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How is ‘ignoramus’ pronounced? (K. Jayanthi, Kolkata)

This word of Latin origin consists of four syllables. The first rhymes with ‘pig’, ‘fig’ and ‘dig’; while the vowel in the second and fourth syllables sound like the ‘a’ in ‘china’. The vowel in the third, sounds like the ‘a’ in ‘day’, ‘bay’ and ‘say’. The word is pronounced ‘ig-ne-RAY-mes’ with the stress on the third syllable. Many people wrongly pronounce the third syllable like the word ‘ram’. The word comes from the Latin ‘ignoramus’ meaning ‘we do not know’, and it was originally a term used in legal contexts. When after listening to both sides of a case, the jury handed the judge a slip of paper with the word ‘ignoramus’ written on it, it meant that the individuals were unable to decide whether the defendant was guilty or not — the prosecution had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused was indeed guilty. With the passage of time, the word underwent a big change in meaning; it began to be used in everyday conversation to refer someone who is stupid or ignorant. According to scholars, this change in meaning occurred in the early years of the seventeenth century when George Ruggle staged his play Ignoramus. In it, the main character, a lawyer by the name of Francis Brackyin, is shown to be someone who knows very little about the law; from then on, the word took on its modern meaning — namely, an ignorant individual or a dunce. To call someone an ignoramus to his face is an insult.

I’m a complete ignoramus when it comes to pop music.

I can’t believe that an ignoramus like Maya was appointed Registrar.

One can be ‘expelled or ‘rusticated’ from college. What is the difference between the two? (Shreyas Verma, Bengaluru)

Both are used by educational institutions — schools and colleges — to punish a student. Of the two, ‘rusticate’ is mostly limited to British English, and the word itself is considered by many to be old fashioned. When an institution decides to rusticate a student, it suspends the individual; the person ceases to be a student for a specific period of time. Universities like Oxford and Cambridge, I am told, tend to rusticate students. When a school or a college ‘expels’ a student, it throws him out; he is forced to leave the institution on a permanent basis — he is not allowed to enter again. Among native speakers of English, ‘expel’ is much more widely used than ‘rusticate’.

Several students were rusticated after last week’s incident in the canteen.

Unless you shape up, you’ll be expelled.

The word ‘expel’ comes from the Latin ‘ex’ meaning ‘out’ and ‘pellere’ meaning ‘to drive’ — so, when you are expelled, you are driven out. This meaning of the word has been in existence since the 14th century. The meaning ‘to eject from school’ came into existence only in the mid 17th century. The word ‘rusticate’, on the other hand, comes from the Latin ‘rusticatus’ meaning ‘to live in the country’. In the old days, when someone ‘rusticated’, he went to the countryside to spend time there — in other words, he chose to live like a rustic for a while. It was only much later that the word began to mean to suspend a student.

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