Don't you mess with him...he's irascible!

The self-indulgent and inward looking version of modern-day celebrities is such a contrast to the stars of yesteryear. Those personalities may not be too accessible but whenever they made a public appearance - they appeared approachable and patient. The celebs these days are seemingly reaching-out more and are connected with the their fans through social media. However, whenever they appear in public they are always on tenterhooks and are irascible - that's grouchy and likely to get provoked easily!

Well, you could say that even some of the defeated candidates and leaders of parties which haven't done too well in the recent polls are irascible too. Or at least they appear so at the sight of one Arnab Goswami!

Those Incendiary Speeches!

Today India gets its 29th State - Telangana. The euphoria is marred by incendiary speeches by the leaders who are adept in creating conflicts. There has been talk around the corridors of power that people of one state cannot work in another. Not only is this unconstitutional - it is incendiary! 

Incendiary seems to be the most appropriate expression here and it means: tending to arouse strife, sedition: tending to inflame the senses. Trust some politicians to do so, right?!

The 'clique' in the crony clique

A politician recently quit her political outfit citing undemocratic functioning of the party as the reason of her quitting. She said that the supremo of the party is surrounded by his cronies and the decision making is in the hands of the crony 'clique'. 
'Clique' is our word this week. It means a small, select group of people or a coterie. Now should 'crony clique' be treated as more derogatory or defamatory than 'kitchen cabinet' is best left to your judgement.

Vitriol - the tone of election speeches this time!

1   Now that the elections are done and over with - its time for some sanity to prevail. Unlike elections of the past this time the politicians, across the political spectrum, contested the elections during which the pitch was shrill with caustic criticism. Stuff that would classify as 'vitriol'. Its an expression drawn from chemistry where 'vitriol' is used to describe certain metallic sulfates such as copper sulfate or zinc sulfate. 

       We just hope that the campaigning in the next general elections is not so vitriolic.

For most politicians - it is Mishpocha!

Most of our politicians are working overtime to accommodate close relatives and close friends for tickets for the elections. The reference to this enlarged group of beneficiaries has to comprehensive and one that encompasses family network including the ones added by marriage in to the network and even close friends. Mishpocha is word for it!  

Shop till you drop, Oniomaniacs!

Shop...shop till you drop. Many women feel shopping is a great stress buster and almost meditative. Marketers love it and even some Counselors have given it credibility by calling it retail therapy. However, this is primarily impulsive in nature and such shoppers who suffer from an uncontrollable urge to shop and are called ‘Oniomaniacs’.

The Diagnostic and statistical manual of Psychological disorders classifies such behaviour as impulse control disorder where emotions weigh in first and heaviest in the initial buying spree. And most impulsive actions are devoid of reasoning. Hence reason and regret come in later. The Retailers and the Shopping Malls thrive on such oniomaniacs and the Credit-card companies don;t complain either!

Lacerated...and then Recused!

Two words that occupied prime-time news on TV and front-page articles in newspapers last fortnight albeit for controversial reasons. They were: Lacerate and Recuse. Not many may have used these expressions in their day to day communication. Of course now the entire English-speaking population of the country would be familiar with the words. Here's what they mean:
Recuse is often used in judiciary where a judge or a magistrate withdrawing from her or his position of adjudicating in a matter in order to avoid bias is said to have 'recused' herself or himself from the case. Someone challenging the judge leading to her/his disqualification on account of conflict of interest is also referred to as an act of recusation.
Lacerate means to tear something roughly or deeply cut into the skin. It also stands for emotional or mental torture.