Between my last post and the present one, there is a lot of time gap.The reason is due to my preoccupation with all sorts of things.Better late than never.
Those who want to acquire an amazing vocabulary can use the daily newspaper effectively.Those in India can pick up one of the following newspapers.
1.The Hindu
2.The Times of India.
3.The Indian Express
4.The Hindustan Times
There are several other newspapers.I have not enumerated all of them.Any good paper will do.Glance the headlines of each news item.This will not take much of your time.It is quite possible that& you may find some words whose meanings you do not know.Let me illustrate it for the benefit of learners.I get "The Times of India,Bangalore Edition.Now I have with me the paper dated 25th July 2011.
I am going through the headlines.Let me pick up a few for learning the meanings of tricky words.
1.BJP MULLS EASING BSY OUT.
2,TONGUES WAG AND TAILS TOO.
3.CENTRE,STATE SQUABBLE AS SR.JEAN PACKS HER BAGS.
4.RUSH OF STUDENTS FROM NORTH ABATES.
5.MYSORE CHOSEN FOR LPG SUBSIDY TRIAL.
From the above five headlines, I am picking up the following words.MULL,WAG,SQUABBLE,ABATE,SUBSIDY.
After picking up the tricky words, I take out my Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. This dictionary,in my view is the best one for all learners and to me it is also indispensable.
MULL This word is a verb.It means spending time thinking carefully about a plan or proposal before taking a decision.This verb is used with the preposition "over".I need some time to mull over your proposal to invest money in real estate.The synonym for mull over is CONSIDER.
WAG; The dictionary has given three entries against this word uses as verb.This word can be used as a noun also.There is also a mention about an idiom with words TAIL,TONGUE and WAG.What is that idiom? I refer to the entry TAIL.I find a nice idiom,"The tail is wagging the dog."; The idiom with the word TONGUE IS "set tongues wagging".The usual meaning of the word WAG is the movement of the tail of a dog.Any dog has the habit of moving its tail from side to side.The dog wags the tail.The tail can not wag the dog.But idiomatically the expression "the tail is wagging the dog" is used to mean that something unimportant influences or controls something important.Suppose a junior minister makes an important statement ignoring the prime minister,we say that the tail is wagging the dog.Hope it is clear.If something makes people talk or gossip about somebody, we say tongues wag.When we speak, there is surely a movement of tongue.The word wag is idiomatically used here.
As a noun, wag means a person who enjoys making jokes.But it is an old fashioned usage.
ABATE; this is a verb.It means to become less strong or to make something less strong.The storm showed no signs of abating.Steps are to be taken to abate pollution.The above two sentences are given in the dictionary.The word, "ABATEMENT' is used as noun.
SUBSIDY This is word used in economics. The actual cost of one LPG cylinder is Rs800.But the same is supplied to consumers at Rs400.The difference of Rs 400 is the subsidy which is paid by the government.The dictionary explains this well.
SQUABBLE; Arguing about something noisily is the meaning of SQUABBLE.
I have just illustrated one method of improving your vocabulary in a conscious manner.Please keep a notebook and note all such difficult words.The number of new words which you acquire depends on your thirst for knowledge.There is no hard and fast rule.If you feel that this is utterly boring, then just don't bother.You may do something else which interests you.
I shall continue the tips in my next post.
HAPPY LEARNING!
SAYEE
BANGALORE
B
s
Those who want to acquire an amazing vocabulary can use the daily newspaper effectively.Those in India can pick up one of the following newspapers.
1.The Hindu
2.The Times of India.
3.The Indian Express
4.The Hindustan Times
There are several other newspapers.I have not enumerated all of them.Any good paper will do.Glance the headlines of each news item.This will not take much of your time.It is quite possible that& you may find some words whose meanings you do not know.Let me illustrate it for the benefit of learners.I get "The Times of India,Bangalore Edition.Now I have with me the paper dated 25th July 2011.
I am going through the headlines.Let me pick up a few for learning the meanings of tricky words.
1.BJP MULLS EASING BSY OUT.
2,TONGUES WAG AND TAILS TOO.
3.CENTRE,STATE SQUABBLE AS SR.JEAN PACKS HER BAGS.
4.RUSH OF STUDENTS FROM NORTH ABATES.
5.MYSORE CHOSEN FOR LPG SUBSIDY TRIAL.
From the above five headlines, I am picking up the following words.MULL,WAG,SQUABBLE,ABATE,SUBSIDY.
After picking up the tricky words, I take out my Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. This dictionary,in my view is the best one for all learners and to me it is also indispensable.
MULL This word is a verb.It means spending time thinking carefully about a plan or proposal before taking a decision.This verb is used with the preposition "over".I need some time to mull over your proposal to invest money in real estate.The synonym for mull over is CONSIDER.
WAG; The dictionary has given three entries against this word uses as verb.This word can be used as a noun also.There is also a mention about an idiom with words TAIL,TONGUE and WAG.What is that idiom? I refer to the entry TAIL.I find a nice idiom,"The tail is wagging the dog."; The idiom with the word TONGUE IS "set tongues wagging".The usual meaning of the word WAG is the movement of the tail of a dog.Any dog has the habit of moving its tail from side to side.The dog wags the tail.The tail can not wag the dog.But idiomatically the expression "the tail is wagging the dog" is used to mean that something unimportant influences or controls something important.Suppose a junior minister makes an important statement ignoring the prime minister,we say that the tail is wagging the dog.Hope it is clear.If something makes people talk or gossip about somebody, we say tongues wag.When we speak, there is surely a movement of tongue.The word wag is idiomatically used here.
As a noun, wag means a person who enjoys making jokes.But it is an old fashioned usage.
ABATE; this is a verb.It means to become less strong or to make something less strong.The storm showed no signs of abating.Steps are to be taken to abate pollution.The above two sentences are given in the dictionary.The word, "ABATEMENT' is used as noun.
SUBSIDY This is word used in economics. The actual cost of one LPG cylinder is Rs800.But the same is supplied to consumers at Rs400.The difference of Rs 400 is the subsidy which is paid by the government.The dictionary explains this well.
SQUABBLE; Arguing about something noisily is the meaning of SQUABBLE.
I have just illustrated one method of improving your vocabulary in a conscious manner.Please keep a notebook and note all such difficult words.The number of new words which you acquire depends on your thirst for knowledge.There is no hard and fast rule.If you feel that this is utterly boring, then just don't bother.You may do something else which interests you.
I shall continue the tips in my next post.
HAPPY LEARNING!
SAYEE
BANGALORE
B
s
