The Art of Chindogu

Useless Inventions - translated into Japanese becomes Chindogu. Was surprised that they have a society and watever they invent has to fall within their tenets!!!! Damn cool....

Check this out.

Chithirai Kani

Happy new year to all. Just wishing all passers-by a great year ahead.

Well..well...ads!

One of my colleagues was telling me abt the shop that he had been to and the sign that they had painted to give out their USP: "Suitings, Shirtings and Pantings" .....whoa.... i wonder wat they actually sell?!!! In their desire to be upto the 'international' standards, i guess they do tend to forget that they cater just to the desi Tom Dick n Harry.

Esprit d'escalier

One good thing that is not happening to me even after I subscribed to AWAD is improvement. I wonder where my memory has gone..sure has taken the vocab with it!
Yesterday's word was "esprit d'escalier ".. it kinda stayed back in my memory predominantly becos it was just like me...i could identify myself with the definition of the word:

(e-SPREE des-kal-i-YE) noun, also esprit de l'escalier - Thinking of a witty remark too late; hindsight wit or afterwit. Also such a remark.

Usage:
We're all witty. It's just that many of us think of our clever remarks a bittoo late. The French call it the staircase wit, indicating that one thoughtof that perfect retort on his or her way out.

"I can think of hard, tough, one-line put-downs, but only after the person concerned has left the room. (NB: this affliction, esprit de l'escalier, is one of the principal reasons why people become writers.)" Simon Barnes; Glitzy Game Gets Line Not Length All Wrong; The Times (London, UK); Jun 13, 2003.

"'You don't have a television?' The question is invariably accompanied by a baffled expression. ... Even as I'm writing this, my esprit d'escalier kicks in, and I start composing witty comebacks for future use: 'Oh, but those things run on electricity, don't they? We don't use electricity.'" Eya Donald Greenland; There's Luxury in Life Without TV; Toronto Star (Canada); Mar 17, 2003.

...yours truly..espirit d'escalier