Know your English

``WELCOME BACK. How was your trip to Goa?''

``Oh, it was so tiresome. I couldn't believe the amount of....''

``....tiresome or tiring?''

``What's the difference between the two?''

``When you say that something is tiresome, it means that it is annoying, tedious, or troublesome.''

``Annoying or troublesome, eh? Sounds like Sujatha to me!''

``Why do you always pick on Sujatha? Here's an example with 'tiresome'.

* I find most of Dravid's jokes tiresome.''

``You are not the only one, I can assure you. How about this example?

* I went to the club yesterday and the manager told me that he had misplaced my application form. So I had to go through the tiresome process of filling out another one.''

``That's a good example. My next door neighbour is trying to sell his car. He says that it's tiresome business.''

``I am sure it is these days. There are so many different types of cars available. But tell me, what about 'tiring'? Is it related to 'tired'?''

``It certainly is. When you say that something is 'tiring' it means it is exhausting. For example, being the host of a television programme can be very tiring.''

``My friend asked me to go through his assignment. It was tiring. I can now appreciate the amount of work that teachers have to put in while grading assignments.''

``So, was your trip `tiresome' or `tiring'?''

``Tiring, I guess. Met a lot of interesting people, though.''

``That's nice.''

``The people at the hotel were very friendly, specially the waiters.''

``Especially.''

``What?''

``The people were friendly, especially the waiters.''

``What's the difference between `specially' and `especially'?''

``Well, one normally uses the word, 'specially' when one has a single purpose in mind.''

``In other words, when something is done for a particular purpose. Is that what you mean?''

``That's right! You have a single purpose in mind. For example, the course was specially designed for people who had little or no experience in television production.''

* ``I drove down here specially to meet you.''

* ``The children were specially invited for the grand opening.''

``When do you use 'especially' then?''

``It is normally used when you want to mean 'particularly'. For example, Kodaikanal is crowded, especially during the summer.''

* ``All hill stations are crowded during the summer. I love watching movies, especially horror movies.''

* ``Men in their Forties, especially those who are overweight, frequently die of heart attacks.''

* ``The students in our class, especially the girls, are very hard working.''

``Girls in general tend to work much harder than boys.''

``I know. The girls in my class are always surfing the Net trying to find new material. Talking about the Net, I came across a search engine called ''Google``. Does the word ''google`` mean anything? Or is it one of those....''

``...I don't know about the word 'google', but I came across the word 'googol' recently.''

``Googol! What does it mean?''

``I understand it is a term used in mathematics. It means ten to the power of hundred.''

``In other words, a 'googol' is ten followed by a hundred zeros?''

``I guess you could say that. Did you know that a nine-year-old boy invented the word. It was coined by the nine year old nephew of a mathematician named Milton Sirotta.''

``The word sure sounds like something that a kid would come up with.''

``It sure does. Any way, these days the word is being used in everyday contexts as well. Here is an example. Many people believe that India's chances of winning the next World Cup are about one in a googol.''

``How about this example? During his lifetime, Kamlesh won a googol of awards.''

``Sounds good. After their recent trip to Hyderabad, visitors complained about the googol of mosquitoes in the city.''

``Just as your school friends are complaining about the low scores that you people have been making in matches.''

``You have a point there. Any way, our P.T. sir has come up with an idea. He says we should play against a team whose bowling attack is weak.''

``That's a good idea, actually. So, who are you playing next?''

``We are writing to the BCCI and asking them to send the Indian cricket team over!''

``The lift is being fixed for the next day. During that time we regret that you will be unbearable. - ``Sign in a Bucharest Hotel Lobby

S. UPENDRAN

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