Know your English
Feasible (S.K. Bhatnagar, New Delhi)
‘Feasible’ means ‘practicable, easily and conveniently done.’ It is a feasible idea. His proposals are good, but we must carry out a feasibility study. Fowler says of ‘feasible’: ‘Its proper sense is practicable, capable of being done, accomplished, or carried out’ (OED). It means the same as ‘possible’ where that might be ambiguous. A thunderstorm is possible (not feasible). A counter-revolution is possible — (a) one may happen for all we know, or (b) we can bring one about if we choose to. If (b) is the meaning, ‘feasible’ is better than ‘possible’ because it cannot properly bear sense (a) and therefore obviates ambiguity.
Fowler is against the use of ‘feasible’ in the sense of ‘reasonable, likely, possible.’ But more and more writers are using the word in the sense of ‘likely, possible.’ Here is a sentence from T.S. Eliot’s ‘The Humanism of Irving Babbitt’: “I am not here concerned with the question whether such a ‘humanistic’ civilisation ... is or is not desirable: only with the question whether it is ‘ feasible’.” The use of the word in the sense of ‘possible’ still attracts criticism. The latest edition of the Concise Oxford Dictionary records ‘likely, probable’ as one of the meanings of ‘ feasible’ and says it is disputed.
Go for (P. K. Bannerjee, Jamshedpur) ‘Go for’ has several meanings depending on the context. ‘Go for somebody or something’ means ‘to be attracted by, like very much.’ He goes for ice cream. She does not go much for Western music. I don’t go for TV news. It also means ‘to attack’. They went for the thief with sticks and swords.
It can also be used guratively. He went for the Finance Minister over his new proposals. When you say that what you have said about someone or thing goes for another person or thing, it means that it applies to the second person or thing.
What is said about my boss goes for your boss also. There is a lot of corruption in this State. That goes for most other States also.
‘Go for something or somebody’ also means ‘to fetch something or somebody.’
Shall I go for a doctor? She has gone for some fresh vegetables. ‘To go for something’ also means (a) ‘to choose something’ (b) ‘to attempt to have or achieve something’. I will go for coee.
When you say that something is going for you, you mean that you are in an advantageous position. He is amazingly lucky, Everything is going for him at the moment.