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English Edification Enrichment- What is the origin of "honeymoon"? In the old days people wanted their marriage to start on a sweet note. It was therefore customary for newlyweds to drink mead for a month. Mead was a drink made from honey. The "moon" refers to the period of thirty days or one month that the couple was expected to drink the mead. After the first month, the couples came face to face with reality; they realized that their affection, like the moon, would wax and wane. By the way, the word "honeymoon" need not always be used to refer to the holiday that newly married couples take immediately after marriage. The term is now being used to refer to an early stage in any activity when people are happy with each other because everything is going smoothly. Here are a few examples. * The President's honeymoon period with the press is over. * The honeymoon between my boss and me still continues. * The allegations made it clear that the honeymoon st

English Edification Enrichment- How is the word "vivacious" pronounced? The "i" in the first syllable is like the "i" in "hit", "bit", and "sit", while the following "a" sounds like the "ay" in "say", "day", and "pay". The "c" is pronounced like the "sh" in "sheep", "ship", and "shout" and the final "iou" is like the "a" in "china". The main stress, by the way, is on the second syllable. When you say that something is vivacious, what you mean is that it is full of life; it is full of energy. The word is generally used with women. Here are a few examples. * Sarita's daughter is a vivacious little thing. * Malini's vivacious manner put some life into the drab meeting. * Not many people consider Patna to be a vivacious city.

What Are the Types of Abuse? Hitting, constant yelling, or unwelcome touches can all be kinds of abuse. A kid who is being abused can experience different types of abuse or just one kind. It helps to understand the different types of abuse: physical, sexual, verbal or emotional, and neglect. Physical abuse: Physical abuse is hitting hard with a hand or an object like a belt, especially hits that leave bruises or cuts. Shaking, pushing, choking, painful grabbing, and kicking can also be physical abuse. Sexual abuse: Your body has private parts. These are the parts that are covered by your bathing suit or underwear: breasts, vagina, and bottom for girls, and penis and bottom for boys. If an adult or older kid touches a kid's private parts or tells a kid to touch theirs, it is sexual abuse. When this happens, the abuser might tell the kid that this touching is a secret and that they can't tell anyone. But a kid does not have to keep this secret. Tell a trusted adult, or more than

How to Tell By now you know it's important for a kid to tell someone if they think they are being abused. But how does a kid tell? Here are some ideas: •Talk to a trusted adult in person. •Talk to a trusted adult on the phone. •Write a note, an email, or send a letter to the trusted adult. •Tell someone at school, like a school counselor, school nurse, teacher, or coach. •Tell a friend's mom or dad. •Tell someone who answers the phone at a hotline service, such as 1-800-4-A-CHILD. The way a kid tells and whom a kid tells will be different depending on the situation. The most important thing is to tell someone — or even several people — until someone takes action to stop the abuse from happening. A kid who tells on an abuser might be helping other kids, too. Some abusers hurt more than one kid. It takes a lot of courage to talk about this kind of thing, and sometimes it takes a while to feel strong enough to talk about it. That's OK. Just know that, in the end, telling a saf

Grown-ups are usually there to help and encourage kids, right? They take care of them, help them learn how to do things, show them the right way to behave, and encourage the good things that kids do. Most adults treat kids well. But some adults hurt kids rather than help them. Another word for hurting someone is "abuse." You might have a picture in your head about what child abuse is like. When it happens, abuse (say: ah-buse) can affect all kinds of kids, no matter where they live, how much money their families have, or who they live with. A kid can be abused by a parent, a stepparent, another relative, a babysitter, teacher, coach, or a bigger kid. Child abuse can happen at home, school, child care, or even in a church or other religious building. Tell Right Away Any time a kid is being abused that kid should tell a trusted adult right away. This can be hard because the abuser might have frightened the boy or girl into staying quiet. No matter what the abuser says, abuse is

English Edification Enrichment- What is the difference between "appraise" and "apprise"? When you "appraise" someone of something, you provide the individual with an estimate of the value of something. In other words, you are judging the object's worth. The "a" in the first syllable of "appraise" is like the "a" in "china", while the second syllable is pronounced like the word "praise". The stress is on the second syllable. * Ram appraised the car carefully before offering to buy it. * The expert appraised the painting at half what I had paid for it. When you "apprise" someone of something, you inform him of it. This is a word that is used in formal contexts and is generally considered to be old fashioned. The "a" in the first syllable is like the "a" in "china", while the second syllable is pronounced like the word "prize". The stress once again is on t

English Edification Enrichment- What is the meaning and origin of "scot-free"? When you say that someone escaped "scot-free" what you are implying is that the individual escaped a tricky situation without being punished or harmed. The expression carries with it a sense of dissatisfaction. You feel that the individual deserved to be punished, but he wasn't. Here are a few examples. * His father is a politician and so he got off scot-free. * Sanjay got away scot-free because people refused to testify. * Renu made sure that Jyothi didn't get off scot-free. Many people think that the "scot" used in the expression refers to the people in Scotland. It doesn't. "Scot" is the old word for what we today call "tax". So in the old days when you got off "scot-free" you got off "tax-free". In other words, you escaped without having to pay your taxes. Nowadays, it's only politicians who manage to escape scot-free!