“Your friend Akash tells me that the man who came to your school yesterday spoke really well. He had some interesting things to say about...”
“Akash may have liked it. But most of us didn’t. The man used too many jargons.”
“Jargon. The word ‘jargon’ is mostly used...”
“I know what ‘jargon’ means. It refers to the special terms or expressions used in a profession or field. For example, LBW, forward short leg, leg slip, and so on, are jargons used in cricket.”
“That’s right! But what I wanted to say was ‘jargon’ is an uncountable noun. The plural is ‘jargon’ and not ‘jargons’. I don’t understand the jargon of law.”
“I don’t think anyone does. The speaker used too much jargon yesterday. How was the annual party, by the way? Did you have a good time?”
Eventful
“Most of us were having a good time till the Marketing Manager had a major meltdown.”
“A major meltdown? Does it mean he became rather emotional and started crying?”
“It could. The expression ‘meltdown’ is mostly used in informal contexts. When an individual has a ‘meltdown’, he becomes very upset about something.”
“Usually when people get upset, they shout at others.”
“That’s right! A meltdown suggests an emotional outburst of some kind. You could either shout at somebody or break down because...”
“In other words, the person is no longer in control of his emotions. He loses his self-control. Serena had a major meltdown during the recent US Open final.”
“She did, didn’t she? Here’s another example. Taking care of triplets can’t be easy. I’m sure Revathi has a meltdown every now and then.”
“Why don’t you ask her husband? When I was young, my father used to have a major meltdown whenever he saw my report card. Was it the same case with your father?”
“In my case, it was my mother who used to have the meltdown. My father, on the other hand, didn’t really care. He was pretty laid-back.”
Composed
“Laid-back? Does it mean a lazy person? Someone who doesn’t really care about anything?”
“That’s not what it means. A laid-back person is someone who doesn’t get upset about things very easily. He seems very calm and relaxed all the time.”
“In other words, someone who doesn’t let the pressure get to him. Nothing really worries him. My physics teacher has a laid-back approach to everything.”
“I enjoy being in the company of people who are laid-back. When you’re in their company, you begin to relax. The term can be used with things as well. For example, compared to Mumbai, Hyderabad is a very laid-back city.”
“Compared to Mumbai, any city in India would seem laid-back. Raju says that the company that he’s working for now is pretty laid-back. They don’t have a dress code or anything. The only thing they care about is meeting deadlines.”
“Isn’t your uncle coming to your place today?”
“That’s right. He said that he’d be arriving in our place around six in the evening.”
“Arriving ‘at’, not ‘in’. You normally use ‘arrive in’ when you have a city or country in mind. For example, the children arrived in Hyderabad last week.”
“The President will be arriving in Singapore this afternoon.”
“Otherwise, it’s usually ‘arrive at’. We arrived at the airport a little after one.”
“By the time we arrived at the bus stop, the bus had left.”
“That sounds like you. You’re always late for everything.”
************
Happiness is not a state to arrive at, but a manner of travelling. Margaret Lee Runbeck
The author teaches at the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad. upendrankye@gmail.com
