Know your English
“Bed-ridden, good riddance (M.
Gurudass, Madras).”
“‘Ridden’ in ‘bed-ridden’ is from ‘ride.’ Ride-rode-ridden. ‘Bed-ridden’ means ‘conned to bed by illness.’ When it is used in a combination, ‘ridden’ means
‘in icted or aicted.’
He is conscience-ridden.
This is a rat-ridden house.
‘Riddance’ in ‘good riddance’ is from the verb ‘rid’ which means ‘to make free, relieve.’ It is followed by ‘of.’ From this we get ‘to get rid of.’
I managed to get rid of him. He was such a nuisance.
‘Good riddance’ means ‘welcome relief from an unwanted person or thing.’
She has left at last. Good riddance!
Rid is also the past tense and past participle of ‘rid.’ ‘Ridded’ is also used as the past tense of ‘rid’ occasionally, but it is archaic. ‘Riddance’ is the noun form of ‘rid.’”
“Addicted (S. Sarojini, Srirangam).” “‘Addicted’ is followed by the preposition ‘to’ and a noun or a gerund.
He is addicted to drugs.
She is addicted to watching TV.
You can also say ‘She is a drug addict, He is a drug addict’. But don’t say ‘He is addicted to take drugs.’ ‘Addicted’ goes with something bad. It is also used humorously for what is not harmful.
She is addicted to detective novels.
He is addicted to jogging.”
“Possible, probable”.
“‘Possible’ means ‘that may or may not happen.’
It is possible that he will win.
‘Probable’ means ‘that may be expected to happen, that has a good chance of being true or correct.’
There is greater certainty in ‘probable’ than in ‘possible.’
Rain is possible, but not probable.”
“Bundle of nerves (A. Siddilingam, Wanaparthy)”
“‘Bundle of nerves’ is an idiom which means ‘in a very nervous state.’
He is a bundle of nerves before any examination.
She was a bundle of nerves at the interview.”
“Pull one’s punches (S. Siddappa, Tumkur)”
“‘It is an idiom used in informal contexts. It means ‘to soften the blow and to avoid’ oence by holding back a little.’ When a boxer intentionally gives a soft blow to avoid hurting the other boxer, he is said to pull his punches. Figuratively,
‘to pull one’s punches’ means ‘to criticise someone or something less severely than one would normally do.’
He pulled his punches when he talked about the plays of his friend.
It is the negative ‘pull no punches’ that is more frequently used.
She pulled no punches when she discussed the aairs of her party.
It means she did not spare her party.
Published in The Hindu on November 5, 1991.