Wg. Cdr. Hande has sought clarification on the following.

1. Compliments   This word, always in the plural, occurs in several contexts.  At Christmas time (and the New Year) cards are sent out with the inscription: compliments of the season. The phrase with the compliments of (followed by the name of the person) or with x’s (=name of the person) compliments is used when you give someone an article free. Thus an author may inscribe a copy of his book to a friend: with (the author’s) compliments. Also in upscale restaurants and hotels: Drinks on the house/ All drinks will be supplied with our compliments. Firms, too, send out gifts inscribed:  with our compliments to their more important clients. Compliments in this sense is a shorter form of complimentary; a complimentary bottle of wine/complimentary tickets for a play.

The verb (and the corresponding noun in the plural) also occurs in a situation where you praise someone or express your admiration for something they have done. May I compliment you on your excellent cooking? / My compliments on your cooking.

Apart from the phrase in the last example sentence above, an act of praise /admiration is a compliment: to give one a compliment. You can also ‘return a compliment’.

Finally, note the spelling. The last but one vowel is i. Complement (note the e) is a term in grammar.

2. Is it mock at or mock a person? In the context of what you do to another person, some verbs are followed by a preposition. You laugh at a person. /You stare at a girl. / You cock a snook at somebody. / You shout at someone.  But you mock a person. You don’t mock at him or/her. Other verbs used in this context without a preposition are: revile, rebuke, attack, denounce, exploit…. The list is quite long.

It seems to me that when your action affects a person because of some sort of physical contact (hit, strike, kick) or affects him materially even when there is no contact (as in rebuke, exploit) no preposition appears. The verb is transitive.  Mock falls into this category.  In other cases the person may or may not be affected by your action as when you laugh, stare or look at a person. The preposition indicates the direction and goal of your activity without necessarily implying that the person is affected in any way.

3. Mostly   Mr. Hande says he has seen this word used often in the sense of ‘in all probability’ in IE, especially in Karnataka. I wish Mr. Hande had sent me a citation or two. In any case the suggested usage doesn’t exist n Standard English.  Mostly is correctly used as in The working population in Dubai is mostly from India, especially Kerala. The meaning is: ‘to a large extent or degree’. Electric and electronic goods are mostly from China these days.

4. though-although   A reader wants to know how these are distinguished.  The question has been discussed in the column dated Aug. 16, 2006. ‘English for You’ is available on the internet from 2000 onwards. Go to DH Archives.

5. Mr Bhima Naik wants to know why is occurs twice in Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it.

I take it that Mr. Naik is referring to the occurrence of is in the structure Thinking is the hardest work there is. There is here means ‘which is; that exists.’ So the sentence is equivalent to: thinking is the hardest work that exists (-that is).

In the question Which is the hardest work that there is? the meaning will not be the same if we stopped as in: ‘Which is the hardest work?’ One answer could be: ‘Lifting the earth.’ But that is not what the questioner has in mind.  What he has in mind is: Among the works we normally engage in, which is the hardest? To get the sense you have to frame the question as in which is the hardest work that there is?  You find that is occurs twice here.  But it is not in the same clause. One occurs in the which-clause and the other in the that-clause. In the answer too you find the same pattern. One occurrence is in the clause beginning with thinking; another is in the clause beginning with that.

6. Vivek Kumar wants to know how these are differentiated:  tie-up, joint venture, collaboration.
These terms indicate different degrees of collaboration between commercial organisations.  Two companies may decide to join forces to market a certain product. This would be a tie-up. In a collaboration two or more companies may work together to produce a product; e.g. the Squibb-Sarabhai drug company. Finally in a joint venture the participating companies / individuals (?) retain their separate identities but come together to develop a product.

I must admit that my expertise does not extend to these fields. I am open to correction.

Contact the writer at ksyadurajan@yahoo.com