What the verb...
Dash, on meeting Murugappa* for the first time at a gathering, said hello and added, "you are...." Those words were always a cue for Murugappa to embark on who he thought he was...
M's pitch: I am a Senior Manager at YadaYada and have 80 people reporting to me
D's response: --nothing--
M's pitch: I work with Fortune 500 clients only
D's response: --nothing--
M's pitch: I enjoy travelling and have been to at least thirty countries. Mostly on work you know. But sometimes I pack in a vacation as well. My wife and I were at the Maldives last month
D's reponse: --nothing--
M's pitch: I am very passionate about Hinduism. I mean, I am not a hardcore ritualist you know, but I love reading the Upanishads. In fact I am analyzing the merits of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan's version against Rajaji's version. Actually they are different but you can still compare them you know
D's response: --nothing--
M's pitch: Oh in fact I must mention that I love reading and buy all the books I read. My busy schedule does not permit me to borrow from libraries. I like airport bookshops. Do you read?
D's response: A bit. But Murugappa, you haven't answered my question yet
M, bemused: What do you mean? I've told you so much about myself
D: About what you do, yes. A little about what you have - that was an Opel Vectra that you drove isn't it?
M: Yes, yes. Good car. My wife thinks that the fuel consumption and maintenance costs are too high. But forget that. I love the car
D: Well, Murugappa, you must excuse me now. I would like to meet many people today
***
M to wife: I met a weird man today. He kept asking me who I was despite all the information I gave him
***
D to friend: Yet another failure. When am I going to find a person who gets his verbs right?
***
Ever wondered how we use the verbs 'be', 'have', 'do'?
We seem to have a life. We ask others to get a life (yeah, apparently, it is sold somewhere or can be stolen from somewhere). We do a lot of living (which, incidentally, a dictionary defines as 'having life'!)
Do we ever consider that a usage such as, 'I am life' / 'you are life' / 'we are life' is perhaps possible? Well, it is grammatically correct. I suppose many would call it logically flawed (logic - the answer to everything!). Btw, correct is to 'set right', which is something entire lifetimes are spent on!
PS: just in case we are unsure, a verb expresses an act, occurrence, or mode of being (here)
*just a fictitious name. No connection to anyone living
