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English is a language that often seems to divide rather than unite its speakers from various parts of the former British empire. For example, when Americans speak of ‘boots’ and ‘bonnets’, they are referring to things you wear, but in British English, of course, the words refer to the front and back of a car, or what Americans call ‘trunk’ and ‘hood’.

So it’s bound to happen that when you study abroad, someone will occasionally do a double take when you say something that sounds perfectly ordinary to you but weird to them. Here are a few examples.

1. Stop eating my head!

It’s a reasonable request, no matter what you mean. But unless you make sure your friends understand that you want them to stop pestering or nagging you, that problem is going to remain unsolved.

2. Out of station

It’s not just for young wizards catching the train to go to Hogwarts. What Indian muggles call ‘out of station’, other English speakers call ‘out of town’, or just ‘traveling’. Basically, it just means that someone is not in a particular location.

3. Joint family

In cultures where people live with only their siblings and parents, and move out of their parents’ homes when they start college, people may not quickly understand what you mean. It doesn’t help that ‘joint’ has more than one meaning. We once had an American friend ask if a joint family had anything to do with cannabis.

4. Pass out

Sometimes college students do foolish and dangerous things that make them pass out. But if you do everything right, you get your degree. In India, graduating is often called ‘passing out’, and alumni are ‘pass-outs’.

5. Freak out

When your Indian friend says he freaked out last weekend, don’t assume he had a terrifying weekend that sent him into a panic. He probably just went to a fun party.

Can you think of other Indianisms that confuse people around the world? Leave a comment below, or tweet to @braingainmag with the hashtag #WordNerd.

Previous WordNerd posts are here.

By: Uma Asher

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Languages are often more interconnected than we realize. They reflect centuries, or even millennia, of migration, trade, and cultural borrowing. Although many of us may feel no connection to the Roma people (a.k.a. Gypsies), we do, in fact, share quite a bit of vocabulary with them. If you’re a Hindi or Urdu speaker, for instance, you call thieving chori, right? In the Romani language, chor means to steal. See?

If you’re not a Hindi speaker, no problem. English is related too. For example, “cushy”, which means comfortable, easy, or secure, is related to the Romani word cushy, and the Hindi/Urdu/Farsi word khush, meaning healthy or happy. And according to one theory, “lollipop” comes from a Romani phrase, loli phabay, meaning red apple. Here’s a popular Romani song about a loli phabay:

The reason we share vocabulary with Romani speakers is that we are all part of the same language family – Indo-European – which includes more than 400 languages spoken by nearly half of humanity. Many scholars believe all these languages descended from a single prehistoric root language, known as Proto-Indo-European, spoken in the Neolithic era (roughly 10,000 BCE to 2000 BCE).

The Roma are a traditionally nomadic people whose origins lie in what is today northwestern India and Pakistan. They appear to have migrated further and further west over many centuries, reaching Europe during the Middle Ages. The reasons for this migration are not known, but discrimination is a possible explanation.  Unfortunately, even in modern India, some people regard nomadic tribes with distrust (and in British India, many such tribes were officially considered “criminal”). In Europe, too, the Roma have historically suffered, and still suffer, discrimination. In the 1940s, the Nazis killed an estimated 220,000 to 1.5 million of them, sometimes just shooting on sight.

The Indo-European language family, however, is thriving. The most commonly spoken languages are Spanish, English, Hindustani (Hindi and Urdu), Portuguese, Bengali, Russian, Farsi, and Punjabi – each has more than 100 million native speakers. Romani is not a single language; variants of it are spoken in different parts of Europe and Asia.

If you speak Hindi, you will recognize many numbers in Romani: 1 = yek, 2= du, 3 = trin, 4 = star, 5 = panj, 10 = desh, 20 = beesh.

Here are some Romani words and phrases that you will probably understand, if you speak a northern Indian language:

• Na djanava – I don’t know
• Paani – water
• Churi – knife
• Dood – milk
• Laj – shame
• Amaro, amari – our
• Kaer, shoon, deek – do, hear, see
• Bal – hair
• Dja – go
• Nak – nose
• Kan – ear
• Bhen – sister
• Doshman – enemy
• Ratti – night
• Divvus – day
• Matchi – fish

Want to learn a few more words and phrases? Try the University of Manchester’s searchable Anglo-Romani dictionary.

