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Magnetic poetry (image by Steve Johnson, used under CC BY 2.0 licence)

Some years ago, a friend and I were in a shop that sold kitchenware in a suburban Mumbai market. The store, run by a second-generation trader, was tiny and crammed, as it had always been, but over the years some of the traditional steel bartan had given way to imported items, such as casseroles and wine glasses. My friend wanted a spaghetti jar, and the shopkeeper said he didn’t have any. Seeing his blank look, I wondered if he knew what a spaghetti jar was. He was smart, but seemed more of a daal-chaawal type of guy. Clearly there was a gap between my friend’s terrible Hindi and the shopkeeper’s English (or Italian, if you consider that spaghetti comes from the Italian spago, meaning string). I pointed to a 6-inch-high glass jar and asked him if he had one like that but 12 inches high. Turned out he had spaghetti jars, after all.

That got me thinking. Like most people in the service industry, this guy’s lifestyle did not resemble those of customers. They spoke languages he didn’t speak, ate things he didn’t eat, drank things he didn’t drink, and used things he didn’t use. Who knows how much of his merchandise remained unsold because he didn’t understand what his customers were asking for?

People sometimes confuse having a large vocabulary with using long, irritating, and pretentious words to say something simple, or even to say nothing (remember Anthony Gonsalves?). But a good vocabulary really means accuracy and nuance in how you perceive, think and speak. Research shows that it has a real impact on our lives that goes far beyond doing well on language exams. A strong vocabulary correlates with real-world abilities and problem-solving success. It helps us process information faster and more effortlessly. In other words, we understand our world better.

The corollary is that if we cannot name things, our understanding of the world is poorer. I’m reminded of the time I was going somewhere with a violin case in my hand. A passer-by smiled benignly and, pointing at the case, asked me if it was “that thing” (gesturing as if strumming an imaginary guitar). How could I tell him what it was? He didn’t know the word “guitar”, so if I said it was a violin, would that mean anything to him? And if I responded with a violin-playing gesture, would he think I was making fun of him? I don’t remember what I eventually did, but I remember wondering what music sounded like to him. How do you hear a piece of music if you don’t know how that sound was made? Was it by strumming? Bowing? Little hammers on strings?

Our vocabulary is crucial to how we make sense of reality. It’s how we label, sort, conceptualize, think abstractly. If we assume that saying something simply and clearly is the same as dumbing it down, we may just end up depriving ourselves of IQ points. The late sociologist Donald Hayes, who taught at Cornell University, showed in the 1990s that the decline of verbal SAT scores was correlated with a dilution of knowledge and vocabulary in schoolbooks. There are other studies, too, that show a strong correlation between vocabulary and intelligence.

Of course, nobody says it quite like the internet’s most famous cat:

By Uma Asher

Namaste! For starters, here’s a lesson in how not to say that word:

Mispronouncing a foreign word should not be confused with saying it with a different accent. Everybody has some accent, and those of us who lack the talent of Meryl Streep or Jon B. Higgins cannot lose our accent completely.

But anyone can learn to pronounce a foreign word. We mispronounce words when we don’t know which syllable to emphasize, for example, or whether a C is pronounced like an S or a K or something else. It often helps to know which language the word comes from. Here are some foreign words that English-speakers often get wrong.

via GIPHY

Robot. This word comes from the Czech robota, which means forced labor. It was a 1920 play that first used ‘robot’ to describe an artificial man or woman. Many English-speakers say ‘ro-bo’, as if it were a French word with a silent T at the end. But the English pronunciation is closer to the original word: ‘ROW-bot’.

Schezwan. People often say ‘shayz-WAAN’ when they are referring to a type of Chinese cuisine (or whatever masquerades as that cuisine in India). But the spelling is wrong, and it causes people to mangle the pronunciation. Sichuan province in southwestern China does have an official English spelling that’s pretty straightforward, actually. Not all of us can say ‘Sichuan’ the proper Chinese way, but we can at least manage ‘si-chuan’.

Bruschetta. Who doesn’t love those slices of toasted Italian bread drenched in olive oil, with garlic and tomatoes on top. But sadly, not all of us order them correctly. It is incorrect to say ‘bru-shetta’, though thankfully that doesn’t make it less delicious. The word comes from Italian, and in Italian, ‘ch’ is always pronounced like K. So it’s ‘bru-SKET-ta’.

