When English becomes Vinglish!

Mr Bachchan in the movie Namak Halaal rightly said ‘English is a very Fuunny language’; it indeed is. While some words are used interchangeably quiet (read as ‘quite’) often, they are not meant to be. And this isn’t just about ‘Bhairav becoming Bairan’ :P.

I myself am not a PH.D in English literature, but here am making an attempt to highlight some of the basic mistakes we all make. Time to do a quick class with examples and used cases :P

1)    Check Vs Cheque

‘You Check if the pen has been kept properly in the drawer’ and you ‘Write a Cheque to make a payment’

So the next time make sure you aren’t making a payment via a Check :P

2)    Live Vs Leave

‘I Live in that society’ is not the same as ‘I will Leave for work early morning tomorrow; or can I Leave?’

While living is about being alive or where you live/stay, leaving means going away to someplace else.

3)    There Vs Their

I would be going to ‘Their’ place in the evening; its located right ‘There’, near the park.   

While ‘Their’ is for someone; ‘There’ is for some place/location.

So a little ‘here and there’ does matter! ;)

4)    Test Vs Taste

You ‘Test’ someone’s patience or even their blood; you ‘Taste’ a desert.

If you have ‘Tasted’ a lot of food when you are young; you will have to undergo a lot of ‘Tests’ when you are old! :P  

(She got the Honey Chilli Potatoes Tested :P)

5)    Quiet Vs Quite

Pinky is ‘Quite’ a chatterbox when we meet at our parties; while Dipti is relatively ‘Quiet’.

Pinky cannot be Quiet a Chatterbox! :P

6)    Except Vs Accept

While Accepting is believing or receiving something; To Except is to exclude!

All of our friends have ‘Accepted’ the invite for the party; Except for that hot chic Deepika! Unfortunate; isnt it? :P

7)    Principle Vs Principal

Principle’s are the virtues by which one lives his life; while Principal is the amount borrowed or most important person in an organization.

You can mess around with your Principles in life but dare not do that with the other :P 

8)     Moment Vs Movement

When you get married, it’s a ‘Moment’ for you to remember; what happens on the night you get married is a lot of ‘Movement’.

There couldn’t have been find a sleazier way of explaining this one ;););)    

(Alia Bhatt’s post on Instagram)

If Alia Bhatt ; who is educated in one of the topmost schools in Mumbai can go wrong; so can you :P

There are several other words that we keep using interchangeably in our daily communications; words like To & Too – These & This - There & Their. Though sounding quite the same; they aren’t substitutes. So be careful when you use words like these!

A lot of the people reading this must be thinking that this is 4th Standard stuff; but a lot people including me commit this (Read as these :P) errors without even realizing, they did!

So the next time you want to put these or other similar words to use; just remember what Mr Bachchan said ;))

PS :-   Am glad Arjun and Krishna are still young enough to not get into this English puzzle; scratching your bum is always more enjoyable than scratching your head :P