Can you think of other languages whose vocabulary connects people around the world? Leave a comment below, or tweet to @braingainmag with the hashtag #WordNerd.

Previous WordNerd posts are here.

By: Uma Asher

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Ever wondered how a city or town gets its name?

Places get their names from histories, geographies, and relentless change. For example, several Indian towns and cities have frequently changed names in order to reflect different perspectives. And in the UK, place-names are how invading armies – Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Norsemen & Vikings left their indelible mark on the country.

Place-names, or toponyms, tell us about who lived there, how they lived, and whom they followed and worshipped. So, Reading in the UK comes from Reada, a man whose name suggests that he had red hair, and the “-casters” (like Doncaster) or “-chesters” (like Ilchester) are cities which were once Roman camps. In New Zealand, Dunedin is an ancient form of Edinburgh, while place names like Rotorua and Ruapehu come from the Maori language.

Interested in how cities like Los Angeles, London & Delhi got their names? Read on to find out more.

1.  Cambridge
In the eighth-century, Grontabricc was a settlement by the bridge near the river Granta. The Normans found the name hard to pronounce, so Grontabricc became Cantebrigie. Then, as Caroline Taggart writes, “someone realised that it was daft to have a town called Cambridge sitting on the Granta, so they changed the name of the river to match.” No prizes for guessing what the river is called now.

2.  Chicago

One of the most populous and famous cities in the US, Chicago gets its name from – wild garlic. Yes, you read that right. In the Miami-Illinois language, ‘shikaakwa’ was the name for a type of wild garlic that grew abundantly in the area. ‘Shikaakwa’ became Checagou, which evolved into Chicago .

3.  Kabul
Historians argue that the city’s name originates from the ancient Kamboja tribe. The name could also be derived from Sanskrit “kambuja” meaning “hump-backed” or “crooked,” perhaps a reference to the serrated outline of the mountains surrounding the city.

4.  London
If you have read Asterix in Britain, you know that London was, at some point in the past, called Londinium. This was a thriving Roman settlement. An account written in the 12^th century claims that the city was named after a King Lud, but it is just one theory out of many.

5.  Los Angeles
The home of Hollywood was once the City of Angels. The first Franciscan mission in the city named the settlement El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula, or “The Town of Our Lady the Queen of Angels of the Little Portion” – rather a mouthful for a place-name. People probably reached before they could tell someone where they were going. So, the name was shortened to El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles, and eventually became Los Angeles.

6.  Minneapolis
Minneapolis means “Waterfall City”. The name has two parts – minne, from the Dakota Sioux word for water, and polis, from the Ancient Greek for city. As a city with 22 lakes, it is only fair that its name honours its geography.
The credit for coining the name goes to Andrew Hoag, reportedly the city’s first schoolteacher.

7.  New Delhi
Not surprisingly, as with most points in Indian history, there is a multiplicity of theories about the origin of the name. One view is that a Raja Dhilu, who reigned in the 1^st century BCE, named the city after himself, as kings do. Another view is that Dilli comes from the Hindustani word for threshold because Delhi is seen as a gateway to India’s great northern plains.

8.  Ouagadougou
Originally called “Kumbee-Tenga”, by the Ninsi tribe, the city was renamed “Wogodogo”, meaning “where people get honor and respect,” by a local hero in the 15^th century.
After the French colonized Burkina Faso, Wogodogo became Ouagadougou. In conventional English spelling, the word would be Wagadugu.

Any interesting place-names you would like to share with us? Email us or leave a comment below.

Read other Word Nerd blogs here.

Success is a popular term. It is also a nuanced one; as much a personal definition, as a cultural construct. The word is derived from the Latin successus, which comes from the verb succedere – come close after. The question hidden in the word’s etymology then is – to come close after what?

