Pronunciation: “bete noire”

When you dislike someone intensely, you can refer to him/her as your bete noire. These are mostly people that annoy you greatly. The word can be used with objects as well.

*Rajeev’s bete noire is attending weddings.

The first word is pronounced like “bet”; the “n” is like the “n” in “net”, “nip” and “nest”. The sound that follows the “n” is like the “w” in “water”, “was” and “wet”. The vowels are pronounced like the “a” in “ask”, “task” and “mask”. The “r” is silent, and the main stress is on “noire”. This is one way of pronouncing the word.

The Hindu- ‘Know Your English’ Series, September 06, 2004

Brouhaha

The word comes from the French “brouhaha” meaning “noisy chattering”. The word became popular in English after the Second World War. Nowadays, the word is normally used in informal contexts to mean a commotion or an angry complaint about something.

*There is a report on the recent brouhaha over the non-payment of the bonus.

The first syllable “brou” is pronounced like the word “brew”, and the “a” in the following two syllables sounds like the “a” in “art”, “part”, and “cart”. The British put the stress on the first syllable, while the Americans place it on the second.

The Hindu- ‘Know Your English’ Series, August 16, 2004

Is it OK to say “Happy bon voyage”?

When you wish someone “bon voyage”, you are wishing the individual a good journey. There is no need to say, “Happy bon voyage”. If you want to use the word “happy”, then simply say, “Happy journey”.

The Hindu- ‘Know Your English’ Series, July 26, 2004

What is the expansion of e.g?

It comes from the Latin “exempli gratia” which means “for example”.

The Hindu- ‘Know Your English’ Series, July 5, 2004.

“franchise”

The “a” in the first syllable is like the “a” in “cat”, “bat”, and “rat”; the second syllable rhymes with “prize”, “rise”, and “lies”. The main stress is on the first syllable. The word has several different meanings. One of them is an individual’s right to vote in an election.

*In many European countries, women were not given the franchise until the 20th Century. *It was years later that the franchise was extended to include women.

A “franchise” is also when a company or an organisation gives you the right to sell its products or services in a particular area using its name.

Here are a few examples. *Ramesh has been given the franchise to sell our clothing line. *Karthick lost the franchise when he was unable to meet the required standards of service. *Tara is unwilling to start a franchise.

The Hindu- ‘Know Your English’ Series, March 15, 2004

“danseuse”

The French “danseuse”, a word, which is quite popular in our country, is not included in all dictionaries. The first syllable is pronounced like the word “don”, while the second sounds like the word “sirs”. The main stress is on the second syllable. In French, the word is used to refer to a female ballet dancer. The male counterpart is called “danseur”. In India, the word “danseuse” is used to refer to a woman who is an exponent of any style of classical dancing — Bharatnatyam, Kuchipuddi or Kathak.

The Hindu- ‘Know Your English’ Series, March 15, 2004

“lingua franca”

The first syllable “ling” is like the “sing” in “single”, and “singular”; the final “a” in the two words is like the “a” in “china”. The “u” sounds like the “w” in “water”, “wet”, and “well”. The first syllable of “franca” sounds like the word “frank”. The main stress is on the first syllable of “franca”.

When south Indians who don’t know Hindi travel to the northern states, what language do they use in order to communicate with the people there? If they are educated, they might use English. In this case, English becomes the common language between two groups of people whose mother tongue is different. English becomes the “lingua franca”.

A “lingua franca” is the language that is used for the purpose of communication between people who live in an area where several languages are spoken.

Here are a few examples. *For many educated Indians, English has become the lingua franca. *I was informed by my friend that Swahili is the principal lingua franca in East Africa. *When the four of them get together, Gujarati becomes the lingua franca.

The Hindu- ‘Know Your English’ Series, March 1, 2004.

“De facto” and “de jure”

When you say that someone is the de facto Chief Minister what you mean is that he is one who is making the decisions as to how the State should be run — this individual may or may not be the one who has been elected, but he is the person calling the shots. In other words, he may not be the legal Chief Minister, but acts like one. Here are a few examples. *Ramesh is the de facto president of the company. *His election was constantly challenged, but he continued to rule de facto.

Like “de facto”, “de jure” comes from Latin. In both the words, the “de” sounds like “day”. The “u” in “jure” is pronounced like the “ure” in “sure”, “cure”, and “pure”. The “re” in the second syllable, sounds like the word “ray”. Some people pronounce the “e” like the “i” in “sit”, “bit”, and “hit”. The main stress is on the first syllable of “jure”. What does the word mean? It means “by right, according to law”. While a “de facto” king may or may not be the actual king, a “de jure” king is in fact the legal king. In law, “de jure” is considered to be the opposite of “de facto”. Here are a few examples. *He is the de jure king of our country. *He is the Prime Minister de jure.

The Hindu- ‘Know Your English’ Series, February 02, 2004

“per se”

First, let’s deal with the pronunciation. The “per” is pronounced like the word “per” and the following “se” sounds like the word “say”. The main stress is on “se”. This is a Latin expression that means “of itself” or “by itself”.

Here are a few examples. *The tablet is not harmful per se, but when taken with alcohol it can be lethal. *Love, per se, will not always result in a happy marriage.

The Hindu- ‘Know Your English’ Series, January 19, 2004

“quasi”

There are two different ways of pronouncing the word. Some people pronounce the “a” in the first syllable like the “a” in “bath”, “path” and “father”, and the final “i” like the “i” in “bit”, “pit”, and “sit”. The “s” is like the “z” in “zip” and “zoo”; the stress is on the first syllable. Some others tend to pronounce the “a” like the “ay” in “pay”, “bay”, and “say”. The following “i” rhymes with the “ie” in “tie”, “pie”, and “lie”. No matter how the word is pronounced, the stress is on the first syllable. The word is normally used as a prefix to mean “partly” or “almost”. The word can be attached to other nouns using a hyphen. Here are a few examples. *He is working for a quasi-government organization. *Sujatha had to wear a quasi-military uniform

The word also has the meaning “false” or “pretended”. *Ashok’s quasi-scientific ideas didn’t appeal to her.

The Hindu- ‘Know Your English’ Series, August 05, 2003