The Money tree..

"Mom, can you give me some more pocket money?"
"No I can't - money doesn't grow on trees, you know."

Money doesn't grow on trees

This is a common conversation that you hear in any house.

but does money actually grow on trees? No, then why do we use this expression.

Money doesn't grow on trees - It is a phrase which means that you must not spend too much money as there is not much money to spend.

It actually looks like a common expression but when observed has a hidden meaning. Such expressions as called as Phrases. Phrases improve the expressive quality of the sentence/ conversation. The impact on the listener is very strong & hence the understanding of the context spoken. The listener is able to relate to the information and expression the speaker is trying to say.
Most of the phrases are imaginary expressions with greater impact.

Some examples:

• Adbul asked me to buy a car for him on his birthday, i can't afford to. Money doesn't grow on trees for me.
• I have to bare all the expenses of my family, money doesn't grow on trees you know. I need to earn more to keep up.

UP...UP...UP.....

There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is 'UP.'

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP ?

At a meeting, why does a topic come UP?
Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report?

We call UP our friends.

And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver; we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen.

We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car.
At other times the little word has real special meaning.


People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses.

To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special.
A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP.
We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.

We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP!

To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary.

In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions.

If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used.

It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.

When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP.
When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP.
When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP.
When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP.

One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP,
for now my time is UP,
so........it is time to shut UP!

Innovative concept - Go Green

 The world speaks of global warming & planting more trees. With space constraints many don't get the opportunity to do it even while they wish they could. Here is an innovative concept for adding greenery to your home whilst having very little space.

A very impressive way of saying "I care for the planet / Go Green".

Peace in Place

The Tengquera Masjid, Melaka, Malaysia.

The masjid in Melaka which is one of the oldest in Malaysia bares a very unique experience to it. It is the most preferred tourist spot for most of the travelers coming to Melaka.

Just by viewing it from the outside, you feel you have gone back in time with peace & serenity touching your soul.

The mosque built in 1728 has a very different & unique style of architecture to it. The main prayer hall is cool as a place in hill station (which is a very rare place in Malaysia without an A/C). The walls bare witness to the changing history of the place & country. The Minaret which stands tall and straight with all its strength even after 285 yrs is an exemplary piece of work.

The pillars have paintings of ancient Malaysian art & look something similar to Arabian design with a combination of Chinese designs. The water storage place is so filled with purity.
The inside of the roof is fitted with wood which look so new even today.
Although the masjid looks small form outside the inside of it is an excellent, peaceful, satisfactory, serene, exciting & a beautiful experience to be in such a place.

Just spending time in the corridor looking at the beauty of the masjid would be enough for a person finding peace in his life.

A visit to the place would be incomplete for any history lover or infact any tourist going to Malaysia.

All thanks to The Almighty God who gave me a chance to visit this beautiful place.

Here are a few pictures of the place.

From the outside

From the Inside

The water storage place for cleansing self before prayers

The pillar in the center of the pool with a touch of Arabian architecture

The painting at the bottom of the pillar with Chinese style of painting

Unique Invitation Card

Best part I like is - "You will be the villain if you don't attend the function".

CAPITAL LETTERS

Capitalization is a very important part of grammar in English with very less attention given.

Many people do not know the correct usage of Capital letters. 

Given below are the situations & a few examples when we are required to use Capital letters:

1. When you start a sentence:

The children are playing in the park. She is a beautiful girl.

2. When using personal pronoun - I:

I am a teacher. I will be going to the market tomorrow.

3. Writing Acronyms or Abbreviations:

UNO - United Nations Organisation.

WHO - World Health Organisation.

4. Names of places, countries, nationalities, religion & language:

London, Germany, Indian, Buddhism, Chinese.

5. People's names & titles:

Mr. Smith, Dr. Amina, 

Sr. Lecturer, Mrs. Jenny.

King Henry

6. Days of the week, months of the year, holidays:

Monday, Tuesday
January, February
Christmas
Independence Day

7. Names of companies and organizations:

Pepsi Cola, Sony
Microsoft Corporation, Toyota
the United Nations, the Red Cross

8. For places and monuments:

the Eiffel Tower, the Taj Mahal
Buckingham Palace, the White House
Asia, the Middle East, the North Pole

9. Names of planets and celestial objects:
Jupiter, Mars, Sirius, Moon

10. Names of vehicles like ships, trains and spacecraft

Titanic, Shatabdi Express, Apollo- 3

11. Titles of books, poems, plays, films etc:

Macbeth, Othello, Daffodils, The Last Lear

The Lion King, Gone With The Wind

12. sometimes! for headings, titles of articles, books etc, and newspaper headlines:

HOW TO WIN AT POKER

Chapter 2: CLINTON'S EARLY LIFE
LIFE FOUND ON MARS!

BLACKMAIL

Origin of the word ‘blackmail’

To blackmail somebody is to extort money or something else of value from them by the threat of exposing information that will harm them in many ways. Blackmailing is a punishable offence.

We all know that the word mail is used to talk about materials handled in a postal system. 