A lot of it depends on your stage of life. Perhaps, for you, it could mean a seat in your favourite college, the top rank in an exam, or a fat paycheck. For your parents, it could mean health, great family dynamics, and your well-being & happiness. But it is simple-minded to force the ideal of success into a straitjacket. Recently, we did a piece on how an 18-year old girl turned a rejection letter from University of Oxford into a piece of art, and what seemed like a failure into a win.

Success implies a pursuit of goals. But it does not specify either the goal, or the way you should pursue it. If that’s got you thinking about what success might mean to you, we bring you 8 definitions of success by people universally acclaimed as successful

“Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.” — John Wooden
An American basketball player, a Beta Theta Pi brother, and head coach of the UCLA team, Wooden was nicknamed the ‘Wizard of Westwood’ for winning big & better than any coach in basketball history.

“Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.” — Maya Angelou
Over 50 honorary degrees, a Pultizer, Tony Award, 3 Grammys, the National Medal of Arts, & the Presidential Medal of Freedom – success can certainly look like this. But that is not how poet, writer & activist, Maya Angelou defined it.

“Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.” — Winston Churchill
One of Britain’s best known Prime Ministers, Churchill knew both failure & success intimately. He was awarded a Nobel Prize for Literature, and is consistently ranked one of the most influential people in British history. We can take his word for what success is, and how it can be achieved.

“Success in life could be defined as the continued expansion of happiness and the progressive realization of worthy goals.” — Deepak Chopra
One of the wealthiest & most famous names in Alternative Medicine, Deepak Chopra, wrote an entire book on ‘The 7 Spiritual Laws of Success’. What do you think of his definition?

“If you carefully consider what you want to be said of you in the funeral experience, you will find your definition of success.” — Stephen Covey (NYT)
Now that you have read of four definitions of success, you might want to think about what success will mean for you. Well-known motivational speaker, author, and professor – Stephen Covey, tells you how to find out your personal definition of success.

May you come close after it.

What is your definition of success? Email us. Read other Word Nerds here.

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In this Word Nerd, we are talking about balls, because, apparently, we talk about balls a lot! And not just in the context of sports. It is a common metaphor in politics, business, or any kind of conversation. Not surprising, given that humans have been preoccupied with balls for millennia.

There are handball drawings on tombs at Saqqara, hockey sketches on the tombs at Beni Hassan. In Ancient Greece, a culture with great emphasis on physical fitness, ballgames were an easy alternative to tough exercises. Homer spoke about Nausicaa, a princess, playing ball with her friends on the beach.

We’ve been playing some version of handball since the ancient times, hockey for possibly 4000 years, and cricket since the 16^th century at least. Naturally, the ball is an important, ubiquitous object of our culture. It figures prominently in the language as well.

We list 8 idioms related to balls. Let’s get rolling, shall we?

• “Ballpark estimate” or “In the ballpark”: A very rough approximation.
  A ballpark is a baseball ground. It is also the range of a guess. So if you’re thinking of an MBA degree from a mid-range college in the US, your tuition fees could be in the ballpark of 50,000 USD per year.
• “Carry the ball”: To take responsibility
  The ball being the focal point of most games. Here, it becomes a metaphor for a key responsibility. The opposite is to “drop the ball”, which implies making a mistake. Think of dropping the ball at deep backward point. Not good.
• “Play ball”: To cooperate; fall in with somebody else’s plans.
  This idiom has slightly negative connotations. It suggests that you do not agree with, or approve of, the plans. “Blake was a key witness in the accident. But he was paid to shut up & play ball. So, no one was sentenced.”
• “Curveball”: A surprising or unforeseen development.
  The idiom is inspired from baseball. A curveball is something that life often throws at us. Like that Algebra question from the chapter you didn’t prepare.
• “Get the ball rolling” (and then to keep it rolling): Start something.
  Fairly self-explanatory. It’s a phrase slightly overused at the start of meetings, and other corporate events. You start something, you have to keep it going; you can’t drop it. Adulthood isn’t all that it’s made out to be!
• “Behind the eight ball”: At a disadvantage.
  Originates from the game of billiards. In the game, if the cue ball is behind the eight ball, a player has no shots. “Lila has been down with flu for a week. She’s really going to be behind the eight ball at class when she returns.”

