Sunday, December 7, 2014

Here's my list: Those commonly used, incorrect words.

Ever wonder about some routinely used words and phrases, that many of us have simply adopted as part of acceptable parlance? Plenty of them are uniquely Indian (bless our hearts), and while some induce quite a few fall-out-of-your-chair funny laughs, others are less charming. So, in no particular order, I’m listing here 12 usages, with the bright-eyed hope that they might cause us to pause, and think before we pen.
1. Updation: I dare say we have the software industry to thank for this one. This is a recent addition to our lexicon. How about such and such ‘needs to be updated’ instead? Even MS Office marked it out as an error and suggested the insipid ‘updating’.

2. Affect/Effect: “Use ‘affect’ as a verb meaning to influence something and ‘effect’ for the something that was influenced”, thus sayeth Vocubulary.com. As in, ‘She attempted to affect me, and it had the desired effect’.  

3. Learnings: Almost everyone uses this; and it does have a pompous air about it. Whatever happened to ‘key lessons learnt?’

4. Loose or lose: You may loosen your hold without losing your mind. Come now, this ain’t that hard.

5. Do the needful: This is often used to imply that the recipient is supposed to grasp the subject matter without additional explanation. You may argue it isn’t altogether incorrect; but perhaps ‘please do what is needed’ will work, and more elegantly at that. Maybe we can do one better and simply say ‘please help’.

6. Revert back: Particularly in my early years, it was almost standard practice to read e-mails closing off with the statutory ‘please revert back’. First of all, to revert is to return to a previous situation or condition. Adding ‘back’ to ‘revert’ is a double whammy. Or should I say double Dutch. Let’s try ‘Reply’ or ‘Respond’, shall we?

7. It’s and Its: It’s refers to a shortened construction of ‘it is’. Therefore it’s correct to say ‘It’s going to be a long day, but use ‘its standards are exacting’.

8. Typo error: Unless you want to say something is a typographical error, stick to ‘typo’.

9. Discuss about: 'Let’s discuss the matter'. Period.

10. Today night: I’ve often heard it being said, “I will complete it by today night”. Truncate the last three words to ‘Tonight’ and voila, shorter, sweeter, smarter.

11. Right and correct: No biggie this, but it’s best to reserve ‘correct’ for something definitive and incontrovertible, and ‘right’ when expressing an opinion or while referring to subjective matter.


12. Preponed: Now this one although technically incorrect, is irresistible, for its sheer convenience. I would gladly pitch for the addition of ‘preponed’ to the Oxford dictionary. We all use it, save for the indefatigable purist. ‘Bring the meeting forward/advance’, is a mouthful. 


No secret sauce to using ‘propah English’, but a case ought to be made for keeping from committing these relatively minor errors; all the more, since much of our communication, even the written word, creates a lasting impression.
 
All said and done, regional quirks and catchphrases all boil pleasingly in the melting cauldron of an ‘original’ language.

And I’m a fan, mind you, and heartily respond with my ‘good name’ on enquiry, run to ‘catch a train’ and can always ‘kindly adjust’.
 

Intractable buzz-words in the next post…

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