Topic started by Ledzius (@ 202.88.171.87) on Sat Mar 27 13:51:17 EST 2004.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.
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I have been in India for some time after having been in the US for about 10 years. I find some English words/expressions peculiar, if not gramatically wrong.
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Responses:
- From: pg (@ debonair.is.temple.edu)
on: Sat Mar 27 17:15:23 EST 2004
"I passed out from so&so University" to mean graduated from, while pass out in the US means to faint!!
"get down" from the bus instead of "get off"; get down in the US means to not be shy as in "get down and boogie with me"
"Too good" for "very good" which is weird
Saying "food" just like "foot"
"pissa" for pizza which is pronounced "peet-za"
Using "clothe" and "cloth" interchangeably
Funny observations, no offense meant :)
- From: Ledzius (@ 202.88.171.87)
on: Sun Mar 28 01:30:34 EST 2004
Other examples-
Pronouncing stove as stuv
discretion as discreetion (should instead rhyme with discussion)
penicillin is pronounced as pencillin with the first i left out (even doctors in India pronounce it this way)
wallet, squash, swap etc are pronounced with the "a" as in apple instead of in "art"
demon is pronounced as such instead of deemon
Some south Indians pronounce "already" as "ulready"
I could think of many more examples, but I will save them for later.
- From: Ledzius (@ 202.88.171.87)
on: Sun Mar 28 10:08:08 EST 2004
Also, Indians say "Professor Kumar takes Biology" when they really mean "Prof. Kumar teaches Biology". Students take classes, teachers teach them. This distinction is lost among many Indians.
Another gripe- Indians (esp. youngsters) use the word "generally" in the wrong context. For example, "We were genrally hanging out yaar".
- From: pg (@ pool-68-162-126-107.phil.east.verizon.net)
on: Sun Mar 28 12:01:37 EST 2004
Ledzius, looks like you're having a blast here :)
Here's some more :
Men calling their wallet as "purse" which is reserved for women's handbags. Really funny !
Exam paper "correction" to mean paper "grading". Nobody is correcting anything, they just give or take off points.
"Today itself, yesterday itself" and the like to emphasize the timeframe of tasks. I have never heard anybody else say those.
"Lady's finger" used to refer to 'okra'; IMHO, the former sounds better :)
"Iron box" for 'iron' which once landed me in the luggage dept., of a huge dept store, when I was actually referring to the appliance used to press clothes, LOL !!!
- From: Ledzius (@ 202.88.171.87)
on: Sun Mar 28 13:18:21 EST 2004
I prefer bhindi to either okra or ladies finger :)
Also in India, it is considered politer to ask someone "What's your good name?" instead of "What's your name?" This is unheard of in other countries.
Also people here address their seniors and clients by their first name, but add a Mr. to the front. For example, Amitabh Bachchan would be Mr. Amitabh instead of Mr. Bachchan. This again would strike the average Briton or American as being odd.
On similar lines as "iron box", Indians say "hose pipe" for hose even though the former is tautological. But I have also heard the Brits use it.
Draught beer should still be pronounced as "draft beer", but in India, everyone pronounces it like "brought".
The list can go on and on..
- From: Ledzius (@ 202.88.171.87)
on: Sun Mar 28 22:22:15 EST 2004
Hmm.. there seems to be no one else on this thread except for pg and me.. will need some more enthusiastic participation from others to keep this going..
Kind of surprising given the high amount of BPO activity here in India right now, which requires employees to learn American or British English. However, having been in Bangalore for two years, I personally know a couple of call centre trainers who make a lot of the mistakes above. No wonder there is such a backlash against outsourcing in the US right now!
- From: Neetu (@ user-v8lcq38.dialup.mindspring.com)
on: Tue May 11 18:38:51
With all due respect to the two english geniuses,I will add this much:all said and done Indians speak much better english than an ordinary American.An Indian's english will be more correct grammatically,simply because Indians are taught this language in schools,as opposed to americans who grow up speaking it in their homes,and therefore never get a chance to learn it formally.
- From: kaur (@ ncao.ntcif.telstra.com.au)
on: Wed May 12 01:18:50 EDT 2004
I understand where you are coming from Neetu but Ledzius and PG mean no harm. I mean I come from a Malaysian background and though we were educated with British schooling we still say the most funniest things like -
"Off the light" or "on the light" when you should really say "switch off the light". Or "finished already" - meaning I have completed the job or whatever...etc..it's funny. Or even "he does not wan to go for walk one". Actually my all time favourite is "I've reached my destiny" instead of "destination".
Or in Australia they say " Let me shout you dinner", which at first my dad took offense as he did not want to "shout" at anybody. But it really means let me pay for you or give you a treat.
