label

A label is a classifying phrase or name applied to a person or thing, says my dictionary. The word is probably of Germanic origin, from the word lappen, which means rag, cloth, flap, lobe and which, later, came to be used to mean a small piece of paper, fabric, plastic, or similar material attached to an object and giving information about it.

So, for example, in the sentence "The Blues musician John Galt sold 7 million singles last year", the word "Blues" is a label.

Here is a list of labels, which we freely use in our daily conversation, together with their meanings. It is evident that we use these labels a tad indiscriminately.

• axis of evil: the terrorist supporting nations of Iraq, Iran, and North Korea


• bourgeois: belonging to or characteristic of the middle class, typically with reference to its perceived materialistic values or conventional attitudes


• capitalism: an economic system structured upon the accumulation of capital in which the means of production are privately owned and operated for profit, usually in competitive markets


• centrist: a person who takes a middle-of-the-road political stand, neither left nor right


• communalism: allegiance to one's own ethnic group rather than to the wider society


• communism: a sociopolitical movement that aims for a classless and stateless society structured upon common ownership of the means of production, free access to articles of consumption, and the end of wage labour and private property in the means of production and real estate


• civil society : 1. all of the civil infrastructure of a Western Liberal state, democracy, trial by jury, rule of law, etc. 2. voluntary social relationships, civic and social organizations, and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society, as distinct from the force-backed structures of a state (regardless of that state's political system) and the commercial institutions of the market


• democracy: a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state , typically through elected representatives


• direct action: the use of strikes, demonstrations, or other public forms of protest rather than negotiation to achieve one's demands


• fascist: a person who believes in an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organisation


• feudalism: a social and economic system defined by inherited social ranks, each of which possessed inherent social and economic privileges and obligations


• figurehead: a very public, but powerless leader. Originates from the ancient Greek tradition of putting fearsome gods and sea creatures on the front of their warships


• flag waving: the expression of patriotism in a populist and emotional way


• identity politics: 1. political arguments that focus upon the self interest and perspectives of self-identified social interest groups 2. the ways in which people's politics may be shaped by aspects of their identity through race, class, religion, sexual orientation or traditional dominance


• lal salaam: 1. a salute, greeting or code word used by Communists 2. the tribute arranged by comrades after the death of a Naxal soldier


• left wing - 1. a radical or liberal political position 2. a politician or citizen who is more liberal than the average person


• liberal: favouring individual liberty, free trade, and moderate political and social reform


• Machiavellianism 1. the principles of government set forth in The Prince by Machiavelli, in which political expediency is ranked above morality and where the use of craft and deceit to maintain authority or to effectuate policy is recommended 2. activity characterised by subtle cunning, duplicity, or bad faith


• Maoism: the communist doctrines of Mao Zedong as formerly practised in China, having as a central idea permanent revolution


• nationalist: 1. a person who advocates political independence for a country 2. a person with strong patriotic feelings, especially one who believes in the superiority of their country over others


• Naxal: a militant communist supportive of Maoist political sentiment and ideology
  reactionary: a person who opposes political or social progress or reform


• realpolitik: realism in politics, especially policies or actions based on considerations of power rather than ideals


• referendum: the State asking the voters if they agree to a specific proposed legislation


• republic: a state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch


• right wing: a politician or citizen who is more conservative than the average person


• Sangh Parivar: organizations inspired by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ideology


• secular: not connected with religious or spiritual matters


• socialism: a theory or system of social organization advocating placing the ownership and control of capital, land, and means of production in the community as a whole


• terrorist: a person who uses violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims

Comma

There was this girl called Commah,
Who was so prim and propah,
She'd never sit next,
To an uppercase text,
Unless it was a proper nounah.

Zed

So, once there was a Zed,
Who wanted to be dead,
Every time it'd see,
Someone pronounce a zee,
And insist that's how it was said.

mosquito

Mosquitoes are pesky creatures, I thought, as I regarded one, bumping along my mosquito net looking for a hole to sneak in through. Pesky, I repeated, and got back to the book I'd taken to bed last night. Till, five minutes later, a sharp prick told me mosquitoes are not only pesky but also pernicious.

Mosquito comes from the Latin word for 'fly', musca - originally a 'tiny sand-fly'. Musca became the Spanish mosca, whose diminutive form reached English as mosquito - etymologically 'a small fly'. - (from Bloomsbury dictionary of Word Origins, John Ayto)

There are two ways that I could deal with these mosquitoes:

• Be inside the mosquito net, a 4 X 6 X 5' space, and hope none sneak in. It's like putting up a boundary wall or fence around your house and going to sleep, in the hope you've kept invaders out - inavders that sneak in, anyway, and drain the blood out of you, one drop at a time.


• Plug the mosquito repellant into the wall socket and switch it on, so all mosquitoes within the room die. It's like hunting down all red-book thumping, armed bloodsuckers who've infiltrated your house and are now looking for domicile status and, bolstered by support from bleeding-heart liberals, education for their kids.

Me, I chose to kill.

Up next: pernicious

unfuddle

Un is a prefix that negates the meaning of the word it's prefixed to. Unable means not able, unabashed means not abashaed, unworthy means not worthy, understand means not, uh.... understand is an exception. :)

So, by the normal token, unfuddle means the opposite of fuddle, which means this:



Unfuddle is not in the dictionary. Yet. But, it's already in the market. Unfuddle is the name of a software application that reduces the fuddlement in software project teams.



Apt name for a project management software, don't you think?

gruntle

Gruntle does not exist in the dictionary - well, not Oxford's anyway. Words such as prepone and lungi have inserted themselves into the venerable English tome while gruntle, coined by a true-blue Brit, hasn't. What exists in the dictionary is the word in its adjectival form: gruntled.



The first known use of this word is this (but it's debated):

I could see that, if not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled. - The Code of the Woosters, P.G.Wodehouse

The following news items, while not making me actually disgruntled, makes me far from gruntled.

http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/rahul-gandhi-gets-out-of-car-helps-accident-victim-87253

The fourth estate displaying servility to the second creates an ill wind that bodes no good. A disgusting wind.

gay paradigm

No one knows the meaning of paradigm, I was told recently, which is when I realised I don't either. I mean, I think I know what paradigm means but am not sure. So, I reached out for my dictionary (Oxford, of course).



Yes, that's somewhat close to what I thought the meaning was - a paradigm is a framework or an example of something.

It also occurs to me that for the word to make some sense, it should not occur alone but be always teamed with another noun, like this: society's paradigm, Darwinian paradigm, gay paradigm.

Which brings us to gay.

Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Nodding their heads in sprightly dance;
The waves beside them danced, but they...outdid the sparkling waves in glee;
A poet could not but be gay in such a jocund company.

What a gay, happy scene. Sprightly, dancing, nodding, jocund scene. Guaranteed to warm the cockles of a poet's heart. Turn it gay.

And then, there was a paradigm shift in what gaity stood for. Gay no longer means gay. Thanks to a paradigm shift, now gay means gay.