Interestingly, the expression ‘blackmail’ has nothing to do with letters or the postal system. So how did the word ‘blackmail’ originate? Well, here is the story!!

The word blackmail comes from the Scottish ‘mail’. In Scottish English this word used to mean ‘tax’ or ‘rent’. 

In the olden days, the law and order situation in Scotland wasn’t very good. It wasn’t good in other countries, too. Because of poor enforcement of law, farmers living along the borders of Scotland suffered at the hands of criminal gangs. 

These gangs would rob them and get away with little punishment. Poor farmers were incapable of fighting these looters. So they chose to pay them off. They would make some payment in exchange for protection and immunity from plunder.

In those days the usual modes of payment were cattle, grains and copper coins. These were considered black. And this system of exhorting money from poor farmers was called ‘blackmail’. It means ‘black tax’ or ‘black rent’. If a farmer chose to pay in silver coins, then it was called ‘white mail’.

Birdy Fun...

Q: Why did the chicken  cross the road?  
A: To get to the other side! 

Q: Why did the monster  cross the road?  
A: To eat the chicken! 

Q: Why did the dinosaur  cross the road?  
A: It was the chicken's  day off! 

Q: If a rooster lays an egg on the middle of a slanted roof, on which side will it fall?  
A: Neither side. Roosters don't lay eggs! 

Q: What did the sick chicken  say? 
A: "I have the people-pox!" 

Q: How does a chicken  mail  a letter  to her friend ? 
A: In a HEN-velope! 

Q: Why can't a rooster  ever get rich? 
A: Because he works for chicken feed! 

Q: What key won't open any door ? 
A: A turkey! 

Forward or Backward???

MOM, DAD, MADAM, EYE, WOW, SIS, .. these are some words that we use in our daily life conversations.  But.. do you know that they have some thing special in them?

These words can be read the same forwards or backwards. Such Magical words are called as Palindromes. 

Here are some more of them.

bib	level	noon
bub	gag	radar
civic	kayak	redder
sees	pop	refer
did	sagas	redivider
eve	peep	rotator
ewe	stats	solos

Not only words but phrases too have Palindromes:

"Don't nod"

"Borrow or rob?"

"A man, a plan, a canal, Panama."

"I did, did I?"

"Drawn inward"

"Madam, I'm Adam."

"Never odd or even"

"No lemon, no melon."

"Now I won."

"Top spot"

"Was it a cat I saw?"

"Race car"

"Nurses run."

Pronunciation Trouble

The New Age Communication - Twisted Texting

SWDYT?........ AYATU?............... DW!.  IWE...........

You might be thinking that the alphabets above might have been a typing error, No they are not . Its the new age of texting. A new way of communication. 

wondering how? Let me give you the meaning. 
SWDYT = So What Do You Thing
AYATU = Are You Able To Understand
DW = Dont Worry
IWE = I Will Explain

I am sure you cannot chat with a teenager these days without being heard that you don't know how to text, you would get a response "YR2ON" (meaning- you are too old now), for the simple reason that you cannot communicate in ACRONYMS or so called as the new age texting.

I am trying to give you an insight into some of the texting lingo that you might have thought with a different meaning.

Alphabetical Acronyms:

1. POTATO= Person Over Thirty Acting Twenty One.
2. PAL = Parents Are Listening
3. EMI = Excuse My Ignorance
4. GI= Google It
5. A3= Anytime, Anywhere, Anyplace.
6. T2G= Time to go
7. WOG=  Wise Old Guy
8. NP = No Problem or Nosy Parents
9. NOA = Not Online Anymore
10. PAW = Parents Are Watching
11. PIR = Parent In Room
12. ACORN = A Completely Obsessive Really Nutty Person
13. SYS = See You Soon


Numbered Acronyms:

1. 9 = Parent is watching
2. 99 = Parent no longer watching
3. 4NR = Foreigner
4. 303 = Mom
5. 182 = I Hate You
6. 411 = Information
7. <3 = Heart
8. 143 = I Love you

There are many more of them which i may have missed out here, the list goes endless. Having seen a varied modes of communication, i am still getting accustomed to this new way of TTP "talking to people".

I am delighted that i have had a chance to learn my English in the age when not everything was twisted into an acronym. Anyways B4N "Bye for Now", TC "take Care", ONO "Over And Out".

If you have some more such interesting Acronyms, the so called Texting lingos, please feel free to share.

Listen = Silent

 ANAGRAMS

Can you find any similarity in the two words here? 

Both the words have the same alphabets but are just re-arranged to bring out a meaningful word. 

Such words are called as Anagrams. 

By just mixing up the letters a new word can be produced, such is the magic of English Language. 

A fun activity, a word play that not only helps in improving the spellings & pronunciation but also builds vocabulary, creativity & Imagination.

Here are some more examples of anagrams:

1. Mother-in-law = Women Hitler

2. Debit Card = Bad credit

3. Dormitory = Dirty room

4. Astronomer = Moon starer

5. A decimal point = I'm a dot in place

6. The Eyes = They See

7. Listen = Silent

8. Garbage Man = Bad manager

9. Hot water = Worth Tea

10. Good Bye = Obey God

11. Vacation time = I am not active

12. A gentleman = Elegant Man

13. Mummy = my mum

Did you Know??

