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Showing posts from August, 2010

Socks in Kannada literally means Leg Bags

Knowing more about how words originate (Etymology) is interesting. I always wondered why my granny often called ‘ Socks ’ as ‘ Kaalcheelā ’, which literally in Kannada translates to Leg Bags. Kaal + Cheelā = Kaalcheelā Leg + Bag = Socks May be, when Kannadigas saw people (probably Britishers) wearing socks for the first time, they might have felt they wear some kind of woven bags on their feet. But isn’t it humorous to think – we wear bags on our legs (Leg + Bag)? Well, I know that bags are worn on the shoulders. BTW, I remember tying up plastic bags on my feet and walking in my childhood, just to make some noise :) Similarly, ' Gloves ' are called as ‘ Kaicheelā ’ = Kai + Cheelā = Kaicheelā Hand + Bag = Gloves It’s amazing to know how our perception of things shows up in the words in a language. If you have been wondering what’s ‘ā’ that I have been using here - The dash on top of a vowel indicates that it’s a long vowel. It means it’s

What’s Pandiculation?

Remember, when you wake up in the morning - yawning and stretching yourself. Now, in a word, that’s what’s called ‘ Pandiculation ’. Well, you may or may not be pandiculating, but cats surely do pandiculate. Even dogs do. BTW, there’s one particular way my pet dog pandicualtes, that I like the best – ‘He stretches his hind legs on a cushioned chair and the front legs are stretched out on the carpet (on the floor). In all, he stretches out a 180 degrees. ~ ~ ~