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I
was trying to find the origin of the phrase ‘to
have a gala time’. Gala is a festive occasion.
Use of a ‘gala day’ is quite common in
(standard) English. But, ‘to have a gala time’
is possible only in India. It piqued my
curiosity for such words/phrases. I visited some
websites including Wikipedia to find interesting
and sometimes amusing account of such instances
of ‘Indian English’. Did you know that the
phrase ‘on the anvil’ is formed by the Indian
press? And that in India, particularly in Bihar,
the expression "my dear" is used as an adjective
to refer a likeable person, as in "He is a my
dear person."? Oh, well, stop smiling.
Is it bad to have an accent? Does it carry a
stigma? Does this create another class divide?
Yes, it sure does. But, I do not think we should
worry much about that. Nothing is standard
forever. At the same time, there is nothing
wrong in knowing the proper/standard use of a
language.
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Comments: |
Couldn't help but smile at your
article, Kumodji. After so many
years away from India I still use
the words "a gala time!" Some things
simply don't change eh? Other terms
which are uniquely Indian (I think)
are "airdash", "somewhere in the
Western sector"(as reported in the
papers regarding VVIP visits),
referring to someone as "your good
self" and some in the South still
blatantly ignoring "kilometers" and
insisting on using "furlongs."
A refreshingly different article.
Keep them coming Mr. Jha. - Dr
Ignatius Joseph, Malacca, Malaysia -
Dec. 12, 2006
Here is my list of words in Indian
media that I can't stand anymore:
Supremo (Not in any dictionary)
Bollywood (Ugh! The less said, the
better). Since Bombay is now Mumbai,
why not Mollywood? (Double ugh!!)
Dharna (what are they holding?)
Lathi-charge (How about 'the mob was
beaten with batons/wooden sticks?)
Bon homie (overused)
Chargesheeted (what's wrong with
simply 'charged'?)
History sheeter (why not just say
'criminal'?)
Bahubali (again, why not just say
'criminal'?) - Anil Kumar - Dec.
14, 2006 |
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