not this grumpy. Something go wrong with the presentation you made yesterday?"
"You're smarter than you look. But yes, the presentation went down like a lead balloon."
"Went down like a lead balloon, eh? Is that another way of saying that your presentation flopped?"
"That's right. When you say that something went down like a lead balloon, it means that it was a total disaster. It failed to be funny."
"You tried to make a funny presentation? That was a big mistake. You have no sense of humour. Everyone knows that. Your jokes always go down like a lead balloon."
"They do not. Nobody has ever told me that my...."
".... remember the play you wrote a couple of years ago. You thought it was really funny. But nobody else did. It went down like a lead balloon."
"Well if you keep insulting me like that, you will go down like a ton of bricks."
"Sorry. I didn't mean to insult you. But you ...."
"...Oh never mind. I guess it's about time I forgot all about the presentation."
"Your presentations are usually good. At least that's what you claim. What went wrong this time?"
"I just didn't have time to prepare. I'd spread myself too thin, and...."
".... spread yourself too thin? You certainly don't look it. If you ask me, you have put on weight."
"Spreading oneself too thin has nothing to do with putting on or losing weight. When you say that you have spread yourself too thin, what you are implying is that you are doing too many things at the same time."
"I see. And if you are doing too many things at the same time, then it isn't possible for you to focus on anything in particular."
"Exactly!"
"Many of the students in my class have spread themselves too thin."
"Bala is teaching five courses this semester. I am afraid that he has spread himself too thin."
"I make it a point never to spread myself too thin."
"You are a completely different case. You make it a point to work as little as possible. Now then,...."
"...o.k. Grumpy, did you ask the people what they thought of your presentation?"
"I did try to sound out a couple of people, but they weren't very...."
".... `sound out people'. That's an interesting expression."
"When you sound someone out, you...."
"....I think I can guess the meaning. When you sound someone out, you probably try and find out what he/she thinks about something."
"Excellent. That's exactly what it means."
"Suresh was keen on knowing what Suparna thought of his new movie. He wanted me to sound her out."
"That's a good example. My boss is planning to bring about big changes in our company. He wants me to sound everyone out."
"...this presentation that you were making was for some private company, right?"
"That's right."
"Are you going to get paid for it?"
"Get paid for it? You must be joking. The poor owner is running it on a shoestring budget."
"A shoestring budget? What does that mean?"
"When you run something on a shoestring it means that you running it at a very low cost. You are running it on a small or inadequate budget."
"I see. And does this...."
"....let me give you another example. The ...."
"....let me try. My cousin started a restaurant on a shoestring budget."
"My uncle's company was able to produce high quality material on a shoestring budget."
"That's great! What's the company called?"
"Shoestring!"

Source: The Hindu

Well if you are wondering what is this then, you need to read this..

"HOW WAS your trip to Madras? Was your sister happy to see you?''

"I don't know if she was happy to see me or not. But she was definitely happy to note that my water bottle was full."

"Your water bottle! What was so great about...''

"...there's an acute water shortage in Chennai. Things are really bad. If you were to walk into a stranger's house with a couple of bottles of water, he would welcome you with open arms!"

"It's that bad, eh? It's nice to know that your sister was happy to see your water bottle at least. Did you inform that you were planning to take up a job in Bombay?""No, I didn't. Besides, I haven't really decided whether..."

"...you should have informed that you were...."

"....informed her."

"What?"

"You should have informed her. You cannot say 'You should inform' or 'She informed'. You don't merely 'inform', you 'inform someone' of something. You have to let the listener know who that someone is. Here is an example. I informed Bala that there would be a meeting tomorrow."

"Would it be wrong to say 'I informed that there would be a meeting tomorrow'?"

"Yes, it would."

"I see. Then how about this example? The Principal informed some of the students that there would be no school tomorrow."

"Wishful thinking on your part. But the example is fine. The Manager informed Madhuri that he was taking the rest of the day off."

"The teacher informed me that I had done fairly well in the test. How does that sound?"

"Sounds great! I must say that you cotton on fast."

"I `cotton on' fast. What's that supposed to mean?"

"Why don't you try and guess the meaning?"

"Well, let me see. I gave you an example and then you said that it was right. And then....Does cotton on mean that I understand things quickly?"

"Well done. When you `cotton on' to something, you begin to understand it or realise it."

"Is it an expression that is used often?"

"It is an expression used by native speakers of English in informal contexts."