Potpourri. Like many French words, this one can be confounding for people who are not familiar with the language of Voltaire and Rousseau. It refers to something elegant and pleasing – a fragrant mixture of dried flower petals and herbs – but in the original French, pot pourri literally means ‘rotten bowl’. It’s pronounced ‘PO-pu-REE’.

Chic. French again. There is no ‘tch’ sound in French, except for foreign words and names. Generally, ‘ch’ is pronounced like ‘sh’, and the I is longer than in English. So the correct pronunciation is ‘sheek’.

By: Uma Asher

359 million of us may speak English but accents still distinguish us – just like the brand of our watch or sunglasses, the degree we hold, or the clothes we wear.

When we travel, accents can seem like verbal passports – they announce who we are and where we’re from. They also help us build instant connections. The joy of recognizing a familiar language and/or accent in a foreign land is unmatched.

When I was in college, and given to getting lost, it made me nervous about traveling. That’s when one of my smarter classmates said to me, “The map’s in your mouth.” It sounded rude but the meaning was simple – I could always get directions by asking.

Later, when I went on to study for a postgraduate degree in the UK, her words assumed a new significance. My accent was often my introduction. And it was true the other way around as well. I knew a Londoner from a Highlander, or a New Yorker from a Texan by listening to how they spoke.

What is interesting is how accents divide us even when we speak a common language. As English comedian John Bishop jokes in the video linked below, “We have different accents very, very close to each other all over England. . . mainly because if people speak different than you, it gives you a reason to hate them.” His fellow guest, actress Diane Kruger, then goes on to ask him if he can do an English accent. It sounds funny given that Bishop is as English as Prince Charles (if not more) but underlying her request if the implication that speaking with a Received Pronunciation (like Prince Charles) is to be definitively English, not if you speak with a Scouse accent (like John Bishop does).

Watch the video from 1:38 onwards.

Sounds incredible when you think about how the UK isn’t exactly a sprawling mass of land with thousands of different languages. Quite the opposite, in fact. But, for a quick survey of accents spoken in the Queen’s own country, check out Siobhan Thompson’s guided tour of 17 British accents. As she suggests, British accents seem to have ties with both land and class. The nasal twang of Birmingham links to the industrial revolution, whereas Received Pronunciation has strong class associations.

A lot is heard in an accent across the pond as well. Amy Walker, in her video – Fun Tour of American Accents, shares interesting thoughts on why people in different cities in the US speak the way they do. In New York, according to Amy, people speak with what she calls the “trumpet effect” – meant for a crowded city where people must make their space. Down south, where life is more laid back, the accent softens and slows, becoming a drawl.

But do we all speak with accents? Surely, the way I speak is normal, whereas you speak a little funny (said the Australian to the American to the Briton to the Indian).  This is part of what makes experiencing different cultures so much fun. And we learn that while we are all different, we are all still connected. Different pins on one map.

Do you have any interesting observations or anecdotes to share from traveling abroad and hearing familiar or unfamiliar accents?

Share your thoughts by emailing us or leave a comment below! Check out previous Word Nerd posts here!

By Skendha Singh

As I write this Word Nerd piece, August is nearly at an end, and so is the rainy season.

In the Indian subcontinent, the rainy season is also known as monsoon, a word which originates from the Arabic ‘mausim’. Mausim means that which comes around once a year. This could be a festival or a season. Arab sailors were among the earliest to record this weather phenomenon and name it. Over time, the word was adopted into English, along with others which shared its roots, like lilac, macabre, and mufti. But while the word became English, the phenomenon has stayed Asian.

Of course, when you and I say monsoon, we mostly mean the rains, and not the seasonal reversal of winds over Indian seas. Understandably so. Since ancient times, weather has been viewed from a farmer’s perspective in agricultural lands like India. Monsoon meant an outburst of rains because that was what mattered. Even kings were called rain-makers. A king’s righteousness pleased the gods who sent down timely showers.

Therefore, rains have occupied a central place not just in terms of understanding climatology but also in shaping culture. Clouds, thunderstorms, rain showers have exercised a powerful hold over the religious and poetic imagination of many. Think Noah’s ark, and the Biblical floods. Or the Vedic personification of rainstorms as Indra, the king of gods, who wields the thunderbolt as a weapon. A large number of hymns is dedicated to him. Not surprisingly, he is a god meant to be placated, given India’s tropical climate.