• “The ball is in your court”: It is for you to make the next move.
  This term comes from tennis. You serve & then it is your opponent’s turn. A great metaphor for social dynamics too.“Darcy let Lizzie know how he feels. Now the ball is in her court.” You can just imagine Lydia say that to her friends.
• “That’s the way the ball bounces”: That is the way life is. That’s fate.
  Something people say by way of commiserating, when the ball has bounced in a wonky fashion. Or, when things have not gone to plan. It happens fairly frequently as life goes on. Find a way to deal.

Any other ball-related idioms you or your folk are fond of using? Email us or leave a comment below.

Read other Word Nerd posts here.

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We at BrainGain Magazine believe there is some good in the worst of us. But we also understand that there are limits to human patience. We all suffer moments when we want to gnash our teeth and cuss someone out, but we often refrain from doing so due to notions of decorum. Now there’s a nice Latin word – decorum. It’s basically an erudite way of saying, “Don’t be a jackass”.

And this is why, contrary to popular belief, Latin is far from useless in our modern world. It can add an intellectual touch to insults. Check out the examples below.

Illustration from Stultifera Nauis (Ship of Fools), printed in 1497. This satirical work by Sebastian Brant condemns ignorance as the enemy of society. Each of its 112 chapters depicts a different kind of fool

1.  Stulte! 

Idiot!

2. Sceleris plenissime!
Totally outrageous! (The literal translation is “most full of crime”.)

3. Nequam quidem es!
You are really no good!

4. Nugas garris!
You’re talking nonsense!

5. Spurcifer!
Scumbucket! (The literal translation is “bearer-of-filth”.)

6. Te Iuppiter dique omnes perdant!
Jupiter and all the gods damn you!

7 Pediculose!
Lousy! (“full of lice”; pedis = louse)

8. Nugator!
Pipsqueak!

9. Somnias!
You’ve got to be kidding! (The literal translation is “you’re dreaming!”)

10. Tace!
Shut up!

Got any favorite Latin insults that are missing from this list? Leave a comment below or email us!

Don’t forget to check out our guide to swearing like a pro! More Word Nerd posts are here.

In our Word Nerd blogs last year, we’ve talked about words to use, as well as how and why. For 2017, we start by sharing a list of words that ought to be banned, according to popular opinion.

Words banned from use in LSSU’s annual list

Every year, since 1976, the Lake Superior State University has been publishing the “List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness”.
The list is culled from submissions to the university’s website.

Now in its 42^nd edition, the list has a strong political flavor, thanks to last year’s nerve-racking US elections.

The 19 words on this year’s list are as below:

• You, Sir – The phrase has come down from the age of fights unto the death to the age of the internet. And it seems ridiculous.
• Focus – Maybe too much focus on ‘focus’ tired readers and listeners.
• Bete Noire – Sounds too fancy-pants for a synonym of bugbear.
• Town Hall Meeting – Candidates seldom debate in town halls. And the origin of the usage is remote from modern memory. Banned.
• Post-Truth – There was post-modern, post-partum and post-colonial, now there’s post-truth. As the LSSU website says, “To paraphrase the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, we are entitled to our own opinions but not to our own facts.”
• Guesstimate – Don’t guess and/or estimate say enough on their own? These words annoy us too.
• 831 – 8 letters, 3 words, 1 meaning (I love you). Abbreviating love. Well, you’re certainly making the Shakespeare & company look like chumps for not using that to say how they felt. Or not.
• Historic – Again to quote the LSSU website, “What’s considered as such is best left to historians rather than the contemporary media.”
• Manicured – In the context of lawns only.
• Echo Chamber – This is a metaphorical description of ideas being reinforced through repetition. Sounds like news then?
• On Fleek – Anything on-point. Like nails, or eyebrows. Let’s not call our PPTs that, please.
• Bigly – In the 19^th century, this word meant “in a swelling, blustering manner.” That’s how it was said, if it is what was said.
• Ghost – To disappear on social media. Don’t do that, it’s not nice.
• Dadbod – The opposite of a Greek God, body-wise.
• Listicle – Love it or hate it, you can’t escape it.
• “Get your dandruff up” – A malapropism. To get your dander up means to lose your temper.
• Selfie drone – As if selfies weren’t enough.
• Frankenfruit – A category of frankenfoods, which are Genetically Modified Foods. Another word inspired by a literary character.
• Disruption – We’re so sick of hearing the word that we prefer corruption.

