4 days ago
What does debut mean?
What is the difference between a 'widow' and 'spinster'? (S. Sumalatha, Erode)
The word 'widow' is normally used to refer to a woman whose husband is no more; she was married, but has lost her partner. A widow may be a young woman or she may be old. According to some scholars, the word is related to our Sanskrit 'vidhwa'. A man who has lost his wife, is called 'widower'.
The young widow worked hard to keep her company running.
The word 'spinster', as you can probably guess, comes from the word 'spin'. In the past, the term was used to refer to a woman who earned her living by spinning yarn and thread. Since most people in this occupation were single and either middle aged or old, with the passage of time, the word acquired the meaning, an unmarried woman who is beyond her prime — hence, not suitable for marriage. Today, it is considered offensive to call a woman 'spinster'.
In the past, brothers had to take care of their spinster sister.
What is the correct pronunciation of the word 'debut'? (R. Parthasarathy, Secunderabad)
The word 'debut' consists of two syllables. The first is pronounced like the word 'day', and the second rhymes with the words 'few', 'view' and 'new'. The British pronounce the word 'DAY-byuu' with the stress on the first syllable. Americans, on the other hand, put the stress on the second syllable — day-BYUU. The word can be used as a noun and a verb, and in everyday conversation, it is used nowadays to mean to make one's 'first appearance in public or society'. A cricketeer who plays his first official match is said to be making his debut; similarly, an actor's first film is said to be his debut film.
The son of the famous rock star will be making his debut at next month's concert.
According to the artist, the album will debut next month.
What is the meaning of 'put a thumb on the scale'? (John Varghese, Kochi)
When you put your thumb on the scale, what you are trying to do is influence the outcome of an event. For example, during election time, there are many things that politicians and political parties do to win. One of the tricks they resort to is to try and bribe the voter in different ways — they buy the potential votes either by giving people money or by giving them some sort of freebie: TV, stove, mixie, gas connection, etc. By giving them these things, the candidate is attempting to unfairly influence the electorate; he is bribing them into voting for him. He is deliberately cheating or using underhand means to win.
My boss always put his thumb on the scale when it came to hiring new people. Nobody else had a say in the matter. Candidates he liked, were hired.
Veda wanted the matter to be dropped. So, she put her thumb on the scale by bribing the Police constable.
The 'scale' in the expression refers to the balance that butchers, vegetable and fruit vendors used in the past to weigh their produce. When they wished to cheat their customer, the vendors secretly placed their thumb on the scale — this created the illusion that the produce weighed a lot more than it actually did!
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