English Language Facts:

English came from everywhere and includes pretty much everything.

English is a sprawling, messy, and confusing language, with weird rules and quirky usage of words whose origins are lost in history.

The history of the language relied largely on war and invasion. 
Written English disappeared completely for more than 100 years.
Half the words we use on a regular basis came from people, places, or foreign terms. 

Here is a range of facts related to the History of English language:



1 English is a West Germanic Language.

2 The English language spread with the growth of the British Empire, becoming the dominant language in Canada, the United States, New Zealand and Australia.

3 English is probably the most widely spoken language in the world

4 It is estimated that there could be as many as 1.5 billion total English speakers worldwide.

5 With over 800 million native speakers, Chinese Mandarin is the most spoken native language, followed by Spanish and English.

6 English has a huge vocabulary, with over 250000 different words listed in the Oxford English Dictionary

7 Many scientific words used in the English language come from Latin or Greek.

8 English is written in the Latin alphabet (also known as the Roman alphabet).

9 There are three basic eras to English formation: Old English, which ran from the 5th through 11th centuries; Middle English, which lasted until the 15th century; and Modern English, which takes us to the present.

10  The first purely English dictionary appeared in 1604: It was called A Table Alphabeticall [sic], and it was written by a schoolteacher named Robert Cawdrey.

11 William Shakespeare made up many of his words: The pre-eminent English writer invented nearly 2,000 words and catch phrases.

12 There are more than 125 English dialects worldwide: Each dialect uses English in its own way, from pronunciation and construction.

Great Humor with a Brain Bending Twist.

• What has a face and two hands but no arms or legs? A clock
  
  

• What five-letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it? Short
• What word begins and ends with an ‘e’ but only has one letter? Envelope
• What has a neck but no head? A bottle
• What gets wetter as it dries? A towel
• Why did the boy bury his flashlight? Because the batteries died.
• Which letter of the alphabet has the most water? The C
• What starts with a ‘P’, ends with an ‘E’ and has thousands of letters? The Post Office!
• What has to be broken before you can use it? An egg
• Why can’t a man living in New York be buried in Chicago? Because he’s still living!
• What begins with T, ends with T and has T in it? A teapot
• Which month has 28 days? All of them of course!

Tricky Words

HOMOPHONES:

Homophones are words that are pronounced the same, usually spelled differently, and have different meanings.

Here are a few, check out how many you are aware of.

• ad/add
• aloud/allowed
• beat/beet
• in/inn
• sail/sale
• its/it’s
• sea/see
• knight/night
• knew/new
• ate/eight
• knot/not
• some/sum
• break/brake
• know/no
• stair/stare
• made/maid
• buy/by/bye
• cell/sell
• meat/meet
• tea/tee
• tale/tail
• one/won
• cent/scent/sent
• deer/dear
• pare/pair
• plane/plain
• waist/waste
• wait/weight
• read/red
• hair/hare
• which/witch
• rose/rows
• heard/herd
• hour/our

Very funny English in India

Twisted Tongues with Tongue Twisters

Challenging IDIOMS

Idioms are words, phrases or expressions that cannot be taken literally. They don't mean exactly what the words say. They are unusual words which have a hidden meaning.    

Here are some idioms that sound unusual or crazy:

• It was raining cats and dogs.
• Straight from the horse's mouth.
• Tongue-in-cheek.
• Pull someone's leg.
• Spill the beans.
• Break a leg.
• Apple of his eye.
• Beating around the bush

Idioms become a challenge to many who are Learners of English as a Second Language. They can be the most confusing part of learning the English language.

One of the best ways to understand Idioms is by looking into the reference/ context of its use. The sentences themselves tell the meaning sometimes. 

• Eg: This tin opener's driving me round the bend! I think I'll throw it away and get a new one next time I go to the market.

The context tells us that driving here is not about a car or a bike. It tells us that the opener is not working properly and having an affect on the user. 

Have you seen these Sign Boards anywhere?

Common Mistakes in English

FUN v/s FUNNY

What is the difference between Fun and Funny?

Both can be used as adjectives (words that describe something)

Fun Means: When you enjoy yourself and have a good time.

Funny means: something that makes you laugh.

Examples: 

• A comedian is FUNNY..
• Going to an amusement park is FUN..

FUN can be used as a Noun showing Enjoyment or Pleasure.

I had lots of FUN last night at the party.

We hope you have fun at the wedding tomorrow.

Fun as a noun can also be used to describe good humour and playful behaviour of a person.

• She is a fun person to be with.

Quick Check:

Are the situations below FUN or FUNNY?

1. A party with friends is .....
2. A clown is ....
3. Playing a game is ......
4. Visiting new places is .....

Answers: 1. Fun 2. Funny 3. Fun 4. Fun

Can you read this?

Crazy English !!!