Hindi-English Language and Slang

[Jacaylbaro]

Mast meaning great. "Mast hai" meaning "It's great"

"Your good name please?": "What is your name?", carryover from Hindi expression "Shubh-naam", literally meaning "auspicious name". This is similar to the way Japanese refer to the other person's name with an honorific "O-" prefix, as in "O-namae" instead of the simple "namae" when referring to their own name. It is also an indication that the questioner wants to know the person's formal or legal given name, as opposed to the pet name s/he would be called by close friends and family.

"Out of station" to mean "out of town". This phrase has its origins in the posting of army officers to particular 'stations' during the days of the East India Company.

"Join duty" to mean "reporting to work for the first time". "Rejoin duty" is to come back to work after a vacation.

"Hello, What do you want?": used by some when answering a phone call, not perceived as impolite by most Indians

"Tell me": used when answering the phone, meaning "How can I help you?"

"send it across" instead of "send it over", as in "send the bill across to me" instead of "send the bill over to me".

"order for food" instead of "order food", as in "Let's order for sandwiches".

"What a nonsense/silly you are!" or "Don't be doing such nonsense any more.": occasional - idiomatic use of nonsense/silly as nouns (although this use of nonsense is not uncommon in British English).

"back" replacing "ago" when talking about elapsed time, as in "I met him five years back" rather than "I met him five years ago." (Though this too is not uncommon in British English)

"freak out" is meant to have fun, as in "let's go to the party and freak out."

"make out" instead of "figure out", as in "Did you make out what he was saying?."

"pass out" is meant to graduate, as in "I passed out of the university in 1995."

"go for a toss" is meant to go haywire or to flop, as in "my plans went for a toss when it started raining heavily."

"funny" is meant to replace not only "odd"/"strange" but "rude"/"precocious"/"impolite" as well. "That man was acting really funny with me, so I gave him a piece of my mind"

"on the anvil" is used often in the Indian press to mean something is about to appear or happen. For example, a headline might read "New roads on the anvil".

"tight slap" to mean "hard slap".

 

"Paining" used when "hurting" would be more common in Standard American and British: "My head is paining."

"Cover" to mean envelope or shopping bag. For example, "Put the documents in a cover and post it", and "Put the vegetables in a separate cover".

"To fire" used to mean "given an oral (not written) dressing down by a superior" rather than "sacked" or "dismissed." Indian: I got fired today at the office. American: I got chewed out today at the office.

"Today morning" (afternoon, evening, etc.) instead of "this morning." ("I met with him today morning."). Similarly, "yesterday night" instead of "last night".

"Pattice" is used for a singular vegetable /Corn patty or plural Corn patties.(even among educated classes)

"Revert" used to mean "reply to." ("Why have you not reverted my letter?" meaning "Why have you not replied to my letter?")

The word "marriage" used to mean "wedding." ("I am attending my cousin's marriage next month.")

The word "holiday" used to mean any day on which a person is not at work, including official holidays, vacations, sick leave, weekends, etc. ("Sunday is my holiday.")

Treatment of the phrase "I don't think so" as a unit, as in "I don't think so I can do that" instead of "I don't think I can do that."

The word "meat" is used to mean the flesh of any mammal, fish, bird, shellfish, etc. Fish, seafood, and poultry are not treated as categories separate from "meat," especially when the question of vegetarianism is at issue. (This is also a tendency in several dialects of North American English.)

The word "mutton" is used to mean goat meat instead of sheep meat (and sometimes in a broader, euphemistic sense to mean any red meat, i.e., not poultry or fish).

The word "hero" is used to mean a male protagonist in a story, especially in a motion picture. The protagonist need not have any specifically heroic characteristics. More significantly, "hero" is used to mean a movie actor who is often cast in the role of the protagonist. Thus, "Look at Vik; he looks like a hero," meaning "he is as handsome as a movie star."

"Music director" is used to mean a music composer for movies.

The word "dialogue" means "a line of dialogue" in a movie. ("That was a great dialogue!" means "That was a great line!") "Dialogues" is used to mean "screenplay." In motion picture credits, the person who might in other countries be credited as the screenwriter in India is often credited with the term "dialogues."

The verb "repair" in southern India is used as a noun for a broken object as in, "The TV became repair." The same word is used for saying when the broken object is fixed: "The TV is repaired and now it is working properly."

The word "stay" used for "live" or reside at": "Where do you stay?" meaning not "Where are you temporarily lodging" but "Where is your residence?" (though this is normal in Standard Scottish English)

The word "damn" used as an intensifier, especially a negative one, far more frequently and with far more emphatic effect, than in international English, as in "That was a damn good meal".

