English in 'THE HINDU'

Time and again I've written about the deteriorating standards of English in 'THE HINDU'.

Just a few days back, I wrote about the usage of English and the emphasis that is required in schools and colleges to teach good English.

Now, here is a quote from today's THE HINDU. I am sure the mistake will be very clear to all of you.

Pakistan's flamboyant all rounder, Shahid Afridi today denied provocating Shoaib Akhtar and claimed Mohammad Asif could have suffered more injuries, had he not stepped in to stop the brawl in Johannesburg.

Here is the corrected version:

Pakistan's flamboyant all rounder, Shahid Afridi today denied provoking Shoaib Akhtar and claimed Mohammad Asif could have suffered more injuries, had he not stepped in to stop the brawl in Johannesburg

Hello, Editor-in-Chief of 'THE HINDU', do you have a job for me?

Bad - Spoken English

The Quote below is from today's HINDU newspaper.

In view of the increasing employment opportunity in the engineering and software companies, the need for enhancing spoken English should be given priority in schools and colleges.

I am not bragging here but I think the ENGLISH teaching staff during my school/college days did a fantastic job indeed. ( Which will be clear from the way I write....hee..hee..hee)

I am a witness to bad English everyday at work. Sometimes I feel like stepping up to correct this but I swallow my thoughts.

Here is an example of bad English:

The usage of 'able to'.

Listed below are the ways some use it at work.

1. I can able to do it next week.

2. Can you able to do it next week ?

3. I can able to come to the work tomorrow.

4. I can't able to come to work tomorrow.

5. Will you able to come?

Well said Mr.Peter

Peter Roebuck - I repect him for his columns in 'THE HINDU'. Such a wonderful writer who doesn't hesitate to 'Call a spade - a spade'.

I was reading his column today which is very interesting. He has a few interesing points on Tendulkar, cricketers and the Indian selection committee.

By the way Sachin and the gang are doing good against Bangladesh ...yeah..Bangladesh!

Whatever happened in the World cup has to be erased from memory ! But can it be ?

RUMBUM - Is it English?

Please correct me if I am wrong. Is RUMBUM an English word? Aren't there better words to express this in a sentence?

I can't believe what I read in THE HINDU these days.

I wrote a few days back about the mistakes in a report. A lot of you commented on how THE HINDU used to be the benchmark for English those days. I have a feeling that those days are gone !

This is what I read today:

The burglars climbed atop the famous temple and gained entry into the first corridor after cutting open a ventilator with `rumbum' and axes. The intruders, with the help of a rope, scaled down to the second corridor where the main hundi is kept opposite the sanctum sanctorum.

Proof Readers wanted at 'THE HINDU'

This is great news no doubt. Drinking water at 6 paise per liter ! This is the best solution for a water starved Chennai.

I wish they built more such desalination plants all around the coastline of India, wherever there is a shortage of water.

Now to the story in 'THE HINDU', a reputed newspaper from my hometown Chennai that I read everyday. I was shocked at the mistakes ( spelling, grammar, punctuation) in this article.

Here is a sample:

• For instance, the level of total dissolved solid, which was a major parametre, was found to be less than 10 parts per million (ppm), as against the international standard of 500 ppm. ( spelling )

• Describing it as a global first, he said though the system was based on the well known principle of flash evaporation, ( Punctuation !)

• While this was advantageous while taking it to the barge, the issue ( How many whiles? )

• It was expected that the price of the fresh water could get halved to three paise a litre. ( Grammar)

COULD THIS BE THE REASON !