Current Affairs 6th Class

WHAT ARE IDIOMS? Idioms are words, phrases, or expressions that are either grammatically unusual, as in, "Long time, no see!", or their leaning cannot be taken literally, as in, "It's raining cats and dogs!" This expression does not mean that cats and dogs are falling from the sky, but it is a metaphorical expression (word picture) that means that it is raining very heavily   FOR EXAMPLE: He cried crocodile tears because he wanted his dad to buy him something just as a crocodile cannot cry, the boy was not crying at all! He was just acting! People use idioms to make their language richer and more colorful. Idioms and idiomatic expressions can be more precise than the literal words, often using fewer words but saying more.   Some commonly used Idioms & Phrases

• Beat back (to compel to retire): The firemen were beaten back by angry flames and the building was reduced to ashes.
• Boil down to (to amount to): His entire argument boiled down to this that he would not join the movement unless he saw some monetary gain in it.
• Cast aside (to reject, to throw aside): Men will cast aside truth and honesty for immediate gains.
• Cry down (to deprecate): Some of the Western powers did their best to cry down India's success in the war.
• Egg on (to urge on): Who egged you on to fight a professional boxer and get your nose knocked off?
• Gloss over (explain away): Even if you are an important person your faults cannot be glossed over.
• Play off (to set one party against another for one's own advantage): It best serves the interests of the super powers to play off one poor nation against another.
• Pull someone through (to recover, to help one recover): Armed with the latest medicines, the doctor will pull him through.
• To come off with flying colours (to come out of a conflict with brilliant success): The 1971 election outcome was uncertain but finally the congress came off with flying colours.
• To come off second best (to be defeated in every contest): Be it an election or a tambola, I have always come off the second best.
• To fall to one's lot (to become one's fate): It fell to the lot of Mujib and his colleagues to reconstruct the shattered economy of their nation.
• To get into hot water (to get into difficulty): The businessman got into hot water with the Income tax authorities for concealing his income from ancestral property.
• To give someone the slip (to dodge someone who is looking for you): The police had nearly got the dacoits when the latter gave them the slip in the Chambal ravines.
• To go to rack and ruin, to go to the dogs (to be ruined): If a big war comes, our economy will go to the dogs.
• To have one’s hands fuil (to be very busy): Pakistan could hardly expect active help from the U.S.A. her hands were already full with Vietnam, Laos more...

ADVERTISEMENT Advertising is bringing a product or service to the attention of potential and current customers. It is focused on one particular product or service. Thus, an advertising plan for one product might be very different from that for another product. Advertising is typically done with signs, brochures, commercials, direct mailings or e-mail messages, personal contact, etc. Advertising is the activity of drawing public attention to a product or service in order to encourage people to buy it.   CREATING AN ADVERTISEMENT It seems very difficult to craft a perfect advertisement to entice potential consumers or influence public opinion. But the right way to make a good advertisement is to keep simple. An advertisement sums up everything that is smart, innovative, and distinguished about your brand, and is almost indispensable in today's economic marketplace.   WRITING THE ADVERTISEMENT Advertisers create ads for an intended audience. They have a purpose behind designing an advertisement and publishing it in a particular way. Advertising affects people in different ways. People today are exposed to a large amount of advertising. A catchy, snappy tagline is the sole of an advertisement. Loud sounding advertisements appeal less to our senses. The immediate purpose of advertisement is to garb the consumer's attention and convince him or her that your product is different from others.   AVOID THE SAME OLD CLICHES Being memorable is the key to good advertisement. Avoid terms like— new and improved, guaranteed, or free gift-is there any other kind?

• Startle the reader to pay attention because it is especially useful if you have a lot to say. For example long announcement wouldn't turn many heads if it weren't for the unusual, confrontational tagline; if the reader wants to get the joke, she or he has to read more.
• Know how to walk the line between controversial and entertaining. Pushing the limits of good taste to help your ad grab attention is common practice, but don't go too far — you want your product to be recognized on its own merits, not because it was tied to a tasteless advertisement.
• Use a persuasive technique. There are tried and true methods that advertisers rely on to make their ads stick.

These include:

• Common sense: 'Challenging the consumer to think of a good reason why not to purchase your product or service.
• Making the consumer laugh, make you more likeable and memorable. This pairs especially well with refreshing honesty. Your Advertise lines should be short.
• Repetition: Repeating key elements will bring good results.
• Exigency: Convincing the consumer that time is of the essence. Limited-time only offers, fire sales, and the like are the commonest ways to do this, but again, avoid meaningless phrases that will slip under your customers' radar.
• Know the customer. Even the cleverest ad won't work if it doesn't appeal to the target audience. Are you looking for a certain age group? Do you want people with a set income level? Or maybe you're looking for a more...