Palindromes and Pangrams

Do you know what is a 'Palindrome'

It is a word or sentence that reads the same forward as it does backward.

Words - civic,radar,refer, tenet, malayalam

Sentences - 'Was it a car or a cat I saw?', 'Never odd or even'

A 'Pangram', on the other hand, is a sentence that contains ALL the letters of the alphabet.Interesting pangrams are generally short ones; constructing a sentence that includes the fewest repeat letters possible is a challenging task. However, pangrams that are slightly longer yet enlightening, humorous, or eccentric are noteworthy in their own right.

The best know Pangram is "The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog" and another one is "Six javelins thrown by the quick savages whizzed forty paces beyond the mark"

Irritating Phrases

Researchers at Oxford University has come up with the Top 10 Irritating Phrases in English after a scientific study (don't ask my why people waste time and money on such an endeavor).

The top ten most irritating phrases are ;

1 - At the end of the day
2 - Fairly unique
3 - I personally
4 - At this moment in time
5 - With all due respect
6 - Absolutely
7 - It's a nightmare
8 - Shouldn't of
9 - 24/7
10 - It's not rocket science

I know of at least a couple of them that are not that common in India, like 'Fairly unique', 'Shouldn't of' and maybe even 'It's a nightmare'.

But I can tell you couple of words that irritate me a lot,

'What man' - used by the Convent educated girls from Kashmir to Kanyakumari

'Only' - There is a tendency to add the word 'Only' at the end of every sentence. "I had lunch yesterday only na", " You could have called me. I was simply sitting only"

In malayalam, I just can't stand the word 'Adipoli'. This word has crept into the vocabulary of late, and I hear even highly educated people using it once every 10 sentences.

What man, you know

English is a funny language.

The antonym of 'Sufficient' is 'Insufficient'

So by the same logic 'Inflammable' should mean 'not flammable'!!! But.............

An English man got into a taxi cab in Mumbai. The driver reached a T-end in the road where he has to either take left or right. He asked the passenger,

"I presume I should be taking left"

"Right" said the passenger.

Now, what did he mean by that? Is it that the cab driver should turn right or whether what the driver said regarding taking left was right (correct).

Bernard Shaw, once asked to spell FISH, spelt it as 'GHOTI'

Queried he asked the questioner to pronounce the 'GH' in TOUGH, 'O' in WOMEN, and 'TI' in TUITION.

And then there are the Indian Convent educated girls, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, who use the words 'what man' and 'you know' dozen times in every sentence to convey a range of meanings. It has always been a source of amazement to me.

This is a quick post. Shall catch up with you all later

Simple rules for better English Writing

Fabulous advise from V S Naipaul on English writing. If you follow half of it, you will be a wonderful written communicator.

1. Do not write long sentences. A sentence should not have more than ten or twelve words.
2. Each sentence should make a clear statement. It should add to the statement that went before. A good paragraph is a series of clear, linked statements.
3. Do not use big words. If your computer tells you that your average word is more than five letters long, there is something wrong. The use of small words compels you to think about what you are writing. Even difficult ideas can be broken down into small words.
4. Never use words whose meaning you are not sure of. If you break this rule you should look for other work.
5. The beginner should avoid using adjectives, except those of colour, size and number. Use as few adverbs as possible.
6. Avoid the abstract. Always go for the concrete.
7. Every day, for six months at least, practice writing in this way. Small words; short, clear, concrete sentences. It may be awkward, but it's training you in the use of language. It may even be getting rid of the bad language habits you picked up at the university. You may go beyond these rules after you have thoroughly understood and mastered them.

I think this is fantastic advice, even if I myself don't follow all of it (I have a tendency to write long sentences). Point number 2, especially, should be internalized by all of us,