Which of the following is correct? “He is busy at weekends” or “He is busy on weekends”?

Both are acceptable. “At weekends” is commonly used in British English; the Americans, on the other hand, tend to use “on weekends.” Use whichever expression you feel comfortable with.

Examples: I informed my new boss that I do not do any office related work at weekends. *My friends and I are planning to go sailing on the weekend.

Source: ‘Know Your English’ (The Hindu) – October 02, 2006.

“run with the hare and hunt with the hounds”

Very often when two people have an argument, they go to a third person and ask him to be a judge. If the person is timid and is afraid to take a decision, he will end up saying that both parties are in the right. He will support both sides of the argument because he doesn’t want to hurt the feelings of his friends; sometimes, he does this with an ulterior motive in mind. This desire to be on friendly terms with both warring factions by supporting their arguments is what we mean by the expression, “running with the hare and hunting with the hounds.” The individual is trying to be both the rabbit (hare) and the dog (hound). He wants to be the hunted as well the hunter; and this is just not possible. This idiom is considered rather old fashioned.

Examples: Latha is a very clever person. She runs with the hare and hunts with the hounds.

Source: ‘Know Your English’ (The Hindu) – October 02, 2006.

How is the word `emaciated’ pronounced?

The `e’ in the first syllable and the `i’ in the third syllable are pronounced like the `i’ in `sit’, `bit’, and `kit’. The `ma’ sounds like the word `may’; the `c’ that follows is like the `sh’ in `ship’, `shin’, and `show’. The `ated’ at the end rhymes with `hated’, waited’, and `fated’. The stress is on the second syllable `ma’. This is one way of pronouncing the word.

Someone who is `emaciated’ is very weak and thin.
Example: The emaciated child was unable to walk for more than a minute.

Source: ‘Know Your English’ (The Hindu) – September 18, 2006.

Which is correct? `My wife knows well that I can’t sing’ or `My wife knows that I can’t sing well’?

Both sentences are grammatically acceptable, but they don’t have the same meaning.

The first sentence suggests that your wife knows that you cannot sing. There is no doubt in her mind that you are not a singer. The second sentence suggests that your wife knows that you can sing — but not very well. In this case, you are a singer, but not a good one.
* You know well that I don’t play tennis. (You know that I don’t play tennis at all.)
* You know that I don’t play tennis well. (I can play tennis, but I am not very good at it.)

Source: ‘Know Your English’ (The Hindu) – September 18, 2006.

Difference: ‘He cooked a good meal’ and `He cooked up a …..’

The result is the same in both cases — you end up eating a good meal! `Cook up’ suggests that the various dishes were prepared rather quickly, and at short notice. The expression is considered to be informal and has the same meaning as `rustle up’.
* My grandmother managed to cook up a decent meal for the guests who arrived unannounced. * My appointment has been cancelled. Think you’ll be able to rustle up something for lunch?

 Source: ‘Know Your English’ (The Hindu) – September 18, 2006.

MY NOTE: ‘Cooked up’  or ‘cook something up’ or ‘cook up something’ is used in informal context to mean to fabricate something. In other words, to invent something ( often dishonest or illegal) to produce a result you want.
Example:  Mr.X denied the allegations of corruption in the property deal and claimed it’s a cooked up story to malign his image.
Information Courtesy: The Free Dictionary
Idioms.thefreedictionary.com/cooked

How is the word `Renaissance’ pronounced?

The `e’ in the first syllable is like the `i’ in `bit’, `sit’, and `hit’; the `ai’ is like the `ay’ in `day’, `bay’, and `say’. The `a’ is pronounced like the `o’ in `lot’, `got’, and `hot’, and the final `ce’ is like the `ce’ in `dance’, `France’, and `chance’. The `ss’ sounds like the `s’ in `sit’, and the main stress is on the second syllable `nai’. This is one way of pronouncing the word.

The period between the 14th and 16th centuries is usually referred to as the `Renaissance’. The word means `rebirth’, and during this period, people in Europe began to take an active interest in art, literature, and science.
Renaissance is now used to talk about a rebirth of interest in some activity. For example, if you say that letter writing is experiencing a renaissance, what you mean is that people are taking an interest in it; letter writing is becoming popular again. Someone who shows a great a deal of interest in the arts and sciences and has a wide range of interests in other things is called a `Renaissance man’. He/she is someone who does a lot of different things very well.

* Ramanan is a writer, director, painter, and musician — a real Renaissance man
Source: ‘Know Your English’ (The Hindu) – September 18, 2006.

`you’re nuts’

When somebody tells you that you are nuts, what they mean is that you are crazy. The expression is mostly used in informal contexts.
Examples:  Naresh wants to invest all his savings in the stock market. The guy is nuts, I tell you. * I wouldn’t go out with that guy if I were you. My friends tell me he’s nuts.

During the middle of the 19th century, the word `nut’ began to be used to refer to an individual’s head. This was because some people thought that there was a similarity between the shape of a nut and the shape of a human head! Another similarity they found was that the nut, like the human head, was hard — and the most important thing in both cases was contained inside and not outside! Whatever be the case, the head began to be referred to as a `nut’. Around this time, the expression `off one’s head’ was frequently used to mean `out of one’s mind; crazy’. As time went by, the word `head’ was replaced by `nut’ in the expression, and very soon the word `nut’ acquired the meaning `crazy’.
Anyone who was crazy was called `nuts’, and the hospital for people who had mental illness began to be called a `nut house’.

Source: ‘Know Your English’ (The Hindu) – September 18, 2006.