Hornbill: The Portrait of a Lady and A Photograph Vocabulary

Flashcards covering key vocabulary, contextual idioms, and literary expressions from Khushwant Singh's 'The Portrait of a Lady' and Shirley Toulson's poem 'A Photograph'.

Effective reading

Receiving from others their ideas and feelings.

Hobble

To walk with difficulty because the legs and feet are in bad condition.

To take to something

To begin to do something as a habit.

To take ill

To suddenly become ill.

Telling the beads

Counting beads of a rosary while reciting prayers.

The thought was almost revolting

An expression indicating that the idea of the grandmother ever being young, pretty, and playful was hard to believe and distasteful to imagine.

An expanse of pure white serenity

A calm, tranquil, and immaculate presence breathing peace and contentment, likened to a winter landscape in the mountains.

A veritable bedlam of chirrupings

A true, chaotic scene of loud noise and confusion produced by hundreds of chirping sparrows.

Frivolous rebukes

Lighthearted, non-serious, and affectionate scoldings.

Dilapidated

In a state of disrepair, decay, or ruin as a result of age or neglect.

Accepted her seclusion with resignation

Calmly and quietly accepted her isolation from others without complaint or protest.

Paddling

Walking or wading barefoot through shallow water at the beach.

Transient

Lasting for only a short period of time; fleeting, impermanent, and mortal.

Cardboard

The stiff, thick paper mount or backing that holds the photograph.

Laboured ease of loss

The paradoxical, painstaking effort made to come to terms with and accept the inevitable pain of losing the past.

Past perfect form

The grammatical verb form used to recount actions or states situated in the distant or remote past.