Know your English

“Wife, housewife (A. J. Vani, Secunderabad).”

“‘Wife’ is a married woman in relation to her husband. Originally ‘wife’ meant ‘woman.’ This sense is preserved in words like ‘midwife,’ ‘fishwife.’ A fishwife is a coarsemannered or noisy woman; a woman who sells fish. The word ‘mid’ originally meant ‘with.’ A midwife is one who is with a woman at the time of delivery. ‘Mid’ has also another meaning ‘in the middle of.’ A housewife is one who manages a household. She does not work outside her home for a salary. The pronunciation of ‘housewife’ is the combined pronunciation of ‘house’ and ‘wife.’ It is not ‘huzif.’ The ‘u’ in ‘huzif is pronounced like the ‘u’ in ‘much.’ A ‘huzif is an inanimate thing. It is a container for holding needles, thread, etc. for needlework. So ‘housewife’ has one spelling, two different meanings and two different pronunciations. A housewife will be very upset if you call her a ‘huzif.’ Even when she needles you, you should not call your wife a ‘huzif.’ A housewife is a wife. A wife need not be a housewife. ‘Spouse,’ ‘companion’ and ‘consort’ are used to refer to a royal spouse. Others must satisfy themselves with their

‘spouse’ or ‘companion’ or ‘mate’ or ‘helpmate’. ‘Wifely’ is the adjective of ‘wife.’ It means ‘of or befitting a good wife.’

It is not wifely to do such a thing.

But there is no corresponding adjective ‘husbandly.’ Perhaps there is no set behaviour which can be called ‘husbandly’. But these days you have ‘househusbands’ who do household chores as done by housewives. ‘Househusbands’ manage their households and do not work to earn wages or a salary. If you are unduly fond of your wife, others would say that you are ‘uxorious.’ A man who is dominated by his wife is a henpecked husband. A wife’s scolding of her husband in private is called a curtain lecture, it literally refers to the lecture given by a wife behind the curtains of a bed. This is the origin of the term. A curtain or a bed is not a necessary condition for delivering a ‘curtain lecture’. Let us ring down the curtain on wife and housewife.”

“You called me?”

“Yes. I would like you to help me in redundancy elimination.”

“What?”

“A selective separation.

“Pardon?”

“Work force imbalance correction.”

“You want to fire me?”

“Not exactly. I want to dehire you.”

“You mean I am deselected?”

“Yes. You are decruited, destaffed.”

Some corporations in America use the italicised expressions when they fire their employees.

Published in The Hindu on July 2, 1991.