Any word that annoys you bigly? Feel free to leave a comment below or email us!

Read previous #WordNerd posts here.

By Skendha Singh

Courtesy: Royal Society of Chemistry

Winter is not only coming, it is well & truly here. If not in the Game of Thrones, at least in the northern hemisphere. For Monsoon, we did a piece on how weather is a great source of creative inspiration in literature. So, for this week’s Word Nerd, we will look at 6 idiomatic phrases which all refer to the wintry weather. That shouldn’t stop you from using them all through the year.

1. Put it on ice – To put something away for later
A nice phrase for procrastinators. This is not the same as “putting someone on ice” or “icing someone.” The latter phrases imply murderous intent and are commonly used in the US.
To put it on ice is inspired by freezing. Food was put away and refrigerated only to be consumed later.

2. A snowball’s chance in hell – No reasonable hope
Hell is generally perceived as fire and brimstone, barring a few exceptions. It stands to imagination, then, that snowballs have little chance of surviving there.  And this is what the idiom means. According to Idiomation, the phrase is generally used in extreme political contexts. But feel free to improvise!

3. Cold hands & a warm heart – Not showing feeling does not mean a lack of feeling
According to the Cambridge dictionary, this is also said to save someone from embarrassment if they have cold hands, literally or figuratively. However, Yale University researchers have proved this to be a myth. Their studies show that the warmer you are physically, the nicer you are to others.

4. Cold comfort – Poor or inadequate sympathy, consolation or encouragement
For instance, knowing that another student flunked with the same marks as you is cold comfort. The phrase has been in common use for centuries. Shakespeare used it in several works, including ‘The Taming of the Shrew.’

5. Blow hot and cold – To behave inconsistently
The expression is said to have come from one of Aesop’s fables, in which a Satyr dining with a man saw him blow on his hands to warm them, and then on his soup to cool it. The Satyr broke their friendship stating that anyone who could blow hot and cold from one mouth was untrustworthy.

6. As pure as the driven snow – Entirely pure
Snow that blows in drifts is untrodden and therefore serves its metaphorical uses. Shakespeare, with his frequent association of snow and purity, contributed to the popularity of this simile.

Any other weather and winter sayings you would like to share with us? Feel free to leave a comment below or email us.
Read previous #WordNerd posts here.

By: Skendha Singh

Do you know another word for cheekbones even if they aren’t as distinctive as Benedict’s?

The human body fascinates all of us endlessly. It’s front and center – on magazine covers, in poetry and medical journals, in cultural debates and literary criticism, in rites and experiments. There are ways in which we talk about it, ways in which we should talk about it, and ways in which we never should.
But we can never not bring up the body – whether through scatological humour (Gulliver in the land of Yahoos), the bodyimage hashtag on Twitter, or the multiple conversations we have through the day.

So we found weird names for body parts. They come from slang or are part of medical terminology. We selected the ones that piqued our interest, and are perfect for peppering conversations. In short, they’re interesting, amusing and useful.

1. Clapper: This is slang for the tongue. And the word has been in use since the 17^{th .}  It comes from the bell clapper. Ostensibly, that’s how the tongue works inside the mouth. The word also means stripper. So be careful of the context!

2. Oxter: Scottish slang for armpit. “Don’t let your oxter smell like a dumpster.”

3. Commandments: No one calls fingernails that anymore. Yes, fingernails. Why? Because, mostly, fingernails like commandments, are ten in number.

4. Keister or Keester: That’s slang for your backside. It can also be used as a verb and then is very rude indeed. So we don’t suggest you use the word except as a noun. Keister also means suitcase or trunk.

5. Hallux: It’s a very dignified, Roman-centurion, astronomical-configuration, kind of name for the big toe. That’s right. So, what’s the small toe called?