"I see. How about this example then? At long last Harish cottoned on to the fact that Chitra wasn't interested in him at all."

"That's a pretty good example. Most of the students cottoned on to what the teacher was trying to say."

"That never happens in my case. Especially when it comes to Physics. Whenever my Physics teacher says something, it takes me at least half an hour to cotton on to what it is she is saying."

"That's because you don't cotton to physics like some of your other classmates."

"Cotton to? You mean cotton on to, don't you?"

"No, I mean `cotton to'. Here is an example. Jaya doesn't cotton to Karunanidhi."

"That example makes everything clear. Everyone knows that the two can't stand each other. So does `cotton to' mean to like someone."

"Very good. When you `cotton to' someone or something, you like the person or thing. Here's another example."

"Wait, wait! Let me come up with one. At the meeting the Manager came up with an excellent idea. Unfortunately, the Chairman didn't cotton to the idea."

"The heroine of the film didn't cotton to all the attention that the new hero was getting."

"It's not at all surprising that Namratha and Krishna didn't cotton to each other."

"That's a pretty good example. Now then, how about..."

"....by the way, how is your friend Namratha doing? Last I heard she was trying to find a job. Has she found one?"

"Didn't I tell you about Namratha? She won the lottery about six months ago. And since then she has been in tall cotton."

"Not cotton again."

"You don't cotton to expressions with the word cotton, do you? Anyway, any idea what 'in tall cotton' means?"

"Not a clue."

"When you say that someone is in `tall cotton' it means that he or she has life made. The person is fairly successful and has absolutely no problems with money."

"I wish I were living in tall cotton."

"Who doesn't? The two Ministers were in tall cotton till the CBI figured out what it was that they were doing."

"Can I say the two Ministers were in tall cotton till the CBI cottoned on to what they were doing?"

"You certainly can."

"How about this example? Twenty years from now I hope to be in tall cotton."

"Sounds good to me. By the way, the expression 'in tall cotton' is considered to be slang. So it should be used only in informal contexts."

"I'll try and remember that!"

"Hey, where are you off to?"

"Nagu's brother is leaving for Chennai tomorrow. Apparently he and his mother in law just don't get along."

"So how are you going to solve their problem?"

"Simple. I am going to ask him to carry about ten bottles of water."

"You have just given me an idea. I think you and I can become rich by selling water to our relatives in Chennai!"

"We'll be in tall cotton then."

Source: The Hindu.

WHAT IS the meaning of ``sting operation''?
A sting operation is a well-planned scheme used by law enforcement agencies to entrap a criminal. It usually involves a lot of undercover work. Often the term is reduced to ``sting''. Here are a few examples.
It was a well-planned sting operation.
The sting, as expected, went off without a hitch.
The sting required a lot of manpower.
The word ``sting'' has another meaning as well. It is often used in informal contexts to mean ``to cheat or overcharge someone''. (Remember the Robert Redford and Paul Newman movie called ``The Sting''?) Here are a few examples.
The fruit vendor tried to sting me.
The supermarket next to my house makes it a point to sting its customers.
The mechanic tried to sting me, but I put him in his place.

What is the meaning and origin of the expression ``to hit the sack''?
This is an informal expression meaning to `go to bed'.
Here are a few examples.
Ranjani hit the sack early last night.
It's been a long day. I am ready to hit the sack.
Although it was well past their bedtime, the children weren't ready to hit the sack.
The expression became popular during World War II when American soldiers began referring to the sleeping bag/blanket that they were carrying as ``sack''. Later, the word ``sack'' began to be used for anything that one could sleep on - a bed, a table, a bench, etc. The earlier expression that was commonly used was ``to hit the hay''.

Does the word ``history sheeter'' exist?
The words `history sheeter' and `rowdy sheeter' are often used in India to refer to a person who has a long criminal record - someone who has been arrested several times. The word however does not find a place in dictionaries. There is a word however - `rap sheet'. A `rap sheet' is a term used by native speakers of English, to refer to someone's criminal record. In this case, the reference is to the sheet itself and not the individual.
Some of our politicians have a rap sheet that is a mile long.
Her rap sheet is pretty impressive. She'll be our next Chief Minister!
The lawyers asked if there was a rap sheet on their client.

