Know your English | Who is a coffeeholic?

For representative purposes.
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What is the difference between ‘tiring’ and ‘tiresome’? (Anand Rao, Chittoor)

‘Tiresome’ can be used with both people and things, and it is the more negative of the two. When you accuse someone of being ‘tiresome’, what you are suggesting is that the individual is rather boring. The word also carries with it the suggestion that you find the person rather irritating to talk to. You find yourself mentally or emotionally drained being in the person’s company. When you say that you found someone’s talk tiresome, what you mean is that it was very dull.

I’ve always found talking to my uncle very tiresome.

The baby spilt water on the forms. I had to go through the tiresome process of filling them out again.

Something that makes you feel rather tired is ‘tiring’. In this case, you feel physically drained.

Climbing the steps to reach the top proved to be a tiring experience.

I don’t want to go anywhere. It’s been a tiring day.

What is the meaning of ‘for peanuts’? (Jyot Prakash, Madina)

The word ‘peanuts’ is frequently used in informal contexts in American English to refer to a very small or an insignificant amount of money. For example, when you say that the job pays you peanuts, what you are suggesting is that it hardly pays you anything. An expression that is frequently heard is ‘work for peanuts’ — the job pays you such an insignificant amount that it is not even worth mentioning. Other expressions which are frequently used with peanuts are ‘earn peanuts’, ‘make peanuts’, ‘pay peanuts’.

Vinay worked on the project for three months. The company paid him peanuts for it.

I bought this house during the recession. It cost me peanuts.

The expression ‘work for peanuts’ is said to have been made famous by the British immigrant, Harry Mozley Stevens — a well-known figure in the world of professional baseball in the early twentieth century. When Stevens attended his first baseball game in the U.S., he found that the scorecards that were being sold were inadequate. He came up with his own version of one, and soon, both the fans and the professional teams, began to take an interest in them. With the success of the cards, Stevens began to expand his business. He became a caterer, and began selling peanuts and hotdogs, among other things, to the hungry fans inside baseball stadiums. After becoming a millionaire, Stevens jokingly remarked that he ‘worked for peanuts’ during the early stages of his career.

What do you call someone who drinks a lot coffee? (K. Sharmila, New Delhi)

Usually, the suffix ‘holic’ is added to a word to suggest that someone has an abnormal desire for something. For example, the word ‘chocoholic’ is used to refer to someone who desires or is extremely fond of chocolates. Similarly, someone who is addicted to shopping is called a ‘shopaholic’. Therefore, someone who loves coffee can be called ‘coffeeholic’. Since this beverage contains caffeine, other terms frequently used to refer to a coffee lover are ‘caffeine addict’, ‘caffeine junkie’, ‘caffeine lover’ and ‘caffeine fanatic’. My favourite, however, is ‘caffeinator’ (like ‘Terminator’). Not all these terms, however, find a place in standard dictionaries.

Ramani is a coffee addict. He drinks fifteen cups a day.

Unlike her parents, Sharmila is not a coffeeholic.

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