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'Envious Casca!' I muttered to myself, as I skimmed through the pages of my morning newspaper last Wednesday. At the back of my mind hovered two other phrases, also from 'Julius Caesar', namely 'All the Conspirators' and 'Taken at the Flood.' All three, by the way, are titles of books, two of them detective stories. What set me thinking on these lines was the following sentence in a news item on the star-studded show held recently to felicitate actress Manorama: Right from the senior-most S S Rajendran, who has the envious credit of having introduced Manorama to the industry, to the newest kid on the block (Parthiban's and Seetha's, to be precise), P S Keerthana jumped off the stage to do yet another 'Kannathil Muthamittal' (as she planted a kiss on the cheek of the veteran actress). 'Quite a jumping parade, wasn't it?' you may be tempted to ask. The moth-eaten sentence conveys just that impression and is even otherwise flawed. I shall come to that later. What the scribe wanted to say was something like this: 'They were all there - right from the senior-most S S Rajendran, who has the enviable credit of having introduced Manorama to the industry, to the newest kid on the block (Parthiban's and Seetha's, to be precise). The child, P S Keerthana, jumped off the stage to do yet another 'Kannathil Muthamittal' (as she planted a kiss on the cheek of the veteran actress). 'Envious' and 'enviable', 'contemptuous' and 'contemptible', 'derisive' and 'derisory' and similar pairs of words seem to pose problems for many English users. I have already dealt with 'envy' in passing. Let me discuss 'envy' and related words in some detail. Bacon's essay on the subject is well known. This has to be supplemented with Hazlitt's piece (a dialogue). The Concise Oxford Dictionary (COD) defines 'envy' as 'the grudging contemplation of more fortunate persons'. The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary pinpoints it as the 'feeling of discontent in a person caused by someone else's good fortune or success, especially when one wishes this for oneself.' The noun is followed by 'of' or 'at', depending on the context, in such expressions as 'the envy of someone', 'out of envy', 'He could not hide his envy at my success'. Her well-kept garden was the neighbours' envy. (In this sense, the word is often used playfully). The Middle English word is derived from the Old French 'envie', from the Latin 'invidia' from 'invidus' from in+(videre/see), envy. 'Invidious' (of conduct/action) means 'giving offence by seeming or real injustice'. Envy (verb) is used in sentences thus: 'And I do not envy anyone who has never been prompted, by the skill of rhetoric, to applaud a point well made, to feel just a little gooseflesh, to rejoice in beauty, to laugh at the absurd' (Walter Nash). Other examples are 'I envy him'. 'I envy his impudence'. 'I envy him his impudence'. A person is said to be 'envious' (of somebody or something) when he is 'full of envy', or 'shows/feels/expresses it'. Examples: Envious glances followed Shoba as she glided into the room in her gorgeous dress. All the conspirators except Brutus were envious of Caesar's rise to eminence. The second adjective, 'enviable', occurring in such expressions as 'an enviable feat/achievement', 'an enviable person/position', conveys the sense of 'causing envy'/'desirable enough to cause envy'. Examples: The enviable credit of having introduced Manorama to the film industry goes to S S Rajendran. The policeman's lot is unenviable. 'Contemptuous' (of someone/something) means 'showing contempt towards someone or something', 'scornful' or 'insolent'. 'Contemptible' means 'despicable' or 'deserving contempt'. We speak of a contemptuous person, attitude or remark. In the sentence, 'Derisive laughter greeted the Minister as he rose to speak', 'derisive laughter' means 'laughter full of ridicule or mockery.' A 'derisory offer' is a frivolous offer, one that is not to be considered seriously. The other day I came across another word that seems to have become outdated: 'ingeminate' The COD says the word means 'repeat, reiterate'. 'To ingeminate peace ' is to constantly urge it. The word is derived from the Latin in+ (geminare). ('Yes', I hear you ingeminate, 'what about examinations?'-A Quiller-Couch) The COD listed 'Comstockery' (opposition to naked realism in literature or art). A Comstock, a neo-Puritan from the US, who gave the word to the language, died in 1915. Some modern dictionaries list 'Cat's eye' but not 'Comstockery'. It is 'the stamp of custom alone that gives words their value or circulation'. Readers' response/inputs can be e-mailed to mhdevan@chennaionline.com.
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