Brought to India by British settlers, English is one of the country’s 22 official languages. For years,IndiaEnglish has been enriched with words and expressions from Indian languages, and neologisms are made necessary by the particular situations of everyday life and Indian traditions. The portmanteau “Hinglish”, consisting of “Hindi” and “English”, is sometimes used to designate this variation of English. Here are some English phrases you’ll only hear in India.
Indian English neologism
Like all living languages, English evolved according to the needs of its speakers. L’indian english does not escape it and has been enriched with new words and expressions, the following are some examples.
Prepone : trained on example postponewhich means to “postpone” the date of the meeting or release of the film, precede can be translated as “forward”. Admit that it’s much quicker than saying ” Let’s reset to an earlier date !
Example : “The meeting was pre-planned.”
Cousin brother/sister cousin : British English does not distinguish between cousin and cousin, Indians use cousins and female cousin, which can be confusing the first few times. On the other hand, siblings can be referred to as real brother and real sister !
Example : “- Is Amit your brother?
– Yes, but not my siblings. He’s my cousin!”
Last-to-last : is used to indicate the day not of the previous week, but of the previous day.
Example :
“– I went to the beach.
– When?
– Last week to last.”
We really need this expression in French. Similarly, we also find next next weekfor “Sunday at fifteen”.
Words that find new meaning in India
four-wheel vehicle : as in British or American English, a two wheeler is a scooter or motorbike in Indian English. However, only in India other vehicles, especially cars, are called four-wheel vehicle. The word used to be used in British English to refer to a horse-drawn carriage, but now if you say four-wheel vehicle anywhere else than in India, one would think of a quad.
Return : means “to respond”, while the British and Americans use repay Where respond.
Example: “I texted my friend, but he hasn’t replied yet.”
Public : short form of Housing Society Cooperativethe word denotes what is somewhat the equivalent of a syndicate of co-ownership of a building and, according to metonymy, the building itself.
Example: “My community is right in front of the bus stop.”
faint : in British English, faint means “home”, but in India it is used to mean “pass”. The meaning probably comes from the British military language, where faint means “to have finished one’s class”.
Example: “I graduated from college in 2015.”
Only : in India, only used in emphasis, at the end of a sentence. In this case, it does not mean “only”, but strengthens the meaning. For example, if for the question “Where is my car?” » we answer « Only here! not that the car is only in one place, which is quite normal, but it is there, in front of your eyes, and you don’t see it. The word sometimes also means surrender. “India is just like that!” »
Back : Cambridge Dictionary clear, back defined as “the part of the body on which a person sits”. But in India, the word is used to refer to the back of any vehicle, building or object!
Expression literally translated from Indian
Good name : to find out someone’s first name, Indians sometimes ask “What is your good name?” Adding the positive word is a sign of respect, and it is a literal translation of dawn naam for example in Hindi.
Delete image : it’s pretty weird when someone tells you the first time “Give me your phone, I’ll delete your picture. The phrase doesn’t mean “delete” the photo, but to take it, and literally translates from the verb nikalna used in Hindi in this case.
My teacher sits on my head : Instead of saying that a teacher is on their back, Indians say “My teacher is sitting on my head”. This is a literal translation of the metaphor used in Hindi.
Do one thing : literally, “to do something”. This expression can be heard when someone offers a simple suggestion or solution to a problem.
Example :
“- I’m hiccupping.
– Do one thing, hold your breath and drink some water.”
Indian English words used elsewhere before
Do what is needed : which means “to do what is necessary”, this expression can be read in a professional email, for example. It was also used in British English, but has since been deprecated.
Stepney : “spare wheel”, spare wheel in English. Stepney is the name of the Welsh company, which was produced in the early 20e century of spare wheels for motor vehicles. The word “stepney” is still used to refer to spare tires, in India, Bangladesh, Malta, and even in Brazil, which are called “stepes”.
English words of Hindi or other Indian origin
A number of words from the Indian language have also been imported into English, as well as Hindi words found in French. This is the case of the bungalow, pajamas or shampoo, which have close meanings. Others have more astonishing origins.
Nice : means “quiet”, “comfortable”. The word comes from Hindi kushi itself is borrowed from Persian, which means “happiness”.
giant : means “steamroller” in a figurative sense, a process or company that nothing can stop. The word comes from Jagannātha, literally “lord of the universe”, one of Krishna’s names. The British may have witnessed the procession of the Ratha Yatra festival at Puri, where large carts carried statues of the gods Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra. Inspired by the wagon that never stops, they keep their word.
Criminal : means in English “thugs”. Thugs are a brotherhood of killers and thieves, active in India from the 13th to the 19th centuries.
If you know others Indian English words and expressionsfeel free to share it in the comments.
