Serena's penchant for winning

Vacations over - and we are back. No better way to begin than celebrating the victory of one of the greats in contemporary sports: Serena Williams.
So Serena Williams won her sixth title at Wimbledon yesterday and this win led her to her 21st Slam Title. The newspapers stories spoke of Serena's penchant for winning titles. That's our word for the week - Penchant. 
With roots in Latin - penchant means to have a strong liking for something or a strong taste, even a strong inclination.


#penchant #Serena #Wimbledon #victory #Sports

Our First Double Clue Word

In the early days of its launch - the Smart-Vocab Challenger gained popularity among students primarily on the back of the words that had two diverse meanings. And it would throw up these words with regularity. Double clues that were provided, and they were completely unrelated - led us to the same word. 
Beginning today, we will pick one such word for every second Saturday of the month (ideal time to be cheesy!). So here goes our first Double Clue word:

Clue#1: liable to happen or may be just not; uncertain; 
Clue#2: any one of the representative groups of a larger community or a congregation or a much larger group

The word is Contingent

The norm these days is that when a Head of State comes visiting there is a business contingent that comes along.

#contingent #vocabulary #uncertain #representative

Taking cognizance

A newspaper carries a story and a judge takes notice of the issue. This leads to the judge issuing instructions to the court's registrar to register a case basis the newspaper report. The expression generally used is that 'the court took cognizance'. 
And that's our word this week: Cognizance. It means a realization or knowledge, to notice, to take note of or to heed to a plea, to regard. With judicial activism gaining momentum one is bound to hear of such acts of cognizant. 

Antagonism among politicians

Political parties of all hues have legacies of internal feuds. However, when a relatively new entity on the Indian political landscape reported of antagonism within members of its ranks - it shook every political observer. The feud between the founder members spilled out in the open with the suspension of two such members from the highest forum within the party. 

Antagonism is our word this week. It means an active hostility among conflicting groups. It even reflects an opposing force or tendency.

#antagonism #AAP 

Some Dispensation...this!

Words in English language having multiple meanings are common. And these words add to the charm of the language. An interesting word that's been in news lately is: Dispensation. There were stories in the media of the dispensation within a political party. Here, in this form, dispensation means a method or plan of administering. While in popular usage dispensation means the act of distributing or dispensing.
Dispensation is our word of the week.


#dispensation

Laudable Performance!#

India began their World Cup campaign in style. And the victory brought in cheer for everyone across the country and to millions of people of Indian origin living across the globe. The fact that India bounced back after a terrible tour down-under to hand a defeat to the talented Pakistani side last Sunday is laudable. That's our word of the week: laudable. 
Laudable means praiseworthy or commendable. It is about showering praise to someone who deserves it.

#IndWin #ICCWorldCup

Public Conduct and Probity

Politicians, being what they are, get on to verbal duels accusing one and an other of not being upright. This pitch gets shriller when there are elections round the corner. The Delhi elections saw issues of integrity and uprightness being debated on almost all public platforms by the candidates and their supporters. Every politician expects the other to conduct himself or herself with  probity. That's our word of the week - Probity. It's a noun that reflects honesty, integrity and uprightness. Right form conduct to the declaration of funding for election campaigns were taken as matters of probity. 

 

Two women take umbrage

First it was the foreign secretary of the Government of India and now it is a former minister. The Indian news space has been full of people expressing umbrage. It reflects a feeling of offense or annoyance. Like the foreign secretary felt umbrage at the snub she got from the PMO or the former minister who took umbrage at being denied a meeting with the party high command. 
Umbrage is the Smart-Vocab word this week! 


#PMO #JayanthiNatarajan

Another one goes by

Here's wishing that in #2015 ...

Barack Obama finally discovers on 26th January that India indeed is a sovereign republic . 

India defends its World Cup title at the MCG on 29th March - Dhoni or no Dhoni! (Don't worry Ravi Shastri is there!)

The rebooting of particle smasher at Cern allows the media to talk of discoveries different than say Miley Cyrus! 

Folks will stop showing off their Apple iPhone 6 Plus as their maids would be showing off their Apple Watch.

The rich nations will look within rather than blaming their poor brethren on climate change and Paris is not as lame as Lima.

There are no regrouping of groups and we rather leave the lunatics on the grass and avoid Endless Rivers!

That the 200th Anniversary of Waterloo stays a non-even in India for neither do we have enough water nor enough loos!

And loos brings us on to the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan - We hope the movement reaches the legislature buildings across India to remove all the crap that blooms in those chambers there.

And finally, that the conversion drives converts everyone residing in India into Indians - religion not withstanding!

Hope you had a smile reading this. And we pray that the smile stays all the year around our bad humour notwithstanding!

SVC Guild

www.smartvocab.co.in

#sovereign #dhoni #cern #applewatch #waterloo #swachh