Indian English, Part 3

This is the last lesson in this series and finishes my tribute to India. While I was traveling in India, I often had to go through metal detectors and then get a quick non-invasive pat down.

At the Taj Mahal, security was a bit tighter and they go through everything you're carrying(no food, toys?, etc.). When I was going through it I had my copy of the Lonely Planet book Indian English in my pocket and the security guard asked me to take it out. When he saw the book he just laughed and said Ok. hahaha

Today, I am going to talk about some common misunderstandings between speakers of standard English and Indian English.

latrines

In Indian English it means toilets, it probably came from British soldiers since the only time I've ever heard this word was in a military context, like: "You guys go dig the latrines!".

Where are the latrines?

curd

This means yoghurt in standard English.

bearer

This means waiter, it comes from the verb to bear which means to carry. It isn't used so often in standard English anymore. From the U.S. Constitutions 2nd Amendment:
The right to bear arms.

Where's the bearer?

Ground Floor

Just like in most of Europe the first floor(North America) is G and then the 2nd floor is 1F. It's kind of confusing to me... ^_-

nose cut

This doesn't mean that you cut your nose. It actually means humiliation, in Japanese 凌虐 (りょうぎゃく) .

I was totally nose cut.

Meaning "I was totally humiliated".

tight

In Indian English it means broke or すっからかん.

I'm tight.

Meaning "I'm broke".

Ok that's all for this series, I'll try and post a new lesson this weekend.

Phil

Indian English, Part 2

On aspect of Indian English is the use of Hinglish. Hinglish is a mix of Hindi and English. Today we're gonna look at some common Hinglish expressions.

discount hai

This means discounted and comes from the Hindi "There is a discount". So hai basically means ある in Japanese.

A: Where are you going?
B: To the mall, discount hai bags~!

sale ka maal

This means goods for sale, from the Hindi maal(goods) and ka(for).

rail roko

This is a blockade of trains as a form of political or social protest. From the Hindi, roko meaning stop.

When I was in India there was a rail roko by Gujjars on the Delhi-Mumbai train route.

line maroing

This means flirting. It's from the Hindi, maro meaning to hit.

That guys always line maroing, you shouldn't trust him.

maha idiot

Meaning a mega-idiot. Maha is Hindi for very so I guess it is similar to the Japanese, チョー 《超》(ちょう).

That guys a real maha idiot!

kya problem hai?

What's the problem? From the Hindi kya for what.

love mein

Meaning to be in love, from the Hindi mein for in.

A: Kya problem hai?
B: I'm love mein but she's married.
A: That's terrible yaar.

Yaar means buddy or friend in Hindi.

bahut bore

This means very boring. Bahut in Hindi means alot.

The movie Kiss of Death is bahut bore! It sucks man.

Well, I think that's enough for now, time to make dinner. Have a nice weekend yaar~!

Phil

Indian English, Part 1

Happy New Year everyone! I am now back in Japan after my trip to India. Overall, it was a good trip with some amazing sights. So in honor of my trip, I am going to have three mini-lessons on:

Indian English

Indian English is an English dialect spoken in India. It is a mix of English and other Indian languages with some local grammatical structures which sound wrong or strange to speakers of standard English. I learned about it from Lonely Planets, Indian English: Language & Culture which is a fun little book.

I am going to start today's lesson with the different uses of the word black in Indian English.

black = a dark complexion

Complexion means: skin color/texture/appearance, especially of the face.

blacker = darker

A bit strange but understandable in standard English.

blackened = reputation dragged through the mud

It is more natural for me to say you tarnished my reputation. Tarnish means to lose luster, to discolor. It is most often used with metals like brass which slowly turn black if they aren't polished regularly.

black-black = jet black, 漆黒 (しっこく)

It's a very deep rich black.

black heart = having wicked thoughts

This is old English meaning someone is evil/mean. He has a black heart.

black deeds = cruelty

In old English it means a bad action.

Redbeard the pirate's black deeds were infamous.

black face = ashamed

In standard English, black face is when a white actor would use black make-up to paint himself to pretend to be a black person. This is considered racist these days but was quite common in early cinema/TV.

blackout = power failure or fainting

This is pretty much the same in standard English:

There was a blackout yesterday.

She drank so much she blacked out.

Notice in standard English when using blackout to mean fainting it is the phrasal verb black out NOT the noun blackout.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this lesson I will try and post 6 times this month. Wish me luck~!

Phil

On my mother's side...

Hey everyone, do you know the above expression? Today's mini-lesson will explain it and I think it will be my last lesson this year as I am off to India in a few more days and need to start packing...



On my mother's side...



and



On my father's side...



are used when talking about your extended family. Your immediate family is one step from you: your parents, your kids, your brothers or sisters. Your extended family is everyone beyond that: your grandparents, your uncles, your aunts, your cousins, etc.

We use these expressions to specify WHICH grandmother we are talking about, your father's mother(father's side) or your mother's mother(mother's side).

Baba is my grandmother on my father's side.

I have 5 cousins on my mother's side.

Well everyone have a

Merry Christmas and a

Happy New Year~!

Phil

Things you need to do...

Today, we will talk about our NEEDS. In Japanese, you say 要る (いる) as a verb and 必要 (ひつよう) as a noun/adjective. In English, we can use 4 different expressions:

MUST

This is the most formal and possibly the strongest.

You must study for tomorrow's test.

NEED TO

This is a bit less formal and weaker than must.

You need to study for tomorrow's test.

HAVE TO

This is more casual and often used in North American English, in conversation it is often pronounced HAFTA~!

You have to(hafta) study for tomorrow's test.

GOT TO

This is a bit more casual than have to and I feel it sounds a bit younger to me. I feel it is often used by kids/teenagers... in conversation it is pronounced GODDA...

You got to (godda) study for tomorrow's test.

Hmm, it is time for dinner guys so:

I godda go~!

Phil

There's no use beating a dead horse...

The other day, after I posted my blog I remembered this similar sounding expression:

There's no use beating a dead horse.

You might also hear someone say flogging a dead horse... have you heard this saying before? While it sounds similar to "There's no use crying over spilled milk" it has a pretty different meaning!

It means it is time to give up, if you are riding a horse and you flog it to make it run faster... once it has died from exhaustion hitting it again will not make it move~!

It comes from the idiom: to beat a dead horse. It means that something is a waste of time since the result has already been decided. If I continue doing it, it will have no result so what's the point?

A: I don't mean to beat a dead horse but you really should see Avatar.
B: I TOLD you, I hate sci-fi movies. Drop it~! You're getting on my nerves...

So do you guys understand? When you beat a dead horse you're doing something pointless, it will have no result!

Have a good week,

Phil

P.S. check out these links for more info

GoEnglish - Beat a Dead horse

Wikipedia - Flogging a dead horse

There's no use crying over spilled milk...

Have you guys heard this idiom before? It's a really common saying we use when someone is complaining or whining about something. It means that you can't change the past so there is no use crying about it. Crying about the past will not change anything...

Another way of saying it is:

What's done is done.

Meaning it happened we can't change it so we need to move on. Anyways, the reason I brought these expressions up is that I'm sorry I didn't post more often on my blog last month but I was too busy planning some trips, studying for my test(which I think went fine) and getting ready for my move... so I'm sorry but:

There's no use crying over spilled milk~!

Phil

P.S. More lessons coming soon, I'm aiming for 4-6 posts this month, wish me luck!