This month was dedicated to Indiansims. In fact, I run into so many of them that it was worthwhile to point them out here.
6 July: Indianism: “She is behind me to start going to the gym” – What is wrong with the sentence? This is a literal translation of how we would say this sentence in Hindi. The correct way of saying the same thing in English would be, “She has been after me to go to the gym”. Another example, “My boss is always after me to complete my work before time”.
13 July: Definition: Eponym: An eponym is a word derived from a name, or a name that becomes a word. For eg, the word ‘Celsius’ comes from Anders Celsius, a Swedish astronomer who used the term for mercury in a thermometer. Similarly, ‘pasteurize’ comes from Louis Pasteur who developed the process of sterilising milk.
27 July: Indianisms: “There are a lot of small small things that make a huge difference” – using such repetition is an Indianism because it is a translation from the vernacular. The English language doesn’t not use repetition of this nature for emphasis. The same can be said with the right intonation of the right words instead of repetition.
If there are other language and usage relayed tips that you’d like to see here. please feel free to drop me a line! I’d love to hear from you!