Another great example is Kalidasa’s work ‘Meghdoota’. In the poem, an exiled husband wants to send a message to his dear wife. He gives it to a cloud. In most of Sanskrit literature, rains are associated with a series of love sports and festivals –  peacocks dancing, tree branches clashing, the clouds rumbling; all seem to evoke love in the poetic imagination, coming as they do, after the scorching Indian summers.

In English literature too, the rains are a ubiquitous element. As Alexandra Harris notes in this essay, bleak weather commonly symbolises punishment in Christian narrative. Paradise meant eternal spring. So storms in Shakespeare are reflective of the inner life of the characters – think of old King Lear on the moor, inciting the rains to drench the steeples and drown the weather cocks. Or Keats in his ‘Ode to Melancholy’, describing the clouds as weeping (“But when the melancholy fit shall fall/ Sudden from heaven like a weeping cloud”), and William Wordsworth wandering “lonely as a cloud”. Again, there is Emily Bronte with ‘Wuthering Heights’, where the weather is almost like a character in the novel, mirroring the tumultuous fates of Heathcliff and other characters.

What does the rain mean to you? Is it somber, dramatic, annoying? Do you have a favourite poem or piece on the topic?

Share your thoughts by emailing us or leave a comment below!

Check out previous Word Nerd posts here!

English-speakers often say “as busy as a bee”. No doubt bees have stuff to do, and they do what they can each day. But it doesn’t actually seem like they’re racing against deadlines and have no time to talk, does it? They seem to have plenty of time to buzz between or during their pollinating and nectar-gathering errands.

Above: Bee peeping (Image by Gordon, used under CC BY 2.0 licence)

It’s us humans who seem too busy to communicate. We believe we don’t have time to spell or say entire words. And hence we abbreviate.

And that was why, many years ago, a colleague told me he was taking a day off to get an RCT. I had no idea what he meant, and to be honest I was a bit afraid to ask. It turned out he had to go to the dentist to get a root canal, but was too busy to say so (the T in RCT is for treatment, in case you’re wondering).

I’m sure I’m not the only person who has heard people asking for the WC when they are looking for a loo, restroom, washroom, toilet, bog, lavatory. So many words to choose from – so why “WC”? Sometimes I want to ask if they’re enquiring about the World Cup. No? Workers’ Compensation, maybe? How about White Castle? Worthless Check? Wearable Computing? But I don’t do that, because it’s cruel when someone is suffering a dire emergency.

Then there’s KISS. I don’t know why people feel clever when they use it, considering they feel compelled to immediately follow up by spelling it out (“Keep It Simple, Silly” – ha, ha, ha). Another of my pet peeves is PFA. Seriously? At Indian internet speeds, you can type “please see the attached file” 100 times while waiting for your 50 KB Word document to upload. The problem does not seem to be lack of time. Looks more like laziness to me.

Are there any abbreviations that make you gnash your teeth? Email us or leave a comment below!

Above image by Arden (used under CC BY 2.0 licence)

Check out previous Word Nerd posts here!

By BrainGain Staff Writer

In an earlier Word Nerd, we emphasized how English as a language begs, borrows and steals. There, we talked about how its sources have been other languages – Hindi, German, French, Latin and so on. But, of late, it is the jargon of technology – articulated through the internet, science, and media, which is becoming a fixture in everyday speech.

And that is hardly surprising given that technology (especially, but not limited to, the internet) is a necessity in our lives. Who doesn’t know the meaning of a selfie, Wi-Fi, blog, or vlog? And who isn’t given to using words like friended, unfollowed, and liked as verbs? Before puritans and pundits object, we’d like to suggest that Shakespeare would approve.

It’s interesting to see just how ubiquitous these words have become. And if you aren’t familiar with these terms, you can now learn them and flaunt them for fun.

1. 404: Technically, this is not so much a word, but a number. 404 is a pretty standard message which shows up when the server is unable to find what is requested of it. It also indicates a broken or dead link. In real world parlance, it means “clueless”.

“Trump’s a 404 on the foreign policy. And the domestic policy. And everything that being a decent President involves.”

