Monday 31 October 2011

Tone-deaf vs Stone-deaf

Merriam-Webster defines tone-deaf  as "relatively insensitive to differences in musical pitch" whereas stone-deaf  means "completely deaf".

Simple.

Incidentally, both terms are hyphenated since they serve as adjectives.

Tuesday 25 October 2011

Life-sized vs larger-than-life

According to a news report on ibnlive.com, the recently-inaugurated Dalit Prerna Sthal in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, has 12 life-size statues of Ambedkar, Kanshi Ram and the UP Chief Minister herself. However, it has been reported elsewhere that these bronze figures are about 12 feet tall, which is more than twice the height of Chief Minister Mayawati. (see photo below)

           Photo: www.outlookindia.com


A life-sized statue or image is one which is of the same size as the subject is in real life. The bronze statues in Noida, hence, are not life-sized but larger-than-life.

Friday 7 October 2011

A cool blog, a unique temple and some fascinating words

A few days ago I came across the website Know Your English, a compilation of a weekly column by the same name in the newspaper The Hindu. Each week the column explains the correct use, meaning or pronunciation of a different word or expression, or the subtle difference between two similar words.