Know your English

``HOW IS the word ``blasi'' pronounced? (A. Karthik, Nagpur)

The ``a'' in the first syllable is pronounced like the ``a'' in ``bath'', ``path'', and ``calf''. The ``e'' is like the ``ay'' in ``day'', ``bay'', and ``say''. The ``s'' is pronounced like the ``z'' in ``zebra'', ``zoo'', and ``zip''. As for the main stress, some dictionaries have it on the first syllable, while others have it on the second.

When you are blasi about something, you are not excited or worried about it; though those around you may find it exciting or important, etc. Of course, this impression that you create that you are bored and not excited could be just an act! Here are a few examples.

* When Shyam's parents heard that he had won two million dollars, they were excited. But Shyam himself was very blasi about it.

* Unlike her father, Sushmita is very blasi about parties.

* Bharath goes to America so often that he has become blasi about it.

Why is a person who helps deliver a child called a ``midwife''? (S. Bakthavatsalam, Chennai)

There are several theories about the origin of the word. Some people argue that the word ``mid'' stands for ``middle''; the midwife was a go between the child and the mother! Considering the fact that we live in an age when we need middlemen for everything - whether it is to buy guns for the country, or fixing cricket matches- this explanation may appeal to many. Unfortunately it is not accepted by the pundits.

An explanation that is accepted by many is the following. The word ``wife'' (though it was spelt `wif' originally), I understand, in Old English meant ``woman''. In fact, the original word for ``woman'' was ``wifman'' - ``wif'' meaning ``woman'' and ``man'' meaning ``human being''. The word ``mid'' comes from the Old English ``mid'' meaning ``with''. So, a ``midwife'', as you can probably guess, was a ``woman'' who stayed ``with'' the mother and helped her deliver the child. ``Midwife'' is one of the few words left in the language where the original meaning of the ``wife'' is retained.

What is the meaning and origin of the expression ``show a leg''? (L. Mukund, Kozhikode)

When you tell someone to ``show a leg'' what you want him/her to do is to get out of bed. Instead of telling someone to ``wake up'', you can tell him/her to ``show a leg'' or ``shake a leg''. The idiom has its origins in the British navy. Before 1840, when the rules were fairly lax, sailors were sometimes permitted to take their wife/girlfriend along with them. While the sailors were expected to report for duty early in the morning, the wives/girlfriends were allowed to sleep on in the quarters down below. To ensure that a lazy sailor was not sleeping downstairs, an officer went down to check. Whenever he came across someone sleeping and wasn't really sure if it was a man or a woman under the covers, he used to shout, ``show a leg''. The person under the blanket had to stick his/her leg out. If the leg that emerged looked like that of a woman's, she was allowed to sleep, but if it looked like that of a man's, he was asked to get out of bed and report for duty. So originally when someone asked you to ``show a leg'', all you had to do was to show him/her your leg!

Around 1840, when regulations in the navy were changed, women were no longer permitted to accompany the men. But the expression ``show a leg'' continued to be used. As time went on, this idiom which was mainly used in the navy, became a part of everyday speech as well.

What is the difference between ``emigrate'' and ``immigrate''? (S. Shoba, Hyderabad)

If you, like thousands of people in this country, want to push off to the United States of America and settle down there, then you wish to ``emigrate''. When you ``emigrate'', you leave your country and settle down in another. If, on the other hand, you find an American wanting to come down and settle in good old India, then he is said to ``immigrate''. When you ``immigrate'' you come into another country. Let's look at the first example again - you leaving India to settle down in the US. As far as the Indians are concerned, you are emigrating - you are leaving the country for another. As far as the Americans are concerned, you are immigrating. You are coming into their country in order to settle down. An individual emigrates from the land he leaves and immigrates to the country he would like to settle down in. Remember, you emigrate from and immigrate to.

Responses sent by readers to Jaya Meera's question which appeared in this column dated Dec. 5, 2000.

``What is the question for `I am my father's second son'?''

* How manyth son are you to your father? (B. Syam, Chennai)

* Where do you stand among your brothers? (Murali Krishna, Secunderabad)

* What is the order of your birth? (N. Dharmeshwaran, Guduvancherry)

* What is your place in the line of your brothers and sisters? (G. B. Sajjan, Bijapur)

* In what rank are you amongst the children of your father? (K. Santhanakrishnan, Chennai)

* * *

``Beware of the man who goes to cocktail parties not to drink but to listen.'' - Pierre Daninos

S. UPENDRAN

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