You can ask my wife Priya for a certificate. She thinks Lavanya's reformed you considerably.
-----Original Message----- From: silklist-bounces+suresh=hserus....@lists.hserus.net [mailto:silklist-bounces+suresh=hserus....@lists.hserus.net] On Behalf Of Udhay Shankar N Sent: Wednesday, 26 August 2009 9:39 AM To: silklist@lists.hserus.net Subject: Re: [silk] "Function" [was Chennai Silk Meet on the 29th?] On Wed, Aug 26, 2009 at 8:54 AM, Ramakrishnan Sundaram<r.sunda...@gmail.com> wrote: >> as that evening is one of the functions I'm >> coming into town for. > > I'm fascinated by this usage; I've only seen it in Indian English. >From [1]: <q> 4 : an official or formal ceremony or social gathering </q> > Any ideas on how "function" came to mean "event"? > > It may be "a function" as in "a do". Yes, that seems quite clear from the etymology at the link below. <q> Etymology: Latin function-, functio performance, from fungi to perform; probably akin to Sanskrit bhuṅkte he enjoys Date: 1533 </q> To Suresh: given that it is a wedding reception, elai sapadu is certainly not out of the question. Also, would you come and vouch for me as a 'Traditional Iyer maama'? Udhay [1] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/function -- ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