IT's all good fun, not meant in offense. :)
- From: Neetu (@ user-38lcous.dialup.mindspring.com)
on: Wed May 12 11:00:19 EDT 2004
yes,kaur,if you put it that way,it makes more sense.what is happening here is that we are literally translating out dialogues from our mother tongues to english,which has its own fun.i studied in an Indian school,British english.american english actually made me squirm when i first got familiar with it,but then you realise that it is not bad,or demeaning to the language itself,if people from one region add their own touch to it.
i just finished reading this novel called the Inscrutable Americans,about a FOB(fresh off the boat)Indian and his experiences in an american college.he kept finishing all his sentences with,"...and all that.",and while i was reaing the novel,i thought that was so funny and weird.but guess what?i have since noticed that i do it myself.
- From: :) (@ d150-47-143.home.cgocable.net)
on: Wed May 12 13:36:36 EDT 2004
Language is just a means of communication, nothing more unless one is learning to be a language professor. When local flavour is added to a language, it makes the language more interesting, e.g., jamaican english, it is quaint. It is a pleasure to listen to the French speak English.
It is only in places where knowledge of a language is equated to some kind of social status, we mock the accent or the style of speaking. One of my Israeli friends has the same problem, she thinks her politicians are letting her down by not speaking "proper" english. Get over it, English is just a means of communication. As long as the hearer and the listener understand each other, the job is done.
- From: :) (@ d150-47-143.home.cgocable.net)
on: Wed May 12 13:42:20 EDT 2004
"As long as the hearer and the listener understand each other, the job is done"
Sorry, the above should read as:
As long as the speaker and the listener understand each other, the job is done!!
- From: Neetu (@ user-38lcodj.dialup.mindspring.com)
on: Thu May 13 11:01:32 EDT 2004
sure,but at the same time,one has to accord a basic respect to whatever language one is speaking.the reason i entered this discussion is because i felt that Ledzius and PG were being condescending of the way indian speak english.
i love speaking in english,i think in english most of the time,and i think it helps me express myself more articulately than the other two languages that i speak.
I do not want to think of english as "just a means of communication".it is a very good means of communication and i am always thrilled to learn a new word.
- From: badboy (@ hamster.dur.ac.uk)
on: Thu May 13 12:12:33 EDT 2004
Actually Ledzius some of the English you quoted may be wrong from an American point of view but it is correct from the original English point of view. "Prof Kumar takes Biology" is correct. However I have a gripe about "lover" being misused - lover is not a girl or boyfriend, it has a more earthier meaning than that. ;) Another word is "dress" that is used by men - Let me change my dress, when they should mean clothes.
Each society has its own form of English. Singaporeans have Singlish, Malaysians Manglish - different patois - even in UK the usage is different e.g in certain areas, dinner means lunch and tea means dinner.
I think it is quaint that the language is interpretated. And as Professor Henry Higgins so lucidly put it, "Why, in America they haven't used it (English) for years!!"
- From: 555 (@ pat.centennialcollege.ca)
on: Thu May 13 14:59:49 EDT 2004
shut up.... English Rocks and is the best language in the WORLD!!
- From: Neetu (@ user-38lco0b.dialup.mindspring.com)
on: Thu May 13 18:17:18 EDT 2004
yes,555,english is a good language,and so are all other languages in this world.why,though are you misusing your knowledge of this beautiful language,by using an expletive(shut up) for everyone else?
we are just expressing our views,which you are welcome to,too.
Bad boy,i could not agree with you more.americans do have a different set of rules for english,but hey,like everything else,english is evolving too,i suppose!
- From: 555 (@ pat.centennialcollege.ca)
on: Fri May 14 14:35:54 EDT 2004
I think I would know a bit more about English than you people would...
"American/Canadian English" is the Best in the World!! Are you going to call me a "Yankee" now?
What the hell is your problem with me saying "shut up?" Would you rather if I said "shut the fuk up?" You need to get out more... you're a FOB! hahaha!!
- From: badboyaka666 (@ hamster.dur.ac.uk)
on: Sat May 15 10:34:52 EDT 2004
Agreed Neetu.
At one point "gay" meant "happy". Then it came to mean homosexuality - and now it has a real negative connotation.
"Wicked" means evil. But now the Americans made it sound like something cool - another word that has seem to have deviated from the original meaning too.
555, unlike you, we do know the difference between Americans and Canadians - why even you should know that if you watch South Park -in fact all my Canadian friends get upset when I tease them and call them Americans.
LOL, and I don't think we'll call you Yankee either .... unless you are born in the South, are a white and an American.
So tell me, out of curiousity, are you white?
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