The Hindu Business Line : Hike is between hijra and hilarious

Now that Mani Shankar Aiyar gives us the hike and since we are at the receiving end, are we ``to take a hike''? When hikes become one too many, you would only wish that hike takes a hike.

AFTER much hype, at last the hike did come, hitting us in 2s and 20s, in petrol bunks and kitchen cylinders. For those who had grown tired of worrying what the hikes would be, a relief, because there would fewer sound bytes that the Minister would issuing in front of the mikes.

Hike, as defined in Encarta, just after hijra, is ``to go for a long walk in the countryside, usually for pleasure'', as the first meaning. Boot designed for hiking is a hiking boot; it could have "a durable leather boot, usually rising to just above the ankle, with a thick sole and heavy tread". A hiker, therefore, is a traveller, wayfarer, voyager, itinerant, passenger, commuter, tourist, explorer, adventurer, mountaineer, backpacker, wanderer and so on; for us though, hiker is the government, and almost everybody who is going to raise prices when pinched by cost escalation caused by cascading freights.

Origin of hike is uncertain, notes the dictionary, "perhaps an alteration of hitch". But to hitch is to fasten or catch temporarily with or as if with a loop, hook, or noose. When hitched, movement is with halts, jerks, or steps, as perhaps with price noose around our necks.

What Pope wrote, "Slides into verse, and hitches in a rhyme" can be rephrased as ``slides in a bike, and swallows up a hike" to describe the plight of consumers who have to meekly accept the new rates that promise fewer drops of fuel for the same outflow as earlier.

For governments that raise prices, hike is something done after long talks, much to their pleasure. We get the pain, because to hike is ``to increase taxes, prices, or the level or quantity of something suddenly and by a large amount''.

When, instead, hike is of salary or bonus, how happy we are, and so would we be if only the Finance Minister were to hike the basic exemption limit rather than tax rates on July 8. Hike is a word for the season, because hike or snap is the passing of a football from the centre to a back that initiates each play.

If hike were to depress you, www.infoplease.com would offer `hilarious' as the next word, "arousing great merriment, extremely funny". Hike is found in Egyptian mythology, notes Wikipedia. "Hike (also Heka) was the serpent-god of magic and the son of Atum, or Chnum and Menhit. He was the patron deity of doctors. He is associated with Shu."

Hike is magic, but the price hike is tragic; some rhyme to lessen the pain. Your rhyming dictionary would help with more words that sound similar, such as: Like, strike, dike, spike and Third Reich.

It would be wrong to say `hike up' in the current context, though somebody aggrieved by price rise — whether of coal or airfare — may emphasise with an `up' for effects' sake. "Her skirt hiked up," is a mischievous illustration from a dictionary to explain the phrase, because to hike up is "to become raised and usually not properly aligned, as a piece of clothing (often followed by up)." Now that Aiyar gives us the hike and since we are at the receiving end, are we ``to take a hike''? www.wordsmyth.net would not advise because it is slang, meaning ``to depart because one is not wanted". As an imperative, it means, ``go, leave, get lost'', as in, "When her old boyfriend moved in with us, I told them to take a hike".

Or, as a site advised George Bush when tariff war was at its peak, "If the European Union decides to haul us before the World Trade Organisation for a caning, the president should tell the WTO to take a hike." TAH is SMS for Take A Hike; an acronym used in online chat, e-mail, and newsgroup postings. When hikes become one too many, you would only wish that hike takes a hike.

ComingToTerms@TheHindu.co.in

D. Murali