Impetuously yours
“So, are you an impetuous person?”, asked the boss.
'Impetuous? What on earth is impetuous?' she thought. 'Is it a good thing or a bad thing to be impetuous?' She had to answer quickly. She, who prided in her knowledge of English even though it was not her mother tongue, had majored in English literature and come to England on a scholarship, then met and married an Englishman, was now left wondering what it meant to be impetuous.
'Could it mean being impish? Or perhaps impressionable? No, it cannot be an ‘imp’ word' she reasoned. 'Something else, like say, ‘organised, efficient’ or even ‘meticulous’. Yes, impetuous meant being thorough and leaving nothing to chance, she concluded.
“Yes, Mr. Draper. You could say I am an impetuous person”, she replied.
Later that evening, she checked her well-worn copy of the Oxford English Dictionary and realised that she was not.
3 comments:
Hi - Came via 'The last blogger' for the name ammani (i suppose this is the tamizh 'ammani' (lady) that u r referring to?) - yet to read ur past posts - but couldnt resist commenting on this - my reaction after i saw wordweb for the meaning (Characterized by undue haste and lack of thought or deliberation; Marked by violent force) was: "ohhh shit!! :-("
even i have been hit really bad sometimes trying to decipher the meaning of an english word using the roots. yeah - i do have interest in etymology.
hi... came here from Indibloggers. I too live in UK.
u hav got a nice blog... i liked the one on Sambhar Sadham... fab stuff.
hey! :)
now, are you impetuous? :P
btw, we had more kuzhambu in the canteen today. actually, less of kuzhambu and more of water! :(
i myself am proud of my more kuzhambu making skills! :)
cheers
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