The word "healthy" to refer to fat people, in North India in general and in Bihar in particular as in "His build is on the healthy side" to refer to a positively overweight person. It is used because most people who are thin often suffer from many diseases. People presume that if a person is in a financial position to get fat he mustn't suffer from diseases i.e. he must be healthy

The expression "my dear", used as an adjective to refer a likeable person, as in "He is a my dear person." Very common in Bihar.

The word "dear" used as a term address of pleasant (male) companionship equivalent to "mate" in Australian English and presumably used as yaar would be in Hindi/Urdu.

The word "dress" is used to refer to clothes for men, women, and children alike: "She bought a new dress for her son."

The word "cloth" usually refers only to any clothes or fabrics that are not wearable, like "waste cloth": "Use that cloth for cleaning."

"Full Shirt or Full Arm Shirt" is used for "Full Sleeves" and "Half Shirt or Half Arm Shirt" for "Half Sleeves"

"Cloth" and "clothe" are used interchangeably. 'Clothe' is sometimes regarded as the singular form of 'clothes'.

"Shirtings and suitings" used for the process of making such garments

"saloon" instead of salon, as in "I will visit the hair saloon."

"Bath" and "bathe" are also used interchangeably.

Greetings like "Happy Birthday" are used even to say that "Today is my happy birthday"

The use of "also" in place of "too" or "as well"; as in "I also need a blanket" instead of "I too need a blanket" or "He was late also" instead of "He was late as well"

Intensifying adjectives by doubling them. This is a common feature of most Indian languages. For example: "She has curly-curly hair"; "You are showing your hairy-hairy legs; "We went to different-different places in the city in search of a good hotel; "You will get used to the humidity slowly-slowly". An extreme example is the use of the phrase "simp-simply" by Kannada speakers to mean "without any reason", obviously mirroring the Kannada "sum-sumne".

Use of "colour" to imply "colourful"; often doubled in usage as in the previous item. "Those are colour-colour flowers".

Use of "reduce" to mean "lose weight." "Have you reduced?"

Use of "this side" and "that side" instead of "here" and "there." "Bring it this side." "We went that side."

Use of "engagement" to mean not just an agreement between two people to marry, but a formal, public ceremony (often accompanied by a party) where the engagement is formalized. Indians will not speak of a couple as being "engaged," until after the engagement ceremony has been performed. Similar to the use of term "marriage," a person may say "I am going to attend my cousin's engagement next month." Afterwards, the betrothed is referred to as one's "would-be" wife or husband. In this case, "would be" is used to mean "will be" in contrast with the standard and American and British connotation of "wants to be (but will not be)."

The word "marry" used to mean "arrange or organize a wedding for," as in "I will be marrying my daughter next month" (meaning: "I will be hosting/organizing my daughter's wedding next month."

"Keep" is used to refer to a woman who is someone's mistress. For example, "She is his keep", and also "She is a kept woman".

"Graduation" used to mean completion of a bachelor's degree: "I did my graduation at Presidency College" ("I earned my bachelor's degree at Presidency College.")

Word order following who, what, where, when, why, or how. In standard American and British English, the following are correct

"Where are you going?"

"Tell me where you are going"

In Indian English, however, a speaker will tend to choose one or the other word order pattern and apply it universally, thus:

"Where are you going?" and "Tell me where are you going.", or

"Where you are going?" and "Tell me where you are going."

"Metro" to mean large city (i.e. 'metros such as Delhi and Bangalore') This is a shortening of the term Metropolis. This can be confusing for Europeans, who tend to use the word to describe underground urban rail networks.

Use of the word "shift" to indicate "move", as in "When are you shifting?" (instead of "When are you moving?").

Use of "Sugar" to ask people if they are diabetic ("Do you have sugar?", instead of "Do you have diabetes?").

Use of "off" as an emphatic. ("I did it off" to mean "I went ahead and did it", or "Do it off" to mean "Do it without hesitation".)

Use of "buck" as a colloquial name for the Rupee.

Lifting the phone instead of picking up the phone.

 

 

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[Abdulladiif Al-Fiqih]

^Adeer yaabaad leedahay. Dadka wadankii joogaa masidanbey bored u yihiin? Bal sxb iisheeg meeshaad kashaqeyso aan shaqo usoo raadsade e

[Jacaylbaro]

looooool ,,, ma shaqo la'aan baad bestaa la tahay waa yaabe ??

 

Bal ii soo *** CV ga iyo other documents to see inaad meeshan shaqo ka heli karto