Is ‘tier’ pronounced the same way as ‘tyre’? Which syllable is stressed in ‘baton’– the first or the second? How is the word ‘danseuse’ pronounced? Are you friends with the ‘big cheese’ on campus? When you watch a film, do you have a sense of ‘déjà vu’?
Vocabulary and Pronunciation Is a practical reference guide that provides answers to such questions. The selections included in the book highlight some of the everyday words that we mispronounce when speaking in English. In addition, the book familiarises the reader with several hundred words and expressions used by native speakers of English in formal and informal contexts. Like the earlier three volumes, this book is based on Upendran’s popular weekly column, Know Your English, published in The Hindu. It contains a selection of over 800 entries; an explanation of the meaning, pronunciation and etymology of each word has been provided.
S Upendran has been writing the column, Know Your English, since 1992. He is Professor in the Department of Materials Development at the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad. The selections in this book are those that featured since 1992.
180-degree turn A1 Abecedarian Abnegate Academic Academic bulimia Acerbic Acquiesce Acumen Ad nauseam Adidas Adieu Adolescent Adrenalin Aeon/Eon Affability Aficionado Agemate Ailurophobia Airhead Airplane talker Aisle A.k.a Akimbo Albeit Alibi All-nighter Alma mater Alumnus Alzheimer’s Amour-propre Angst Annus horribilus Ante-mortem Antsy Apartheid Aplomb Apropos Archives ASAP Askance Assuage Asthma Auspices Auteur Awry Bachelorette Bad-mouth someone Ballpark estimate/figure Band-aid solution Bang on Baton Beat (past tense) Beau Beau geste Becomes you Behemoth Beleaguered Belly-up Besiege Bête noire Between jobs Big cheese Billet-doux Bite someone’s head off Blasé Blinkers Blithe Blockbuster Blonde moment Bludgeon Blunted Bon voyage Bona fide Bonfire Bonhomie Bonkers Boomerang (verb) Boondoggle Bootlegger Boulevard Bouquet Bourgeois Bowl Braggadocio Break the bank Breakfast Bric-a-brac Bromance Brontophobia Brouhaha Brown-noser Brownie points Brusque Bucket list Budget Buffet Bullish Bumf Burgeon Burlesque Buy(ing) a lemon Buzz-kill Cabal Cachet Cacophony Cajole Canard Capish Caption Captious Carte blanche Cast-iron stomach Cataclysm
Categorical inaccuracy Catnap Cavalcade Caveat C’est la vie Chagrin Chaperone Chary Cheerless Chef d’oeuvre Chequebook diplomacy Cherry pick Chew someone out (He’s) Chicken Chill out Chimera Chock-a-block Chutzpah Ciao Cinephile Circa Cleptopenia Clerk Clock-watcher Clotheshorse Clutch player Coffee-table book Cognoscente Collage Collateral damage Colleague Comb for Comb-over Come clean Come out with all guns blazing Comestibles Comeuppance Comfortable Comfy Commentate Comstockery Conduit Conglomerate Conk out Conniption Connoisseur Conscientiously Control freak Controversy Convalesce Copycat Cornucopia Cost a bomb Costermonger Cosy/Cozy up to Country cousin Coup de grace Cowed into Crèche Criticaster Crowdsource Crow’s feet Crummy Cuckoo Cul de sac Cult figure Culture vulture Curmudgeon Cyberchondriac Cyber hoarding Cynophobia Cynosure Daddy of them all Dais Danseuse De rigueur Dead from the neck up Dead-tree media Deal fell through Debacle Debris Debut Debutante Decrepit Deep pockets Déjà vu Delhi belly Demarche Deplane Dereliction Derring-do Desert Desk jockey Dessert Desultory Deus ex machina Develop Dichotomy Diddly-squat Diem Dies non Differently abled Dilettante Discombobulate Discomfit Dishevelled Disorientated Disparage Diva Divorce Divorcée Dodo Domestic engineer Doozy Dossier Double entendre Double take Double whammy Doublespeak Dour Downplay Downtime Doyen Dragon lady Drama queen Droll Dude Dumb-down Dummy up Dun for Ear candy Eater’s coma Echelon Economical with the truth Economically inactive Edgy Eerie Eeyorish Effeminate Efficacy Egalitarian Ego massage Ego-surfing Egregious Either Emaciated Embarrass Emeritus En bloc Encyclopaedic Ennui Ensconce Ensemble Entourage Entrepreneur Epithet Epitome Eponymous Ersatz Erudite Esoteric Et al. Etiquette Eulogy Euphemism Euthanasia Exorcism Exposé Eye candy Fait accompli Fantabulous Fast talk Fathead Faux pas Fecund Feisty Festschrift Fiancée Fib Finesse First night Fishwife Five o’clock shadow Flabbergasted Flavour of the month Flibbertigibbet Flip out Flippant Floor it Flummox Foible Follically challenged Follow suit Foodaholic Foodie Foot the bill Fork out Fortuitous Fracas Fragile Franchise Frazzle Freebie Friendly fire Frogs Fructuous Fuddy-duddy Fudge Funny bone Furore Gabfest Game Game changer Game face Garriage Gaseous Gauche Geek Gelotology Geophagy Get fresh with someone Git Glitch Glitterati Go ballistic Go south Go viral Gobbledygook Gobsmacked Goldbricker