Know your English | I whipped up some dessert for the evening

“How was dinner at Sujatha’s place? She’s a fantastic cook, isn’t she?”

“I don’t really know! You see, she’d forgotten that she had invited Kirthi and me for dinner! She was quite surprised to see us.”

“Really? That doesn’t sound like the Sujatha I know! She’s always so organised.”

“She was very embarrassed. She said she’d whip up something to eat, but we told her…”

“Whip up? What are you talking about? How can she whip something…”

“The expression ‘whip up’ has several different meanings. In the context of cooking, it means to prepare something very quickly. For example, when my mother realised how hungry we were, she whipped up some upma.”

“Did Sujatha whip up something delicious for the two of you?”

“She wanted to, but Kirthi said no. The three of us had dinner in a restaurant.”

“I’d sent Kirthi a longish message last night. All I got was a one-word reply. I don’t…”

“Don’t waste your time typing long messages to Kirthi. He’s a dry texter.”

“Dry texter? What are you talking about?”

“A ‘dry texter’ is someone who gives very short replies to your messages. It could be just one word or one sentence.”

“Looking at the reply makes you feel very frustrated or angry.”

“Exactly! The texter makes little or no effort to keep the conversation going. He doesn’t ask any questions. Such short texts are called ‘dry texts’.”

“I see. Does it mean a person who sends dry texts is not interested in people?”

“Not necessarily! A dry texter could be someone who hates texting. He could be fun when you meet him face to face. He’s not good when it comes to texting. Vinod is a very dry texter. When you meet him face to face, he’s a totally different person.”

“Vinod’s sister is not a dry texter. She knows how to keep a conversation going.”

“Can you guess what the opposite of dry texting is?”

“Logic suggests that it should be ‘wet texting’!”

“Very good! That’s exactly what it is. A wet texter is someone who gives lengthy replies, and keeps the exchanges fun.”

“I’m afraid, I’m more of a dry texter than a wet one. By the way, what is the correct pronunciation of b..a..d..e? I’ve heard people pronounce it in different ways.”

“The word can be pronounced in two different ways — both of which are acceptable. Perhaps the easiest way is to pronounce it like the word ‘bad’.”

“In which case, the ‘e’ is silent.”

“No matter how you pronounce the word, the ‘e’ is always silent. Another way of pronouncing the word is to make it rhyme with ‘made’, ‘shade’ and ‘paid’.”

“So, the word consists of only one syllable?”

“That’s right! It’s a monosyllabic word. Do you know what ‘bade’ means?”

“Of course, I do! It’s the past tense of ‘bid’. When the teacher retired, the children bade her a tearful farewell. How does that sound?”

“Sounds good! As he handed over the keys to the car, Vikram bade his sister to take good care of it.”

“I can’t imagine Vikram handing over the keys to his car to anyone. He loves it too much!”

“Guess he loves his sister more!”

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