Education
Know your English: Helpless or hapless in our pursuit to master English?
S. Upendran
What is the difference between ‘hapless’ and ‘helpless’? (S Krishnan, Chennai) The ‘a’ in ‘hapless’ sounds like the ‘a’ in ‘cat’, ‘bat’ and ‘sat’; the word comes from the Old Norse ‘happ’ which meant ‘good luck’ or ‘fortune’. A ‘hapless’ person, therefore, is someone who doesn’t have much of either; he is someone who experiences misfortune most of the time. He is a luckless individual who does not get the breaks he deserves. One usually feels sorry or pity for such an individual for many of the