2. Bandwidth: The phrase ‘running out of bandwidth’, uses bandwidth in the context of internet connection or web hosting. To most of us, bandwidth means the amount of data transferred. We constantly moan about this when our internet slows down, or our mobile data runs out.

This is also the sense in which we use it in our daily lives. Imagine a team mate piping up at the last minute on a Friday to say, “I’m out of bandwidth, you’ll have to take this on.” Makes for a cheery weekend.

3. Bio break: This term doesn’t come from a code or a computer language. It seems to have emerged in techie offices and is still current in workplaces. It’s a geeky alternative to euphemisms like “powdering your nose” and “answering nature’s call.”

We know you’ve guessed the meaning by now.

4. Brain dump: In computing jargon, this means making a snapshot of a database for the purpose of archiving or transferring. To you, me and others like us, it means dumping specific information from our brain into another brain or medium (like paper or the computer).

“I wish I could brain dump into a pensieve like Dumbledore. I’d never fail another test.”

5. Dead-tree version: This is going to pinch the environmentally conscious and old-fashioned among us who prefer to read on paper rather than on a screen. But, every so often, one needs a dead-tree version of a bill, a report, or a contract. Because not everyone has caught up to speed with digitisation, especially the governments.

“I’m carrying a forest worth of the dead-tree version of all my certificates for the visa interview.”

6. Mommy-Save: This phrase doesn’t denote proficiency but its lack. And while we don’t know who decided to diss the tribe of mothers worldwide by coining this phrase, we like to imagine that they had a rant-and-rave served cold for dinner.

You mommy-save if you click save on anything and everything without having decided whether and where it should be saved.

“Sheila has mommy saved all the photos – summer school, Chris Hemsworth, and the birds project in her personal folder.”

Any tech-speak you’re fond of that we haven’t listed here?

Email us or leave a comment below! Check out previous Word Nerd posts here!

By Skendha Singh

Think of good, vigorous writing in human terms. It’s athletic: wakes up at daybreak, jogs 5 miles, then goes for a game of tennis. And it still looks like it just stepped out of the shower. In other words, good writing is fresh, confident and precise.

Now, let’s think about mediocre or weak writing. It huffs and puffs as it does the rounds. And passes half the day before it gets from point A to point B. When it arrives, it’s wearing a slather of sweat and a dour face. Neither is it easy on the eye, nor is it effective.

In this edition of Word Nerd, we are taking good grammar and spelling for granted. The absence of either makes writing bad. Instead, we want to look at the defects which weaken writing – the bad carbs of language.

Well, actually, there may just be a number of very many things. And filler or crutch words come right at the top (as they did in the previous sentence). They are the words you use to buy time for arranging your thoughts as you speak. Here’s an example:

“Tim, did you steal from the cookie jar?”

“Um, well, actually, I basically took just a few. Wouldn’t call it stealing, Mum.”

In writing, filler words perform a similar function. They allow you to dawdle. They make excuses. They sap the vitality of your work. You know ‘literally’ is a poor word choice to make if you want to prove a point. ‘Actually’, ‘basically’ and ‘naturally’ belong in the same category. Your language doesn’t need that flab. So lose it.

Another category is hedge phrases – ‘I think’, ‘I believe’, ‘I feel’ and ‘in my opinion’ and so on. Insecurity on the page does not build a reader’s interest or confidence. Your writing is already your opinion and not a statistical report. If you think Harry should have paired up with Hermione, we know that it’s how you feel, not what Rowling intended. So don’t tell the reader what he or she already knows.

Do we need to explain why you shouldn’t use words like ‘stuff’ and ‘things’? You will sound the opposite of profound if you write, “Well, things happened. Good things and bad things. That’s the stuff my life is made of…” No one will know what you’re talking about, or why, because you’ve said nothing.

Qualifiers also weaken your writing – making it creak at the joints. Mark Twain gave the following tip for those of us prone to qualifying everything:

“Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very;’ your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.”

Or, just be your own editor and delete the qualifiers in your writing. It will be that much stronger.

Are there any unhealthy habits that weaken your writing?

Email us or leave a comment below! Check out previous Word Nerd posts here!

