Mattar Paneer is Now an Official English Word

Finding myself at a loose end the other day, I started perusing the Oxford English Dictionary. Since the OED fancies itself as the “Definitive Record of the English Language,” I feel compelled to browse through it occasionally lest I miss something big. Earlier this month, the OED added a big bunch of new words including […]

Word of the Day – Onnagata

It’s been a while since we boosted your vocabulary. We stumbled on the word Onnagata last night while leafing through the latest issue of New Yorker magazine (April 2, 2012, P.7). There’s a short piece on an upcoming Kabuki (Japanese dance-drama) program in New York City that contains the word Onnagata. Onnagata means a man […]

Word of the Day – Stormannsgalskap

Stormannsgalskap is a Norwegian word which means great men’s madness. Our only encounter with the word so far has been in Adam Lashinsky’s recent book Inside Apple. Lashinsky borrows the term’s extension to the business world from former Harvard professor Richard Tedlow who used it to refer to extraordinary leaders who create great enterprises. In […]

Word of the Day – Bombay Fornicator

As we were idly browsing through our well thumbed copy of Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase & Fable (18th Edition) a little while ago, we stumbled upon an interesting English word with, of course, a strong connection to India – Bombay Fornicator. Sounds interesting, na? Bet all you chutias’ hands are already inching their way down. […]

English for Schmucks – Come Out of the Closet

Come out of the closet is a fairly common phrase, one we encounter at least once a month. So what does the phrase mean? Come out of the closet means to disclose publicly that one is a homosexual (now don’t ask us what a homosexual means). Example: Isn’t it time for Bollywood producer Narendra Johar […]

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