6. Minimus: A grand name for the smallest digit in our body. Is there a maximus on us too?

7. Gluteus Maximus: There is! And it’s the hip muscle. Also, the name of this character from Asterix.

8. Zygoma: For this one, we have to thank Benedict Cumberbatch, who used the word in a Reddit chat. When a fan asked, “Do you, Matt Smith, and Tom Hiddleston have cheekbone polishing parties together?” Benedict replied, “We like nothing better than buffing our Zygoma…” So that’s what it is – cheekbones.

9. Welsh comb: That would be your four fingers and thumb. Londoners coined the term because these digits are what some men would use to groom their hair. And still do. Whatever works, we say!

Are there any curious words for body parts that you use and would like to share? Read previous #WordNerd posts here. Feel free to leave a comment below or email us!

What an amazing planet we live on! Right now, the Australian bureau of meterology is reporting that it’s pretty hot (highs in the mid-30s Celsius, which is mid-90s Fahrenheit) in Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney. Meanwhile, in Canada’s Alberta province, where it’s -17°C (2°F) and snowing, local news media are informing the public on what to pack in an emergency roadside kit and what to do while waiting for a tow truck. Sometimes it seems as though our day-to-day survival revolves around that tiny calibrated glass tube with a bulb full of mercury at one end, invented by the European physicist Daniel Fahrenheit 300 years ago. But mercury is so much more than a means to gauge atmospheric or body temperature!

1. Quicksilver

Mercury is the only metallic element that is liquid at standard conditions for temperature and pressure. Besides thermometers, it’s used in thermometers, barometers, some types of telescopes, and a number of other devices. It’s has long been used in fluorescent lamps, dental amalgam, and various medical compounds, but its medical use has declined because its toxic properties are now widely understood. Mercury is also used in mascara and firearms. Some countries have enacted partial or total bans on mercury because it is toxic.

2. Plants

The genus Mercurialis is a group of eight plant species native to Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Herb mercury (Mercurialis annua) grows as a weed in cultivated areas and shaded woods. Its stinky cousin, dog’s mercury (Mercurialis perennis) grows wild in European woodlands. Like the metal, dog’s mercury is poisonous to humans and livestock. Symptoms appear within a few hours, and can include vomiting, pain, gastric and kidney inflammation, and sometimes inflammation of the cheeks and jaw and drowsiness.

Mercurialis perennis in Muraste Nature Reserve, Estonia (image by Raimond Raadik, used under CC license)

3. Planet

The planet Mercury’s proximity to the Sun, and its small size, make it difficult to observe. Even so, human beings have observed the planet since at least ancient Assyrian times, 3,400 years ago. In ancient Greece, Mercury was called Apollo when it appeared as a ‘morning star’ just before sunrise, and Hermes when it appeared as an ‘evening star’, just after sunset. This tiny planet has a mindboggling range of temperature, from 427° C (800° F) to -184° C (-300° F), but its low gravitational pull and weak atmosphere mean it essentially has no weather.

4. An ancient god

In the religion of ancient Rome, Mercury was the god of shopkeepers and merchants, travelers and transporters of goods – and thieves and tricksters. He is sometimes represented as holding a purse, symbolic of his role in business. Ancient artists freely borrowed the attributes of the ancient Greek god Hermes, and portrayed Mercury as wearing winged sandals or a winged cap, and holding a caduceus (staff).

Mercury, the winged messenger of the gods, at the Grand Central train terminus in New York City (image by Purple74, used under CC license)

5. A modern god

Few people have transcended more boundaries than Queen frontman Freddie Mercury. He was born in 1946 as Farrokh Bulsara, to Parsi (Zoroastrian Indians of Persian heritage) in the sultanate of Zanzibar, which was then a British protectorate. He spent much of his childhood in India, and played the piano in a rock band at his boarding school in Panchgani, Maharashtra. His family eventually settled in England, where Freddie, as he was now known, studied art. He continued to play music, and in the early 1970s, formed Queen. The rest, of course, is history.

Read previous #WordNerd posts here. Feel free to leave a comment below or email us!

By: BrainGain Staff Writer