On the nail

(UK) immediately, without delay

"Tell me, have you a mind to anything in the Doctor's book? Speak the word, and I will help you to it upon the nail." --Thomas Nashe, Have With You To Saffron Walden (1596)

Etymology: On the nail allegedly from the tradition of striking bargains by placing cash on the nails in Bristol. The Oxford English Dictionary however cites a Anglo-Norman phrase from c. 1360, "payer sur le ungle" to pay on the (finger)nail, meaning "to pay immediately and in full", and quotes parallel usages from 17th century French, Dutch and German sources. It adds that "N.E.D. (1906) notes that: ‘the explanations associating it with certain pillars at the Exchange of Limerick or Bristol are too late to be of any authority in deciding the question’."

source: wiktionary

A chain is only strong as its weakest link

Meaning: An organization (especially a process or a business) is only as strong or powerful as its weakest person. A group of associates is only as strong as its laziest member.

Origin of the proverb: This originated in the United Kingdom (UK), hosted there by Anne Robinson, and was later syndicated for use in many other countries. The show, which relies on the demonstration of the abysmal lack of general knowledge by many of the participating contestants, is an example of the many 'humiliation television' shows of the early 21st century and is a sad spectacle. It is clearly a literal fact that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. The conversion of that notion into a figurative phrase was established in the language by the 18th century. Thomas Reid's Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man, 1786, included this line:

"In every chain of reasoning, the evidence of the last conclusion can be no greater than that of the weakest link of the chain, whatever may be the strength of the rest."

source: www.phrases.org.uk, wikipedia

More facts about words

Almost is the longest word in the English language with all the letters in alphabetical order.

Typewriter is the longest English word that can be made by using only one row of a keyboard.

Ernest Vincent Wright wrote a novel, "Gadsby", which contains over 50,000 words -- none of them with the letter E.

Spoonfeed, nine letters long, is the longest word whose letters are arranged in reverse alphabetical order. Trollied is an eight letter word with this property. Seven letter words with this property include sponged and wronged.

Strengths, nine letters long, is the longest word in the English language with only one vowel.

Hotshots consists of the same four letters repeated.

Hydroxyzine is the only word in the English language that contains "xyz."

You and ewe are pronounced the same but share no letters in common. Eye and I is another such pair.

Postmuscular, twelve letters long, is the longest English word that is normally typed by switching hands every two letters.

Monday is the only day of the week that has an anagram, which is dynamo.

Earth, having the anagrams hater and heart, and Mars, having the anagrams arms and rams, are the only planets with anagrams.

source: www.rinkworks.com

Facts about words

The longest English word, at 45 letters, is 'pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis'.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is a factitious word alleged to mean a lung disease caused by the inhalation of very fine silica dust, causing inflammation in the lungs. A condition meeting the word's definition is normally called silicosis.

This word was invented in 1935 by Everett M. Smith, president of the National Puzzlers' League, at its annual meeting. The word figured in the headline for an article published by the New York Herald Tribune on February 23, 1935, titled "Puzzlers Open 103d Session Here by Recognizing 45-Letter Word":

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis succeeded electrophotomicrographically as the longest word in the English language recognized by the National Puzzlers' League at the opening session of the organization's 103rd semi-annual meeting held yesterday at the Hotel New Yorker. The puzzlers explained that the forty-five-letter word is the name of a special form of silicosis caused by ultra-microscopic particles of silica volcanic dust...

Subsequently, the word was used in a puzzle book, Bedside Manna, after which members of the NPL campaigned to have it included in major dictionaries. This 45-letter word, referred to as P45, first appeared in the 1939 supplement to the Merriam-Webster New International Dictionary, Second Edition.

'Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia' is the fear of long words.

Hippopoto- "big" due to its allusion to the Greek-derived word hippopotamus (though this is derived as hippo- "horse" compounded with potam-os "river", so originally meaning "river horse"; according to the Oxford English, "hippopotamine" has been construed as large since 1847, so this coinage is reasonable); -monstr- is from Latin words meaning "monstrous", -o- is a noun-compounding vowel; -sesquipedali- comes from "sesquipedalian" meaning a long word (literally "a foot and a half long" in Latin), -o- is a noun-compounding vowel, and -phobia means "fear". Note: This was mentioned on the first episode of Brainiac Series Five as one of Tickle's Teasers. 

Obviously it is not fear of hippos.

source: wikipedia

Fealty and Foible

Fealty

Definition: (noun) The fidelity owed by a vassal to his feudal lord.

