English Matters

Discussion in 'Education & Personal Growth' started by Ansuya, Dec 20, 2008.

  1. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    @Novalis,

    Thank you for the comprehensive response. Pat Barker and Madeline Miller are two writers I never heard of. Frankly, I ended up reading Kavita's book because it was recommended by my wife as a very interesting book to read during my international travel last year. My focus in Mahabharat was the main characters and Kavita describing Mahabharatha from Princess Urvi's point of view was phenomenal.

    Urvi asking for an apology from Draupathi for what her husband said in the court, Urvi's feelings that Druapathi probably had a crush for Karna when she readily forgave Karna for his words, and conversation between Urvi and Kunti about limiting bearing children from others to only three which is why she herself suggested Pandu's second wife bear Nakul and Sakadev, are interesting parts of the book. In regular Mahabharath, we never learned Kunti justified Karna's words against Draupathi accusing her of marrying 5 men. Kavita handled all of these controversial subjects so eloquently in her book. Vrishali is the only one we knew much in Mahabharat as Karna's wife. But Kavita took all of the focus to Urvi, as a princess who demanded to marry Karna despite so many other princes were ready to marry her.

    I have come to know about Chitra's book recently and both "The Forest of Enchantments" and "The Palace of illusions" are in my list of books to read. She wrote a recent book, "Before we visit the Goddess" and I am waiting to read more reviews about this book.
     
  2. Srama

    Srama Finest Post Winner

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  3. Rihana

    Rihana Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    If anyone doesn't know the meaning of haberdashery, it is fun to google and then compare the meaning with what one thought it meant. : )

    I thought it meant something like hanky-panky. : ) Turns out there is actually a haberdashery store within driving distance!

    hab·er·dash·er·y /ˈhabərˌdaSHərē/
    noun: haberdashery
    1. NORTH AMERICAN
      men's clothing and accessories.
      • a shop in which men's clothing and accessories are sold.
    2. BRITISH
      small items used in sewing, such as buttons, zippers, and thread; notions.
      • a shop or a department within a larger store that sells items used in sewing.
     
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  4. Thyagarajan

    Thyagarajan IL Hall of Fame

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    :hello: I presume what I meant was correct as per British! It is all press buttons and hooks those days or loops or drawstring cotton braided.
    Thanks and Regards.
     
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  5. Rihana

    Rihana Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    You are correct. It was indeed that haberdashery back then and not the velvet pull-it-on t-shirt style abominations we see sold on Amazon now. : )
     
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  6. Hopikrishnan

    Hopikrishnan Platinum IL'ite

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    haberdashery ===> haberdasher ===> haberdash
    should make one wonder if that is a compound word from haber+dash, & lead to the question "how to dash a haber", before you went and consulted google/dictionary.

    I found that Haber is a german name, and Dash Haber is a cartoon villain character. The character has a sharp rimmed hat he uses as a weapon. incidentally, a "Hatter", a maker/seller/blocker of hats, is also called a haberdasher.

    "Dash a' Haber" as a phrase may also happen in recipes, leading you to wonder about the taste of Haber. It has to be strong, to only require a dash of the thing to do what it does to a dish.

    PANK is an acronym for professional-aunt-no-kids. PUNK is a professional uncle, no kids.
    How long is a hank? [a corollary of the philosophical "piece of string" question]
    The meaning of hanky-panky or the related hunky-punky: shaggy dog story of unknowable length from an empty nester.
     
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  7. Thyagarajan

    Thyagarajan IL Hall of Fame

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    :hello:There is a phrase HABER process - industrial.
     
  8. Hopikrishnan

    Hopikrishnan Platinum IL'ite

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    bupkus
    Popularized by sports fans for the phonetic similiarity to Hall of Fame American Football player, Dick Butkus,
    bupkus is a Yiddish word literally translated as "nothing".

    Neal Kumar Katyal, former US Solicitor General (under Obama), in a recent commentary on the soundness of Trump's lawsuits in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Georgia courts, said: "Lawyers are taught to pound on the facts, when the law is not on their side, and pound on the law when the facts are not on their side; but Trump has got bupkus."
     
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  9. Hopikrishnan

    Hopikrishnan Platinum IL'ite

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  10. Hopikrishnan

    Hopikrishnan Platinum IL'ite

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    watched this old video after googling to the series... The Indian English segment. The school children are quite nice to see...

    [after the video plays, you may continue by clicking on the next one that will show up within the video window]

     
    Last edited: Jan 31, 2021

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