“My friends and I had fun at the reunion. We spent a lot of our time visiting our old stamping grounds, and...”
“Stamping grounds? What are you talking about?”
“In this case, it means the places we used to frequently visit as students. The tea shop next to the railway station was our favourite stamping ground.”
“So a stamping ground is also a place that one enjoys visiting.”
“Exactly! Eden Gardens was Azhar’s stamping ground.”
“The mall has become the stamping ground of most college students these days.”
“Sad, but true. The expression ‘stamping ground’ is British. Americans prefer ‘stomping ground’. The tennis courts near the lake are no longer my stomping ground.”
“Hey, these sweets look good. Mind if I take one? Please refrain telling me that I...”
“The word refrain is usually....”
“I know what ‘refrain’ means. It means to avoid doing something and...”
“It can also be used to mean to stop oneself from doing something. What I’m trying to tell you is that refrain is usually followed by ‘from’. If you wish to lose weight, you must refrain from eating sweets after every meal.”
“The Registrar should refrain from taking any action against the students. Now tell me, why do you think I should refrain from eating these delicious looking sweets?”
‘I think they smell a bit iffy.”
“The sweet smells a bit iffy? What do you mean by that?”
“When you use ‘iffy’ in relation to food, you’re suggesting that there is something peculiar or odd about it. You’re hinting that the food has probably gone bad.”
“I see. So can I say, the milk looks iffy?”
“You certainly can. The word can also be used to mean uncertain or doubtful.”
“How about this example, then? My trip to Chennai next week looks iffy.”
“That’s a good example. If the weather continues to be iffy, we might have put off our picnic to next weekend.”
“It’s been raining off and on, hasn’t it? My father’s flight has been delayed. The chances of his being present at my convocation are iffy.”
“Convocation? You still have two more years before you graduate!”
“I know! That was just an example. Have you heard that Dilip and Tara have called off their engagement?”
“Dilip told me about it in November. Apparently, their relationship started going south a couple of months ago.”
“Started going south? Does it mean it went bad or...”
“The expression ‘go south’ is mostly used in informal contexts to mean to deteriorate or decline. According to some experts, Djokovic’s game has been heading south since the French Open.”
“My father and his friends are always saying that our country’s economy is going south.”
“Soon after the budget, the share prices of certain products began to go south.”
“I’m not really worried about the stock market going south or north right now. The only thing I’m interested in is to find out how iffy these sweets are!”
* * *
The probability of meeting someone you know increases a hundredfold when you’re with someone you’re not supposed to be seen with. — Anonymous
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