Can anyone tell me some everyday English words that come from India? Are there any expressions used on the street that are grammatically affected by Indian words and grammar?
Debate: Indian influence
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Forum member Rob Owen was on the trail of the words borrowed from Indian languages.
Forum member Rob Owen was on the trail of the words borrowed from Indian languages.
- Duration 5 mins
- Updated Wednesday 19th December 2007
- Introductory level
- Posted under English Language, English Language
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Comments
19 Dec 2007 10:59
Can anyone tell me some everyday English words that come from India? Are there any expressions used on the street that are grammatically affected by Indian words and grammar?
29 Jan 2008 14:29
Lots of words which are now part of the regular vocabulary as well as vernacular English in the UK - 'guru', 'pukka', 'bungalow'. One of my favourites is
Interesting article about it all at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6122072.stm
One of my favourites is 'doolally' or 'tapped' to mean mad or eccentric. The term 'doolally tap' is Army slang dating from British rule in India. 'Doolally' is derived from the Deolali sanatorium, some 100 miles north of Mumbai, where soldiers suffering mental fatigue rested before starting the long journey home; the second word is the Hindi for 'fever'. By the 1940s this had been widely shortened to just "gone doolally" or "doolally".
20 May 2008 19:51
One of my favourites is 'doolally' or 'tapped' to mean mad or eccentric. The term 'doolally tap' is Army slang dating from British rule in India. 'Doolally' is derived from the Deolali sanatorium, some 100 miles north of Mumbai, where soldiers suffering mental fatigue rested before starting the long journey home; the second word is the Hindi for 'fever'. By the 1940s this had been widely shortened to just "gone doolally" or "doolally".
My family - on both [ie Mum and Dad's] sides - has strong connections with India. A fair bit of my mother's family [including her late mother], in the first quarter of the 20th Century, were born there. One of my 8 Great Aunts had a parrot that could speak Hindi, and swore like a soldier!
Mum's grandmother won a tennis trophy in Kashmir in 1912. And, after she returned to England in 1915, insisted on cooking with only 'authentic' Indian ingredients. My grandmother and mother continued this, and now I do as well. Mum grew up on Indian Food! So, not surprisingly, our Spice Cupboard contains Garam Masala, Tumeric, etc. Cookey nowadays is littered with Indian phrases, eg Balti, Tandoori, etc
Places too have had an influence. For example, Kashmir gives its name to a type of wool. Jodphur to riding trousers. Regarding sports, India gave us Polo, and, I think, Snooker.
5 Aug 2008 14:09
Not sure whether these are correct but I have been interested in Hindi / Urdu for several years and I am always noticing words & expressions that could have easily originated in India. My favourites include the following. When asked 'how are you', Asian speakers often reply with 'Teek hai, teek hoon' ... I'm fine, are you (fine?). I'm sure this could have become Tickety boo! Also, Urdu word for happy is Khushi ... could be our 'cushy' e.g. an easy job. The word randi means prostitute ... obvious connection there. Gooli means bullet I'm told (balls!) ... and so on. No language stands still but Urdu was a mixture right at the start, mainly arabic and persian. It's interesting to listen to Asian radio stations as they switch between English & Urdu ... sometimes mid sentence!
I wonder if languages other than English are so affected? Paul
15 Aug 2012 11:38
India is one of the wnd largest country population vise after china so because of this they have major economy and they influence in almost every where now (external website removed by OpenLearn Moderator 16.08.12)
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Originally published: Wednesday, 19th December 2007
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