Monday, January 29, 2007

Sinosure

Meaning: Something that shouldn't be looked at, but at the same time that one can't avoid stealing a glance at .
Pronounciation: Sin-o-sure
Usage: Mallika Sherawat's dance moves are surely the sinosure of all eyes.
Root: Sin + Cynosure

Monday, January 22, 2007

Punnacle

Meaning: That point in a joke just before the punchline.
Pronounciation: Rhymes with Pinnacle(whew!)
Usage: I know a few people who screw up as soon as they reach the punnacle of a joke and needless to say the joke falls flat.
Root: Pun + Pinnacle

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Tsuenami

Meaning: A wave of lawsuits.
Pronounciation: Sue-naa-me
Usage: In the States,people are just waiting for some product to fall on its face so that they can start a tsuenami.I am one of them!
Root: Sue + Tsunami

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Youthanasia

Meaning: What youth from any country do when they resort to drugs.
Pronounciation: Youth-un-asia
Usage: It is just sad to see young people not face problems head on.Resorting to drugs as a means of escape is nothing but youthansia.
Root: Youth + Euthanasia

Friday, January 12, 2007

Hangama

Meaning: All the hoopla before and after someone is hanged(or is it hung?).
Pronounciation: Hang-aaa-maa
Usage: Whenever someone is sentenced to death(by hanging),there is a big hangama, but after a while people go back minding their own business.
Root: Hang + Hungama(Hoopla in the Hindi Language)

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Ophilia

Meaning: Phenomenon of stressing of the vowel 'O' in English words by Keralites.
Pronounciation: O(loud and long drawn)-fili-aaa
Usage: The people from Kerala sure love the letter 'O'.The proof comes from their pronounciation of words such as 'Otto'(for Auto), O-peration(for operation),etc,etc.
Root: Ophelia(Greek for Help) + philia(Greek for love)
Note:If you don't get it, please read Otto and O-peration with real hard emphasis on the letter 'O'.

Tuesday, January 9, 2007

Vyarthashastra

Meaning: A set of policies on how to run a screwed up administration.
Pronounciation: Vyar-tha(as in Thomas)-shaas(as in sharp)-thraa
Usage1: The Bush Administration sure knows how to use Vyarthashasthra.
Usage2:The Indian state of Bihar is a prime example of Vyarthashasthra at work.
Root: Vyarth(waste/useless in Sanskrit) + Arthashasthra
Note:In the 4th century B.C.,the Indian minister Chanakya wrote the Arthshasthra on how to administer a country.

Monday, January 8, 2007

Pandaram's Box

Meaning: Something that contains nothing or items of no value.
Pronounciation: Pun-da-rum's box
Usage: The burglar knew he had opened a pandaram's box, when the house that he broke into contained almost nothing.
Root: Pandora's box
Note:A pandaram is a mendicant/monk in the Tamil language.Detailed explanations welcome.