“Is something wrong? You don’t look too well. Did you have a fight with Sujatha?”
“No, I was late for my chemistry class, and the teacher gave me a good banging.”
“Did you know that the expression ‘to give someone a good banging’ meaning ‘to scold someone severely’ is an Indianism?”
“Really? What’s the expression that native speakers use?”
“They have many. One of them is tongue-lashing! The coach gave a tongue-lashing to all the players.”
“Makes it seem that the coach whipped the players with his tongue! Anyway, I got a tongue-lashing from the chemistry teacher today — in front of the whole class.”
“Must have been quite embarrassing. What did you...”
Nodding acquaintance
“Listen, I have a test in chemistry tomorrow. Do you think you’ll be able to help me?”
“Don’t really think so. I have only a nodding acquaintance with the subject.”
“Nodding acquaintance? Does it mean you don’t know anything about chemistry?”
“That’s not what I mean. When you say you have a nodding acquaintance with chemistry, what it suggests is that you know only a little bit about chemistry. Not much.”
“I see. How about this example? I have a nodding acquaintance with Hindi and Bengali.”
“Sounds good. Suchi was able to help us because she had a nodding acquaintance with the new software. The expression can be used with people as well. When you refer to someone as a ‘nodding acquaintance’, you’re suggesting that...”
“That you don’t know the individual very well. You don’t really talk to him that much.”
“Exactly! You merely smile or nod when you see this person. I have a nodding acquaintance with most people who live in this building.”
“I really don’t know my new neighbour. We only have a nodding acquaintance.”
“You being part of Generation Mute, it’s not really surprising.”
“Generation Mute? What are you talking about?”
“A lot of young people today don’t really like to talk. They don’t talk to people when they are face to face with them or on the phone. But they don’t mind carrying on a lengthy conversation with others by texting or emailing them.”
“Since they prefer to write and not talk, they are a part of ‘Generation Mute’. They’re mute.”
“Exactly! Quite a few people I know are part of Generation Mute.”
“That’s true. Deepak says that he doesn’t have time to make friends. He is so busy...”
“Deepak? Are you talking about your cousin? That proud chap who is always...”
“He’s changed — he’s no longer proud. A few months ago, my cousins and I got together and cut him to size.”
“That’s good to know. By the way, it’s not ‘cut someone to size’ but ‘cut someone down to size.”
“I see. And before you ask, I know what the expressions means. When you ‘cut someone down to size,’ what you’re doing is ‘making them aware that they’re not as important as they think they are. You kind of deflate their ego.”
“Exactly! And you usually achieve this by criticising or making fun of them. After he became the President of the club, Chinthan became insufferable. His friends had to cut him down to size.”
“Whenever my friend Jeevan starts bragging about his good looks, his sister cuts him down to size.”
“If only we could cut some of our politicians down to size.”
* * * * *
Every aspect of the world today — even politics and international relations is affected by chemistry. Linus Pauling
The author teaches at the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad. upendrankye@gmail.com