By Skendha Singh

“(I)t is not desirable to confine knowledge to whatever can be put into a
useful shape for examinations, drawing-rooms, or the
still more pretentious modes of publicity.”
—T.S. Eliot, Tradition and Individual Talent

Quotations are a natural intellectual currency. Whether you’re a literature major, or a movie buff, an amateur historian or a sci-fi nerd – you will have words, especially other peoples’ words, strewn around your vicinity. Maybe your goodbyes are the all too tired ‘Hasta la vista, baby!’, or the slightly less well known, “Peace and long life.” Or, you could just be that person. You know, the one who drops lines from Milton, Shakespeare and Wordsworth like coins from a ripped wallet.

Like T.S. Eliot. His writing is liberally strewn with quotations. In poetry and prose. For him, it was a technique (“Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal,” he had said). As a student, you may need to quote to substantiate your argument while writing an academic essay or giving a valedictorian speech. But, if you fail to investigate and credit your sources carefully, it’s unlikely that literary renown will be your fate. More likely that you’ll get accused of plagiarism and/or stupidity.

You won’t be in poor company either. Presidents have frequently misquoted other Presidents. Abraham Lincoln, we reckon is the ‘Most Misquoted American President of All Time.’ (“You can’t fool all the people all the time”, “Whatever you are, be a good one”, etc). Everyone from Clinton to Obama has falsely attributed quotes to him. Coming down a few notches, misquotes are obviously a thing with the internet.

Even if they’re on Wikipedia. So it’s entirely up to you to assess the credibility of your sources.

Some utterances, false as they are, gain proverbial status over time. We’ve found five of the best known ones. We bet you’ve used them at one point or another. And there’s no harm in still using them, as long as you know where, and who, they came from. It’s more fun that way!

1. “Elementary my dear Watson.” —Sherlock Holmes 
If Holmes wanted to say it, he had the space of 56 short stories and 4 novels in which to say it. But, he didn’t.

So who said it? Psmith, a character created by P.G. Wodehouse. Even Holmes wouldn’t have guessed that!

2. “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” – M.K. Gandhi
No matter how many t-shirts shout it out, Gandhi did not utter these words. This is a nice summing up of what he did say – “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. … We need not wait to see what others do.”

Not as pithy. But then, not everyone is Oscar Wilde.

3. “Well – behaved women rarely make history.” – Marilyn Monroe
In spite of what Pinterest, Tumblr and the interwebs might say, the author of this quote was not Monroe but. . . a history professor!

Originally, the quote appeared in a piece published by the “American Quarterly” in Spring 1976. The author of that piece was Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, who is a Pulitzer prize winning historian and a professor at Harvard.

4. “The only two certainties in life are death and taxes.” – Mark Twain
According to the internet, Mark Twain is supposedly the author of most of the wittiest sayings that the human race came up with. Including this one.

Originally though, the phrase ‘Things as certain as death and taxes. . .’ appeared in Daniel Defoe’s “The Political History of the Devil.”  This was in 1726.

In 1789, Benjamin Franklin wrote in a letter to a friend, ‘in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.’
Moral of the story: other people say witty things too!

5. “Let them eat cake.” — Marie Antoinette 
Marie Antoinette never said these precise words to express her disdain for peasants who couldn’t afford bread. In fact, nobody seems to have used these precise words.

Jean Jacques Rousseau came close with his, “Let them eat brioche.” This was in the “Confessions”. But brioche is not cake just as Rousseau was not the Queen.

And yet, the misquote added fuel to the fire of French discontent, and turned the country against the monarchy.Any misquotes you’d like to share? Leave a comment below!

Check out previous Word Nerd posts at this link! We welcome your contributions and suggestions – email us

July is when some of the oldest modern democracies celebrate freedom from tyranny and arbitrary rule – Canada on July 1, the US on July 4, and France on July 14. On July 9, Argentina celebrated 200 years of independence from the Spanish empire.

Above: Illustration of French women marching to Versailles in 1789

The United States freed itself from British rule 240 years ago, and in France, revolutionaries brought an end to absolute monarchy 227 years ago, all at the cost of thousands of lives. Today, sadly, voter turnouts do not always reflect the enthusiasm seen during independence day celebrations worldwide. For instance, less than half of all US voters aged 18-24 voted in the 2008 presidential election. In India, the 2014 election saw an average voter turnout of just over 66%, but in Maharashtra it was an appalling 60%, and in Bihar it was less than 57%.

