Dingo the Dissident

THE BLOG OF DISQUIET : Qweir Notions, an uncommonplace-book from the Armpit of Diogenes, binge-thinker jottings since 2008 .

Monday 12 October 2020

Interesting Anglo-Indian Words

current in English, from a longer Wikipedia list.





Bandana 
from bandhna (बांधना) to tie.
Bangle 
from bāngṛī बांगड़ी, a type of bracelet.
Blighty 
"Britain" (as a term of endearment among British troops stationed in Colonial India): from Hindi-Urdu vilāyatī (विलायती, ولايتى) "foreign", ultimately from Arabo-Persian ولايتي "provincial, regional".
Bungalow
from बंगला banglA and Urdu بنگلہ banglA, literally, "(house) in the Bengal style"
Cheetah 
from chītā, چیتا, चीता, meaning "variegated".
Chutney 
from 'chaṭnī', چٹنی ,चटनी, ultimately derived from full-infinitive word 'chāṭnā', چاٹنا ,चाटना, meaning 'to lick'.
Cot 
from khāṭ, खाट, a bed.
Dinghy
from Dinghi, small boat, wherry-boat
Dungaree
Heavy denim* fabric, also referring to trousers made thereof, from Hindi डूंगरी (ḍūṅgrī, “coarse calico”), the name of a village.
[*Denim itself is an Anglo-French word describing the coarse Calico** fabric made in Nimes (de Nîmes) and used in North America to make Jeans, a word which comes from the French for Genoa: Gènes.
**Calico
is a corruption of Calcutta (Kolkata), which produced a fabric which Wikipedia says is less coarse than denim...]
Juggernaut 
from Jagannath (Sanskritजगन्नाथ jagannātha), a form of Vishnu particularly worshipped at the Jagannath Temple, PuriOdisha where during Rath Yatra festival thousands of devotees pull three temple carts some 14m (45 feet) tall, weighing hundreds of tons through the streets. These carts seat three statues of the deities, meant to be two brothers and their sister for a 'stroll' outside after the ritual worship session. They are fed by thousands and thousands of worshipers with holy food, as if the icons were living. Early European visitors witnessed these festivals and returned with—possibly apocryphal—reports of religious fanatics committing suicide by throwing themselves under the wheels of the carts. So the word became a metaphor for something immense and unstoppable because of institutional or physical inertia; or impending catastrophe that is foreseeable yet virtually unavoidable because of such inertia.
Jungle 
from جنگل जंगल jangal of Persian origin, another word for wilderness or forest, which was borrowed from Sanskrit जङ्गल jaṅgala meaning "uncultivated land, desert."
Khaki
from ख़ाकी khākī "of dust colour, dusty, grey", cf. Hindi ख़ाकी - Urdu خاکی [ultimately from Persian].
Loot 
from Loot لوٹ लूट, meaning 'steal'. Robbery

and so on to:

Pyjamas
from Hindi and Urdu, पैजामा (paijaamaa), meaning "leg garment", coined from Persian پاى "foot, leg" and جامه "garment" .
Shampoo
Derived from Hindustani chāmpo (चाँपो [tʃãːpoː]) (verb imperative, meaning "rub!"), dating to 1762.
Thug
from Thagi ठग,ٹھگ Thag in Hindi-Urdu,meaning "thief or con man".
Tickety-boo
possibly from Hindi ठीक है, बाबू (ṭhīk hai, bābū), meaning "it's all right, sir".
Toddy (also Hot toddy
from Tārī ताड़ी, juice of the palmyra palm.
Typhoon
from Urdu طوفان toofaan.[A cyclonic storm.
Veranda
from Hindi baramdaa बरामदा, but ultimately from Portuguese.


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