What is the meaning of ``We fear the president may be buying a lemon here''.
Have you ever bought a second hand car? Sometimes the person selling the car tricks us into buying something absolutely worthless. When you have been tricked into buying something worthless you have been sold a lemon. When you say that something is a lemon it implies that it is useless because it fails to work properly. So in the sentence that you have given, you are afraid that the president is buying something that is absolutely useless. (Isn't that what most presidents do?). Here are a few more examples.
Promod has a car which is real lemon.
I wouldn't borrow Madhavan's VCR. It's a lemon.
Rajeev bought a radio last month. It's turned out to be a real lemon.
By the way, ``worthless'' is the meaning of the word `lemon' in American English. In British English, it's people who are referred to as a lemon. The word is used in informal contexts to mean a silly person.
I felt such a lemon when I tripped over the carpet.
Many of the students think that the Dean is a bit of a lemon.
Usha has no intentions of meeting that lemon Ganpat.

Source: The Hindu

``WEREN'T YOU supposed to come over and have dinner with me yesterday?''

``That's right. But there was a problem. You see...''

``....what was the problem?''

``My cousin rang me up around 6:00 and asked me to come over. You see his landlord's son is returning from the U.S. So the landlord wants my cousin to vacate the flat by the end of the month. My cousin and I were out all evening trying to find a suitable accommodation.''

``Did you find one?''

``No. It's so hard to find an accommodation these days.''

``You cannot say `an accommodation'. In British English the word `accommodation' is an uncountable noun. So you shouldn't use `an' before it.''

``Really? I didn't know that! How about this sentence? There is a shortage of cheap accommodation in our city.''

``Sounds pretty good. Some of the delegates wanted to know if we could take care of their accommodation.''

``The university refused to provide the teachers free accommodation.''

``Why should the university provide free accommodation?''

``Good question. Many teachers....''

``...by the way, this cousin of yours. What does he do?''

``He's an academician.''

``He's an academician? Which academy does he belong to?''

``Academy? What are you talking about?''

``Well you said that he was an academician. Which academy does he...''

``...he doesn't belong to any academy. What I meant to say was that he is a teacher. He teaches at the university.''

``A teacher, eh? In that case, the word you are looking for is `academic'.''

``What is the difference between an 'academic' and `academician'?''

``Well, strictly speaking, an `academic' is a person who teaches or does research at the university.''

``I see. How about this example? When I grow up I certainly don't want to be an academic.''

``The example is OK. But the word `academic' has the stress on the third syllable `de'.''

``But a lot of people I know....''

``...tend to put the stress on the second syllable. But the stress is on the third. The `a' in the first syllable is like the `a' in `cat', `bat', and `sat', while the `a' in the second syllable is pronounced like the `a' in `China'. And ....''

``....I think I can guess the rest. The `e' probably sounds like the `e' in `set', `pet', and `get'. The final `i' must be like the `i' in 'sit', `bit', and `hit'.''

``Exactly! Radhakrishnan was an academic before he became the President of India.''

``Everyone knows that. That's why we celebrate Teacher's Day.''

``Exactly!''

``My cousin is the only person in the family who wanted to be an academic. Now tell me, what is the meaning of the word `academician'?''

``First of all, the word has the stress on the fourth syllable `mi'. Usually when you refer to someone as being an `academician', it implies that he/she is a member of an academy or a society....''

``...any type of academy?''

``An academician is usually a member of an academy that is concerned with the arts or sciences. The Royal Academy of Arts, for instance, or the Russian Academy of Sciences.''

``I think I understand the difference now. A professor is an academic. And when that professor becomes a member of an academy which is devoted to either the sciences or the arts, then he becomes an `academician'. Am I right?''

``Absolutely! There is a tendency these days, however, to use the words `academician' and `academic' synonymously. Some people object to it. Most dictionaries have only one definition for the word `academician' - member of a society or academy.''

``I think I understand the difference now.''

``This cousin of yours. What does he teach?''

``Computer Science. And you know something, he is quite a popular teacher.''

``Did he show you the new computer lab?''

``He took me to the lab last week. He has a free access to it, you know.''

``Free access and not `a free access'.''

``What?''

``He has free access to the lab. You cannot say `a free access'.''

``I see. I would like to have access to the building next door. Say after 10:00 in the night!''

``That's a bank! No one is going to grant you access to it at 10:00 in the evening!''

``That's true!''

``But they may be willing to provide free accommodation! Your cousin....''

``....the academic in my family doesn't need accommodation. Today he received a letter from the university saying that he has been allotted one of their quarters.''
``All's well that ends well!''

Source: 'The Hindu'