June 2022
Good morning, sir”.
“Good morning”.
“What’s the difference between
‘respectfully’ and ‘respectively’, sir?”
“ ‘Respectfully’ means ‘full of respect’, ‘in
a courteous manner’.
He spoke to him respectfully.
‘Respectively’ refers to the order of items
in a series.
Rama and Sridhar brought mangoes and
oranges respectively. This means that
Rama brought mangoes and Sridhar
brought oranges.
Krishna and John have their offices in
Perambur and Mylapore respectively.
This means that Krishna’s office is in
Perambur and John’s office is in
Mylapore”.
“Is there any difference between ‘angry
at’ and ‘angry with’, sir?”
“Yes. You get angry with people.
Ram is angry with her.
They are angry with John.
You are angry at what someone says.
He was angry at the way the meeting was
conducted.
They were angry at the way she spoke.
You are angry at situations and angry with
people”.
“What is the difference between
‘reconciled to’ and ‘reconciled with’,
sir?”
“You try to reconcile with another when
there is a dispute. You don’t want to
quarrel for ever. You may decide to live in
harmony with him. Then you use
‘reconcile with’.
She stayed away from her husband for
several months. Now she is reconciled
with him and is staying with him.
When you can’t do anything about an
unpleasant situation, you learn to live with
it. Then you say ‘I am reconciled to the
situation’. ‘Reconciled to’ means ‘resigned
to’. The situation is such that you must
reconcile yourself to it. When you
reconcile with some one, harmony is
restored. When you say you are reconciled
to something, it means you have to put up
with something disagreeable or
unpleasant”.
“What is the difference between
‘historical’ and ‘historic’, sir?”
“Historic means ‘momentous’ or
‘important in the frame-work of history’.
It was a historic occasion.
It was a historic speech.
It is a historic building.
A historic occasion is an important
occasion that will go down in the annals of
history. ‘Historical’ means ‘pertaining to
history’.
Is it historically true?
It is a historical novel.
A historical novel is based on history.
What is historical may not be historic;
what is historic is part of history”.
“How do you pronounce the second
syllable ‘et’ in ‘bucket’, sir?”
“It is pronounced as ‘it’. It’s the same in
‘ticket’ also. Well, let’s stop here.
Goodbye”.
“Thank you, sir. Goodbye”