No, the blog is not taking a violent/perverted turn! Unless you count the murder of the letter combination -ct.
Years ago, a professor at a reputed women's college in Bangalore city told me that people frequently called her a "lecherer" and that this had proved to be alternately annoying and embarrassing. I did not believe it! I thought she was exaggerating, and that she had a hyper sensitive ear for English. Fast forward ten years, and there I was, listening to someone tell me that a gentleman she had recently met only used "lecher method." She did not mean that he preyed on young girls with lascivious eyes and wandering hands! Apparently, this poor unsuspecting gentleman liked to talk a lot, and did not allow anyone to get a word in edgewise. Unfortunately, in our conversation he was hanged (and no, I really do not mean hung. Look it up, folks!) for a completely different crime.
The day I had this "lecher" conversation, another person also mentioned to me that she needed to get her car tire punchered (the erroneous usage of the word will be dealt with in a subsequent post). But it appears that even mispronunciations have a pattern. It turns out that Hinglish speakers do not like the -ct combination in words like puncture and lecture. We prefer to substitute the combination -ch instead so puncture becomes puncher, and lecture becomes lecher.
This can prove to be incredibly confusing - particularly when people tell you that they recently met a lecherer (thought blurb: Did he feel you up or just undress you with his eyes?) or that their tire has a puncher (thought blurb: Really? Like a bouncer? How lucky! I thought only bars had bouncers on their payroll).
If someone tells you about a puncher or lecher, substitute -ch with -ct in your head and try to keep from laughing. You don't want to be the next person to be lechered or punchered!
Years ago, a professor at a reputed women's college in Bangalore city told me that people frequently called her a "lecherer" and that this had proved to be alternately annoying and embarrassing. I did not believe it! I thought she was exaggerating, and that she had a hyper sensitive ear for English. Fast forward ten years, and there I was, listening to someone tell me that a gentleman she had recently met only used "lecher method." She did not mean that he preyed on young girls with lascivious eyes and wandering hands! Apparently, this poor unsuspecting gentleman liked to talk a lot, and did not allow anyone to get a word in edgewise. Unfortunately, in our conversation he was hanged (and no, I really do not mean hung. Look it up, folks!) for a completely different crime.
The day I had this "lecher" conversation, another person also mentioned to me that she needed to get her car tire punchered (the erroneous usage of the word will be dealt with in a subsequent post). But it appears that even mispronunciations have a pattern. It turns out that Hinglish speakers do not like the -ct combination in words like puncture and lecture. We prefer to substitute the combination -ch instead so puncture becomes puncher, and lecture becomes lecher.
This can prove to be incredibly confusing - particularly when people tell you that they recently met a lecherer (thought blurb: Did he feel you up or just undress you with his eyes?) or that their tire has a puncher (thought blurb: Really? Like a bouncer? How lucky! I thought only bars had bouncers on their payroll).
If someone tells you about a puncher or lecher, substitute -ch with -ct in your head and try to keep from laughing. You don't want to be the next person to be lechered or punchered!
