It is free country - democratic - and everyone has a right to live, speak and do as one pleases (within reason and limits of law). The British rulers have long gone, and the language they left behind does not enjoy their protection any more. No, not in this country.
".... the papers should be sent to this office at the earliest plz." I read in a letter received from the administrative officer the other day. Either it was the way people write in text messages on mobile phones, or the fellow was getting even with people who ruled this country for 150 years.
Another reason people abuse the language is because they are in love with it. Sounds paradoxical, huh? Well, these people are actually in love with the idea of speaking that language, whether they can or not. There is this clerical person in one office of the institute. She is quite nice and efficient. English was not in her curriculum at any time up to graduation. I had asked her to send me a spreadsheet on data on mothers and babies. She sent me a file that was named by her as 'femail child'. "She must have typed that in place of 'female', while thinking of any emails she might have received" I thought. Then one day I found her limping along and asked what the matter was. We were speaking in our mother tongue.
"I sprained my ankle" she said. I noticed she was wearing high heels, though she was quite tall without any heels.
"You should see an orthopedic surgeon" I suggested. She thought it was a good suggestion and went to see one. When I met her the next day, I asked her her ankle was.
"It is OK" she said. "There is just a sprain."
"Did he advise wearing high heels?" I asked in as innocent a voice as I could muster.
"Oh, no!" she smiled. "Why wear high heels when I am already so heighted?"
It took me a couple of seconds to realize that she meant 'tall' when she said 'heighted".
"Yes, that is true" I said.
I kept that file named 'femail child' on my desktop as a reminder to write on it some time. I have been debating with myself if I should write on it, fearing it would hurt the fine feelings of an otherwise efficient and nice person. Every time I see the file , I think of the 'heighted femail' episode.Finally I decided to write on it today, so that I could clear my desktop.
".... the papers should be sent to this office at the earliest plz." I read in a letter received from the administrative officer the other day. Either it was the way people write in text messages on mobile phones, or the fellow was getting even with people who ruled this country for 150 years.
Another reason people abuse the language is because they are in love with it. Sounds paradoxical, huh? Well, these people are actually in love with the idea of speaking that language, whether they can or not. There is this clerical person in one office of the institute. She is quite nice and efficient. English was not in her curriculum at any time up to graduation. I had asked her to send me a spreadsheet on data on mothers and babies. She sent me a file that was named by her as 'femail child'. "She must have typed that in place of 'female', while thinking of any emails she might have received" I thought. Then one day I found her limping along and asked what the matter was. We were speaking in our mother tongue.
"I sprained my ankle" she said. I noticed she was wearing high heels, though she was quite tall without any heels.
"You should see an orthopedic surgeon" I suggested. She thought it was a good suggestion and went to see one. When I met her the next day, I asked her her ankle was.
"It is OK" she said. "There is just a sprain."
"Did he advise wearing high heels?" I asked in as innocent a voice as I could muster.
"Oh, no!" she smiled. "Why wear high heels when I am already so heighted?"
It took me a couple of seconds to realize that she meant 'tall' when she said 'heighted".
"Yes, that is true" I said.
I kept that file named 'femail child' on my desktop as a reminder to write on it some time. I have been debating with myself if I should write on it, fearing it would hurt the fine feelings of an otherwise efficient and nice person. Every time I see the file , I think of the 'heighted femail' episode.Finally I decided to write on it today, so that I could clear my desktop.
