And so the Chief comes out with yet another book this one on Indian English. The Man from Madras Musings is yet to get his copy but he speculates if the following terms will be in it:
Cannot able to – this is a relatively recent addition to English and has not yet made it to the Thesaurus and the Oxford English Dictionary which have over the years absorbed most ungrammatical usage as being perfectly all right. Cannot able to is a replacement for cannot do or unable to handle something.
Blunder Mistake – this means a grievous error, to be distinguished from a smaller error, which of course is a mistake.
Untime – improper time for doing something like knocking on someones door at midnight (unless the other party was lying awake and waiting). It is also synonymous with inauspicious.
Vex, torture and tension – three perfectly good words of impeccable pedigree. But they have become household terms thanks to their frequent usage in television serials. MMM understands that the accepted frequency of these words in a half hour episode is one every two minutes.
Creech – an Indian crèche
He/She itself – in keeping with ancient Indian wisdom that defines the soul as being inert and genderless, it has become the norm to qualify every person thus. Common usage is He itself said this.
Hope so – this is used as a phrase that is synonymous with think. It is therefore common to hear sentences such as He was in bad health. I hope so he is dead.
Co-Brother – this defines the brother-in-law. Some have however opined that cobra may be a better and more telling term. We also have co-sister.
Editor’s Note: The Chief says he has left four blank pages at the end for such additions to be included. In fact, a phrase he has just realised needs to be in the next edition is one by two.
May seem amusing, we Indians have made difference to English language. Thanks sharing lighter side of it. If you notice the use of language on our transportation system especially trucks, it is still a revelation in itself.
One by two is definitely a very unique Indian English usage. I also hear many people say ‘Revert back’ which makes me imagine a person making a full 360 degree turn. The book sounds interesting.
‘Could able’ is terrible. Other typical ones: Big Father, Big mother (periappa, perima); Revert Back (how many times?)…the most hilarious one is “I am expecting” when used in inappropriate situations. One could write volumes on this subject 😀
Very interesting, and looks like you have only scratched the surface leaving the readers to have fun thinking of similar words!
PS: I thought co-bro sounds cooler than cobra. 😀
Haha, that was hilarious. 🙂 Much of it was Tanglish — which is Tamil thought translated to English words. Hinglish/ Punjlish can be equally captivating. Like the phrase: “you have do it ONLY”; before running the English translator in the speaker’s brain, it was ” Usko karna-HI padaega”. I suppose you can trace an Indian’s parent State from the way he/she speaks English . They are valid dialects like, say, cockney. After all, there are far more English speakers in India than in all of UK!
And you might like something I wrote about Benglish some years ago:
https://kowieskorner.wordpress.com/2016/02/20/english-is-an-indian-language/
Here’s another (sadly prevalent also among desis in US)
“I don’t think so it is possible” instead of “I don’t think it is possible”.
//He/She itself – in keeping with ancient Indian wisdom that defines the soul as being inert and genderless, it has become the norm to qualify every person thus. Common usage is He itself said this.
Hope so – this is used as a phrase that is synonymous with think. It is therefore common to hear sentences such as He was in bad health. I hope so he is dead.//
Too hilarious!!
My thatha suggests two epithets for your consideration: “first first” and “dead cheap”.
Haloo Saaar, What is your good name ? What to tell Saar and how to tell it …..Romba Assault-a one fellow told me “my friend died yesterday in hospital but the actual death was only today” and it took me a while to figure that by “actual death” the reference was to the funeral. He was ‘vexed’ that this bad turn of events happened on the friend’s wedding day. Just as I wondering whether it happened before or after the matrimonial ceremony, he confused me by referring to a young child left behind, which I began to attribute to ‘westernization’ of Indian culture. Then it dawned that it was the wedding anniversary day of the unfortunate departed soul, who I was told also had a great ‘personality’. My exalted view of the dear departed in terms of all round qualities and character was soon changed, when a photograph taken during the time alive, was produced, to show how good he looked in terms of physical appearance. The saddened fellow left ruing over the ‘torture’ which the ‘Misses’ has to endure by the husband’s absence and a young child to look after.
“He/she itself” &” cannot able to” is hard to digest everytime someone uses these. Good observations,sir!
A leading loacal news paper uses the word “botheratrion” in its editorials. My school going son says that it means ” rationed bother.” !!!
Theditorails also use the tarm “disgruntled” to denote any contrary view. So once i wrote to the editor that he is probabaly familiar with the porcine species. He got very angry at this. I showed him the dictionary and quieted down in shame.