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November 13, 2007

Vishy's Indian English Dictionary: hoarding

hoarding./HOr·ding/. A billboard or large sign advertising a product, or rather often, a movie or a political message. Movie hoardings may be painted in garish, eye-catching colors but they often bear astonishing likenesses to the actual actors in the movie.

Making a hoarding related to movies or politics requires quite a bit of talent, especially around rendering the actor or politician. The former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa Jayaraman, used to be a popular subject of political hoardings, usually in the form of gigantic cutouts. Her cutouts, along with her positioning as Puratchi Thalaivi (Revolutionary Leader) practically gave her an iconic position not unlike Che Guevara.

On a more technical note, the word hoarding is derived from Old French hourd, which means fence or scaffolding. I am also reminded of a great verse I read from Ogden Nash recently:

I think that I shall never see
A billboard lovely as a tree.
Perhaps, unless the billboards fall,
I'll never see a tree at all.

Posted by Vishy at 11:09 AM | Comments (0)