Sampath-Musings

From Sampath’s Desk:   TALK A BLUE STREAK   /   OUT TO LUNCH     TALK A BLUE STREAK:   Meaning:   Speak fast, continuously and at great length – to talk quickly and without stopping – to speak with great rapidity, volume and/or intensity   Example sentences:   He is a good guy, but he will TALK A BLUE STREAK if you let him. It can be exhausting!   It can be hard to follow along with her when she starts TALKING A BLUE STREAK.   He TALKED A BLUE STREAK all through the breakfast.   He had a wicked tongue when roused and could TALK A BLUE STREAK.     Your can also say ‘SCREAM A BLUE STREAK’ or ‘SPOUT A BLUE STREAK’.   OUT TO LUNCH:   Meaning:   Absentminded or uninformed – not connected or in touch with the real world – slightly crazy or not thinking clearly – not paying attention or heeding to what one is saying or doing - having poor mental judgment ...

From Sampath’s Desk:   NATIONAL UNITY DAY (RASHTRIYA EKTA DIWAS) October 31, the birthday of Sardar Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel (1875-1950), known as the Iron Man of India and Architect of Modern India is celebrated as National Unity Day (Rashtriya Ekta Diwas). Patel was born on 31 st October 1875 in Nadiad (in the then Bombay Presidency of British India), now in Gujarat.   Post-independence, while most of the 562 princely states were persuaded to join the Indian Union, some like Jodhpur, Bhopal Hyderabad, Junagadh, Travancore, and Kashmir remained a hard nut to crack and refused to do so. Patel, India’s first Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs would not just handle these ticklish issues with deftness and dexterity but would go on to truly become the ‘Architect of Modern India.’ From invoking the patriotism of the princes to reminding them of the possibility of anarchy in the event of their refusal to join, Patel kept trying to exert pressure and conv...

From Sampath’s Desk:   NEW DEFINITIONS:     SCHOOL:   Where parents INVEST for children to DIVEST their responsibility.   LIFE INSURANCE:   It is something that makes you LIVE POOR but DIE RICH. For the beneficiaries it is LIVE RICH.   NURSE:   One who doesn’t SLEEP to make the patient SLEEPLESS with the bill.   MARRIAGE:   It is a promise made by a man to be always together with the wife, but often trots out excuses to be away.   TEARS:   ‘TEARS’ is a tool used by the wife to instill FEARS in the husband.   CONFERENCE:   CONFERENCE by inference means a gathering of people at a particular venue and time after which they get more confused and also confuse others.   CONFERENCE ROOM:   CONFERENCE ROOM is a place where people gather and then disperse leaving filth, garbage, waste papers and other thrown aways all strewn around to be cleared by the h...

  From Sampath’s Desk:       CHENNAI MADRAS, now re-christened as Chennai, has always been my favourite city. Its origin could be traced to centuries back as a small village, gifted on 22.8.1639 to the East India Company by Vijayanagara King, Peda Venkata Raya of Chandragiri. A year later, the British built Fort St. George, which became the nucleus of growing colonial city as a trade and commercial hub of the then East Indian Company. Madras Day is celebrated on August 22 every year.   Turning into a major urban centre with air and navy bases, Madras became the capital of the then Madras Presidency consisting of the almost the whole of the present day Tamil Nadu state, parts of Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. After independence when states were formed on a linguistic basis, Madras became the capital city of Tamil Nadu state. The city renamed as Chennai has traversed a long way before assuming its present gigantic size and cosmopolitan character. ...

From Sampath’s Desk: INVECTIVE:   Pronunciation:   Invective – இன்வெக்டிவ்   Meaning:   A violent verbal attack - insulting, abusive or critical language – forceful, unkind and rude criticism   Example sentences:   The politician’s INVECTIVE about his opponent cost him many votes in the election.   He hurled racist INVECTIVES against that group.   Of course I expected fair criticism but not the INVECTIVE from that gentleman.   The electoral campaign was marred by exceptional political animosity, acrimony and personal INVECTIVES.       FURTIVE:   Pronunciation:   furtive – ஃப ( ர் ) டிவ் – (‘r’ half pronounced)   Meaning:   Stealthily, clandestinely, surreptitiously, dishonestly, sneaky, shady – கள்ளத்தனமாக , திருட்டுத்தனமாக , கபடமான , மறைந்த , ரகசியமான   Example sentences:   The records showed FURTIVE criminal activity.  ...