Gonna Goose pimples Grade grubbers Graduand Gratuitous Graveyard shift Gravitas Greenhorn Grossed out Ground zero Grungy Gubernatorial Guesstimate Guilt trip Gun-shy Gung-ho Gymnophobia Hackneyed Half-wit Ham actor Hamburger Hand-me-down Hand-me-up Harass Hard sell Hard up Head-hunter Heads up Heartsink patient Heebie-jeebies Hegemony Heinous Heir Heist Helicopter parents Hex Higgledy-piggledy High maintenance Highfalutin Hobby-horse Hogwash Hoi polloi Homage Hominist Honcho Honeymoon Honey trap Hooch Hors-de-combat Horse sense Hotfoot Howled down Hubris Hullabaloo Humdinger Humongous Hunky-dory Hydrophobia Hymn Hype Hyperbole Hypochondriac Ibid Idiosyncrasy Idiot box Idyllic Iffy Ignoramus Ilk Imbroglio Impugn In loco parentis In toto In your face Inchoate Infructuous Innuendo Insouciance Inter alia Inveterate Invidious Jejune Joie de vivre Juggernaut Kafkaesque Kick-start Kick the habit Kingpin Kiosk Kiss of death Kith Klutz Knee-jerk reaction Know-it-all/Know-all Kowtow Kudos Kvetch La-di-da La-la land Lackadaisical Lacune Lagniappe Laid-back Laissez-faire Lambast(e) Leapfrog Leisure Leitmotiv/Leitmotif Lemon Let it ride Level playing field Lief Lieutenant Lilliputian Limbo Lingua franca Litterateur Lobbyist Logophile Logorrhoea Lollapalooza Loquacious Luck out Lucre Lugubrious Magic bullet Magnanimous Magniloquence Magnum opus Majorly Make a killing Make the grade Mala fide Malaise Malevolence Malfeasance Malign Manoeuvre Maverick Mayday Mea culpa Mealy-mouthed Meatatarian Medical tourism Menu Mickey Mouse Milksop Mingy Minutiae Mischievous Missent Modus operandi Modus vivendi Mojo Moofer Moreish Morgue Mot juste Ms Mulct Murfing Mythomania Ne plus ultra Née Niche Nincompoop Nitpicking Noir Noisome Nolens volens Nomophobia Nonchalant Nous Nouveau riche Nuance Nub Numero uno Nuptial Nyctophobia Obdurate Obsequious Oeuvre Officious Ombudsman Omerta Onion Oust Out in left field Oven Oxymoron Paean Page 3 Panache Pandemonium Pangram Panjandrum Paparazzi Paradigm Parochial Party animal Pastiche Payola Peccadillo Pejorative Pelf Penchant Peppy Per se Percolate Peripheral Pernickety Perspicuous Pescetarian Phillumenist Phlegmatic Pigeon Pigeonhole Pizzazz Plethora Poignant Potato Potatohead Potpourri Pounding the books Pre-loved/Pre-owned Precocious Professional student Profligate Profundity Progeny Psephologist Psych out Puerile Pulchritude Push the envelope Pusillanimous Pussyfoot Putative Quagmire Qualm Quasi Que sera sera Quid pro quo Quinquennial Quintessential Qui vive Quixotic Rambunctious Rapport Rara avis Raucous Razzmatazz Read you loud and clear Realtor Recuse Red carpet treatment/ welcome Red-letter day Redress Regift Reminisce Renaissance Rendezvous Renege Repertoire Requiem Research Rethink Righteous Rigmarole Riposte Risqué Roger Rotund Rubbish (verb) Sabotage Salad Sandwich Sang-froid Satchel Savoir-faire Scaremonger Schadenfreude Schedule Schism Schizophrenia Schmaltzy Schmuck Scintillating Scintilla Scourge Second-guess Seige mentality Sepulchre Serendipity Severed Sew Shake the pagoda tree Shell-shocked Shenanigans Shibboleth Shilly-shally Shoestring budget Shopaholic Showboating Shuteye Sic Silhouette Silver bullet Sine die Sine qua non Sinister Skulduggery Skunked Sledging Sleepfest Sleuth Slipshod Slush fund Smarts Snitch, Soft-pedal Soiree Soliloquy Some Somnambulism Soporific Sotto voce Soul searching Sour, Southpaw Spiel Spin doctor Splurge Sponge off Staccato Stamping ground Statuesque Stature Staycation Steadfast Stealth Stealth call Stockholm syndrome Stonewall Stooge Stove Straight arrow Straw poll Study animal Stymie Suave Sub rosa Subaltern Subterfuge Succinct Succour Succulent Suite Sumptuous Superb Supine Sycophancy Syrupy Tagged along Tailspin Take a hike Take a rain check Tally ho Tanked Tantamount Tchotchke Teeming Teflon Telegenic Teller Tete-a-tete Texter’s thumb Textually challenged Textual satisfaction Thanatology Thesaurus Thoroughfare Tier Tiff Tinderbox Tinseltown Tittle-tattle Toast To go postal Toothsome Top-drawer Topiary Tortoise Touch base with someone Touché Tour de force Tout Townterview Trailblazer Trenchant Trypanophobia Tryst Tsetse Turncoat TV stoned Uber Ubiquitous Umpteen Uncouth Unctuous Urban legend Uxoricide Valet Vanilla Vase Verbiage Vibes Vide Vidiot Vigilante Vignette Villain Virago Vis-a-vis Vitiate Vivacious Volkswagen Volte-face Voluminous Vouchsafe Vox populi Voyeur Walk the talk Walking disaster area Wannabe Watchdog agency Watershed moment Webinar Webtrovert Wee hours Weird Wetware Wherewithal Whistle-blower Willing to take his/her medicine Willy-nilly Wimpy Winning ugly Woot Wordrobe Worrywart Wrap rage Wuthering Xenophobia Yada yada yada Yap Yellular Yes-man Young Turks You’re nuts Zeitgeist Zenith Zephyr Zero in on Zing