What is the difference between ‘discover’ and ‘invent’? (J. Rukmani, Chennai)

When you ‘discover’ something, you find something that had already existed; perhaps it was hidden, and therefore, couldn’t be seen. You are not creating anything new; you are merely finding something that was already there. For example, America existed long before Columbus discovered it in 1492. Similarly, if you discover treasure under your garage, you are finding something that had already been there for some time. But the discovery is something ‘new’ for you; you were not aware of its existence before your discovery. Others, however, may have been aware of it. You may intentionally set out to discover something or you may discover something quite accidentally.‘Invention’, on the other hand, suggests the creation of something new, something which did not exist before. Alexander Graham Bell, for example, invented the electric light bulb — nothing like it had existed before his invention. It was not new just for the inventor, but for everyone.

The explorers discovered gold deep inside the cave. I want to invent a machine which will enable people to lose weight in five minutes.

Can children in kindergarten be called ‘wards’? (Chandran Murugan, Palani)

There are some people in our country who refer to their own child as their ‘ward’. The word comes from the Old English ‘weard’ meaning ‘watchman’ or ‘sentry keeper’. A ward, therefore, was someone who provided protection. Today, in native varieties of English, the word is mostly used in legal contexts to refer to a child who is under the legal protection of the court or an individual appointed by the court — a guardian. Such a child is usually referred to as ‘the ward of court’. A kindergarten teacher calling her students ‘wards’ would be considered strange by native speakers of English.

When Sheila’s parents died in an accident, she was made a ward of court.

Why is Britain sometimes referred to as ‘old Blighty’? (P. Shivkumar, Ongole)

Initially, it was just ‘Blighty’; the ‘old’ was added much later. Blighty has nothing to do with the word ‘blight’, meaning ‘something that spoils or has a bad effect on something; often, for a long time’. Blighty is India’s contribution to the English language. According to scholars, the word is a corruption of the Hindi ‘vilayathi’, meaning ‘foreigner’. In some dialects of Hindi, the word is pronounced ‘bilayathi’. In the 1800s, people in the north of India began to refer to the English and their country as ‘vilayathi’. Soon, the British soldiers in India adopted this word and began to use it to refer to Britain. ‘Vilayathi/bilaythi’ became ‘Blighty’. The term became very popular during World War I, when homesick British soldiers, sitting in trenches in different parts of Europe, began to refer to their country as ‘old Blighty’. Soon, song writers began to use this term in their lyrics. A popular song during the early decades of the twentieth century was ‘Take me back to dear old Blighty’.

John is planning to visit old Blighty sometime next month.

For a change, the weather in old Blighty was glorious.

upendran@gmail.com