Above: This political cartoon, attributed to Benjamin Franklin, originally appeared in The Pennsylvania Gazette in 1754, and was recycled by American revolutionaries to rally the colonies to unite

“Democracy” literally means the rule of the people. The word “democracy” comes from ancient Greek words that literally mean “the people” (demos) and “power” or “authority” (-kratia). The dictionary defines it as a “form of government in which the sovereign power resides in the people as a whole, and is exercised either directly by them… or by officers elected by them”, or a state in which “all have equal rights, without hereditary or arbitrary differences of rank or privilege”.

The absence of rank and privilege, of course, is an ideal situation. Even blatant inequalities were not obvious to the founders of modern democracies, no matter how genuinely good their intentions. For instance, the founders of the US were white and slave-owning. French Revolutionaries somehow worked the gendered term “fraternity” into their rallying cry of “liberté, égalité, fraternité”. Neither democracy kicked off by freeing slaves or enfranchising women – that took another century or two. Nor did those democracies give up their colonies and start treating Asians and Africans as equals. If that had been the case, people like Mohandas Gandhi and Nelson Mandela might have just been ordinary lawyers that no one ever heard of.

So while we are rightly proud of our democracy, it’s important to keep in mind that it’s what B-school types call a “work in progress”. Democracy is an incomplete project, evolving as nations expand civil rights and develop more inclusive policies.

Check out previous Word Nerd posts at this link! We welcome your contributions and suggestions – email us or leave a comment below!

By: Uma Asher

Today, 4^th of July, is USA’s Independence Day. It’s a day which will be celebrated with fireworks, parades and fare sampled outdoors – beer butt chicken, Louisiana crawfish boil, Cajun fries, and the regular hot dogs.  If you’re like me, most of these dishes probably sound as mysterious as they sound tempting.

Except hot dogs, which everyone knows about! But what if you’re vegetarian? Well, then you could go for the not-dogs. Just like hot dogs, they don’t involve dogs either, but unlike hot-dogs, they are vegetarian. Not-dogs or veggie dogs are usually made of tofu, which is a soy protein, and served variously (with sauerkraut or cream cheese), across the country. This is the option I resorted to, while at a baseball game in the USA last month. And so did many of the vegetarians in our group.

During the trip, I came across words which were new – whether food or slang, which piqued my curiosity and helped me to understand the culture better, as well as my relation with it. This was especially true of food, since Indians have so many factors to consider when choosing what to eat. Especially abroad! So, not-dogs came high up on the list (because they’re also not-pork, not-beef, not-chicken, although not so sure about not-egg). Another American savoury that was a delight was kettle chips. Being in Philadelphia, the kettle chips capital of the world, this was hardly a surprise. The difference in kettle chips is their texture – thicker and way crunchier than the all too familiar bag of crisps. Highly recommended. But later, researching my favourite snack, I found that kettle chips are sometimes cooked in lard – that’s pig fat. Naturally, this caused a little concern. So look out for that word in the ingredients list of your pack of fried snacks.

One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to Chipotle, a Mexican restaurant which has many branches across the USA. The word itself stands for a hot pepper used in Mexican food. Normally, the cuisine offers several options for vegetarians – namely, tacos, burritos, or rice bowls. Chipotle will offer options in white or brown rice, soft shell or hard shell taco, and various kinds of beans. You will also be asked if you want some carnitas or barbacoa in your meal. Say no, if you’re vegetarian. Carnitas is pork cooked in lard while barbacoa is made from beef. To sofritas on the other hand, you can say yes. This is a sauce with peppers, onions and garlic, etc.

But sweets on the other hand should be safe. Yes? Maybe not. On offering a packet of gummy bears to one of the steadfast vegetarians in the group, I was surprised when he turned it around to read the ingredients. “What are you looking for?” I asked. “Gelatin,” was the answer. Gelatin, found in pop tarts, marshmallow, jell-O, Skittles, Starburst, and gummy bears among other things, is a tasteless and odorless substance, which makes things, well, gummy. It is made by boiling the bones, cartilage and skin of animals – basically meat industry leftovers. So, while I don’t know how strongly you feel about your vegetarianism, this has made me balk a bit at the thought of another pack of gummy bears.

So, if you’re out and about in the USA today, or any other day, but face some diet dilemmas, these are some of the words you can add to your nerd repertoire.

Have you any such words to share? Tell us in the comments below.