EnglishTok - English for Indians

The answer to the above question is “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma” (Thank You, Churchill). There are at least 100 varieties of English spoken around the word. Maybe, more. They include: * Indian English * Jamaican English * Nigerian English * Singlish aka Singapore English * American English * Trinidadian English * Australian

Ever since Love in Tokyo (Hindi), Aman (Hindi) and Ulagam Sutrum Valiban (Tamil) debuted in the 1960s and 1970s, Indians have been enamored with Japan. Most Indian baby-boomers are likely aware of the Japanese word sayonara. After all, the word features in the famous song from Love in Tokyo (Joy

Take My Word for It: A Dictionary of English Idioms (2022) by Anatoly Liberman A lot of us use idioms every day, in speech and writing, without grasping what exactly an idiom means. An idiom is a group of words that has a figurative meaning (apart from the literal meaning

The Dismantling of India: In 35 Portraits (2022) by TJS George The recently departed TJS George (1927-2025) was a respected Indian journalist, striding tall in a profession with few genuine stars. Quietly and with no drama, George built a sterling reputation with quality work spread over several decades. Yet after

Reading the OED: One Man, One Year, 21,730 Pages (2008) by Ammon Shea We must be grateful Ammon Shea has restricted his crazy antics to reading the Oxford English Dictionary. What if he'd decided to take a hammer and swing it at every third person he encountered

Hell, No! iPhone, iPad, iMac and MacBook, yes! They come sailing across the high seas on massive container ships from China. Au contraire, English was not made in China! But we owe so many popular English words and expressions to the Chinese. Let’s start with an interesting expression that’

Beautiful Words: A Celebration for Word Lovers (2023) by Cider Mill Press When a word power book includes words like breakfast, listen, October, newspaper and library I quickly fling it where it belongs: the trashcan. After browsing through the book for about 30-minutes, I wondered if Beautiful Words: A Celebration

Et Cetera: An Illustrated Guide to Latin Phrases (2024) by Maia Lee-Chin To speak and write good English is a nice skill to possess. But to be able to sprinkle Latin into your conversation, a college admission essay or a speech you’re asked to write for your boss is

Grandiloquent Words: A Pictoric Lexicon of Ostrobogulous Locutions (2023) by Jason Travis Ott My antenna is always up for new word power books in English. You could even say I scent ‘em before I see ‘em. They’re like our fabulous Indian curries. You smell the masala before you reach

Pig Butchering was not to be found in either the Oxford English Dictionary or Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary when I looked for the term in early March 2026. But the expression is popular in the United States. Dozens of media reports on online scams, including in NYT, Wall Street

Daily Rituals: How Artists Work (2013) by Mason Currey Is there some peculiar madness to the method of great writers, I had always wondered. As if in response to my ceaseless prayers for clues to achieving fame and fortune via the pen, Mason Currey has put out Daily Rituals: How

A Wonderland of Words: Around the Word in 101 Essays (2024) by Shashi Tharoor Most Indian readers are familiar with Shashi Tharoor, the diplomat, writer and politician. For those not familiar with the man, Shashi Tharoor is the rare Indian politician who can articulate his thoughts in English without sounding