Synonyms: allegiance

Usage: There was a common head, chieftain, or sovereign, whose authority extended over the whole nation…and numerous trains of inferior vassals or retainers, who occupied and cultivated that land upon the tenure of fealty or obedience, to the persons of whom they held it.



Foible

Definition: (noun) A minor weakness or failing of character.

Synonyms: idiosyncrasy, mannerism

Usage: My foible was patriotism; I was ruined by the baneful habit of trying to serve my country.

Source: www.thefreedictionary.com

Malaysia No.1 in English in Asia

Malaysia boleh! Although there's much (deserved) grumbling about our national English standards, it happens that we're actually in the first spot for English proficiency in the Asia region for countries where English is not the mother tongue.

Seoul (The Korea Herald/ANN) - South Korea ranked third out of Asian nations according to an English Proficiency Index announced on March 30 by Education First, a global education center. Go here for the full rankings.

Korea, with an overall ranking of 13th, overtook Japan (at 14th) and Taiwan at (25th).

From 2007 to 2009, Education First conducted online English tests on 2.3 million working adults all from over the world. English proficiency was tested in four categories - grammar, vocabulary, reading and listening.

Among Asian countries, Korea's 54.19 points followed only Malaysia (9th) with 55.54 points and Hong Kong (12th) with 54.44 points. Koreans' English proficiency can be considered relatively high considering that Korea's official language is not English. Malaysia and Hong Kong, however, use English as one of their official languages.

The overall English proficiency of an average Korean adult also rated "above average." South Korea placed among the top tier nations by ranking 13 out of 44 non-native countries.

English education is important in Korea, Education First says, citing Korea's efforts to promote early English education in public schools and the emphasis on English education in private education.

In Asia's case, the gap between nations in English proficiency was largely affected by the level of political stability and economic power of the country as well as the educational zeal of the people. Overall English ability was highest in Northern European countries such as Norway, the Netherlands and Denmark, with Sweden and Finland following closely behind.

In places where the public education system is relatively weak, the English proficiency of the people also rated poorly. Argentina, ranking 16th in total, scored highest among Central and South American nations with 53.49 points.

-MSN News Regional

Mahathir says Lee wanted to be Malaysian PM

Former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad said in a book published Tuesday that Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew was unhappy with his "municipal role" at the helm of the city-state, and harboured ambitions to lead Malaysia.

In his latest broadside against Singapore's founding father, Mahathir, Malaysian premier from 1981 to 2003, said his bitter rival had wanted to take over Malaysia when the island-state was part of the Malaysian federation.

Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak merged with peninsula Malaysia to create the federation of Malaysia in 1963, but Singapore was ejected in 1965, following racial clashes and political and economic differences.

Lee remained Singaporean prime minister until 1990.

"Lee saw Malaysia as his chance to dominate a substantial nation and become its prime minister," Mahathir said in his 809-page "A Doctor In The House: The Memoirs of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad", which hit bookshelves Tuesday.

"The Singapore of the early 1960s was too small for him and his ambitions.

"Malaysia was a real country, not a city-state and to become Prime Minister of Malaysia would satisfy his ambitions, especially for power and a more than municipal role," he wrote.

Mahathir said he had often clashed with Lee when Singapore was part of Malaysia, adding that Lee was "condescending" when addressing parliament.

"Lee and I had a civil relationship, but it was never a friendship," he said, adding that Lee had labelled him a Malay 'ultra' -- or extremist -- although he himself was one.

"Lee did not see himself as an extremist... when in commenting upon Malay poverty and its causes, he remarked that 'it is not the Malays themselves who are backward, just their culture.'"

A sleepy backwater trading port upon separation in 1965, Lee transformed Singapore into an economic powerhouse.

Its economy grew at 14.7 percent in 2010, doubling Malaysia's 7.2 percent.

Official figures show Singapore's GDP per capita had increased from 512 dollars in 1965 to 36,537 dollars in 2009, while Malaysia's GDP per capita lagged behind on 335 dollars in 1965 to 6,975 in 2009.

The two former leaders had failed to resolve rows over the price of the water that Malaysia supplies to resource-scarce Singapore and access for the city-state's military to Malaysian airspace.

Mahathir stepped down in 2003, at a time when relations between the two neighbours were at a low. Ties have improved since Najib Razak took over from Mahathir's successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in 2009.

- Agence France-Presse