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Personal |
Some IIT Bombay Lingo |
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app :to apply for US universities
arbit: An abbreviation of "arbitrary", it is a very flexible word. Basically, it is used to describe something/someone that is weird/strange/not the way it should be. eg. "That guy does arbit things" or "He's an arbit guy" implies that the person being referred to is a bit on the strange side. avoid: Besides it's dictionary meaning, this word is also used in an admonitory tone, with people shouting it whenever they get irritated. eg. If someone is watching TV and someone else turns up the radio, then the standard reply is "Avoid, boss!!". "...aax": The "..aax" extension is a typical IITBism, used in< any context whatsoever, from peaceaax to scopeax to nabdaax..( "nabard" will be explained later ). It has no independent existence of it's own, however, always having to be bonded to another word. boss: A word used (1) while talking to someone who's name one doesn't know or (2) while talking to someone who's name one does know. breaker: Slang for "breakfast" bumps: A treat given to someone on his Birthday, when the concerned person is lifted in the air and his rear end is subjected to a series of kicks. Bumps are also a standard punishment for anyone who pains people too much with bad jokes/comments. chinco/chinks: The Chinese joint near the NCC building. Famous for serving the exact same preparation under atleast 5-6 different names. con: Same meaning as dictionary version.. chamkaa: The literal meaning of this word is "lit up" or "glowed", but in the IITian context, it is used to indicate an understanding of something that has been just explained/said/described to you. This use probably arose from the popular cartoon image of a bulb lighting up in a person's head when he/she got an idea. cts: An abbreviation of clearing tensions : which is what one has when one is close to flunking a course. cack: A short version of the word "cacophony", it signifies the act of verbal communication, viz. talking. To cack is to talk ( academic discussions do not qualify ). A group of people talking is having a "cack session". Chapras!: This word was in use by one person (Cylinder Singh), but junta in H7/Elec Dept sometimes used to use this word thanks to him and some "other" H7ite. It just means that the person or the object being referred to is totally useless. Should say it has no connection to its original Hindi meaning i.e, "pune" Convo: The Convocation Hall, where degrees were awarded, and more importantly, where the weekly movie was shown (how i miss those !). crack: This word, whatever it's sinister connotations in the "real world", has a very positive meaning in IITB. Use of this term by an IITian implies that the person is referring to somebody's ( perhaps his own ) excellent performance/stroke of good fortune. eg. "I cracked the exam"..or "I cracked a schol"..or in true IITB style, "crack maar diyaa", or "crack scene hai boss..." crash: This word is quite well known outside IITB too..and it denotes the blissful state of slumber in which most IITians are to be found for the better part of the day (ha! I could sleep any time and hour of day!). crib: To crib is to raise objection(s) to something. In IIT cribbing is carried to great lengths by certain people, who are given the title of "cribboos" in recognition of their achievements in this field. dayaa: A Hindi word meaning "pity", it is used in a similar sense, when people beg someone to stop what he is doing by telling him "Dayaa boss ( have pity on us )". It's also used as an adjective ( for describing something/someone that is avoidable ) e.g. "That's a dayaa Prof". despo: A corruption of the word "desperate", eg. that guy is despo for a schol. Also used as a nickname for people having the family name "Deshpande". dhuk: An abbreviated version of "dhakkan", which is Hindi for "cap" or "lid", it denotes a stupid person. To do "dhakkangiri" is to do something stupid. Diro: The Director of the Institute ditch: To abandon something. Usage: "Ditch maar boss.." DOSA: Dean of Student Affairs. DryD:An acronym for "Dry Dinner" fart: In IIT lingo, to fart means to say something patently untrue/wildly exaggerated/impossible. So when someone is farting he is essentially bullshitting big-time. Such people are known as "fartoos". Another usage of this word is: anything that is bad..ie. a fart Prof. ( Professor ), fart grub ( food ), fart movie/song, you name it.. anything which is not fundoo is fart. fight: To "fight" over something means giving it your best shot. It's also used for encouraging people when they are under stress and have to do something very challenging and do it in a very short time. freakout: Interestingly, To freak out is to enjoy oneself and have a really good time. A person who is fun to be with is also known as a freakout character. IITians also use this word when they are happy ( for any reason ). freshie: Freshmen are known by this term, and shiver with terror whenever they hear it ( during their first 1-2 months in IIT), because it means that somewhere in the neighbourhood, a freshie is being summoned by his seniors for an "introduction". This is the phenomenon of ragging, which is defined in the latter half of this document. An IITian stays a freshie for his first year, after which a new batch comes to be victimized. I would say u remain freshie till the PAF (performing arts festival) where u wont be allowed to sleep for 1 week, and have to slog under seniors! (even if there are exams!) Freshies' Night: A ritual signifying the end of the ragging period, it consisted of certain, shall we say "trans-gender" performances by the freshies. Freshies' Social: The "cultural" high point of the Freshie Calendar, it was an Inter-Hostel talent show, where the freshies displayed their musical and choreographic talents funda/fundaes: These words are just abbreviations of the word "fundamental(s)". The funda of something means the basic principle behind it. Fundaes are just a collection of several "fundas" and the person with the best fundaes is called the "funda man". fundoo: Anything which is good/enjoyable is "fundoo". You can have a fundoo meal, watch a fundoo movie etc. In short, it's one of those multipurpose words which creeps into almost every sentence of the average IITian. general: Something or someone that's vague or mediocre. ghoch: A foul-up of any kind is called a ghoch. It can also mean a defect or flaw of some sort. e.g. A ghoch in someone's reasoning. People who perform detructive acts ( keeda...explained later ) also "do ghoch". ghodagiri: Ironically, this word means "donkey work ", whereas "ghoda" means "horse" in Hindi. Ghodagiri refers to any kind of work that's very menial and/or involves very little brainwork ( just pure effort ). Those who do this thankless work are referred to as "ghodas". ..giri: Used as a suffix to several slangs in IIT, it denotes the act of being like the person/thing/characteristic described by the slang. eg. ghodagiri (previous entry), dnotgiri etc. give up: expression of defeat, when one realizes that one is facing impossible odds. grub: Food hadaaaaaaa....: An exclamatory remark, it's closest English equivalent is the phrase "No Way!!". hagar/hagaar: Another word for huggoo (described later ). Hawa: Hindi word meaning "Air", it is something which every freshie is supposed to know, "hawa" being an acronym for AIR ( his All India Rank in the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) ). hawas: A Hindi word meaning "lust", it's used to describe anything that arouses feelings of that nature in IITians ( which includes a large category of things, IITians being as starved of female companionship as they are ). Hazaar/Hajaar: It's literal meaning being 1000 ( one thousand ), this word is used to denote " a lot of " something. e.g. hazaar crowded, or hazaar tough. HOD: The Head of Department hog:To hog is to eat with gusto..which is what IITians do whenever people return from home after a vacation bearing sweets and sundry other edibles as tribute for the rest of the hostel inmates, especially their wingmates though, because they would make life hell for them otherwise. hug: Hugging is the act of performing badly at something, making a stupid mistake or fouling up in general. wonder how the word was derived from its original meaning... junta: "Junta" means "The Common People" in Hindi. In IIT, any notice or act directed at everyone in general begins with the word "Junta" written on the notice or shouted out loud to attract everyone's attention. keeda: Playing tricks on people and/or disrupting something is called doing keeda or "keedagiri". khaach: To khaach something is to cancel/remove/destroy it; e.g. The concert got khaached because nobody turned up. KLPD: This acronym (the expansion of which cannot be written here without offending the delicate sensibilities of certain readers) is used to denote frustration, especially after one's expectations have been heightened. kuchh bhi kyaa: This phrase ( in Bombay Hindi, typically ungrammatical ) indicates a disbelief in what the person with whom one is talking is saying. It is also used to protest against an unreasonable request/demand made by someone. lech: An activity at which all IITians excel, which is the act of leering at any good-looking female who passes by. LT: The Lecture Theatre, of which most IITians have fond memories, as being the location of the Freshies' Social, and also the place where a refreshing nap could be taken during the CS101 class (u tell me!). lukkha: a guy who just wastes time...(dont we all fall into that category) MB: The Main Building, where the Institute's administrative and financial offices are housed Main-gate: Entrance to the ever-beautiful Powai and Vihar lakes of Bombay and the hill surrounding them. mug: To mug is to study/cram ..usually this activity is undertaken the night before the exam, but some people mug during other ( unseasonal ) times too..such characters are known as muggoos. N..: many/much - N difficult means so much difficult, say... nabard/nbd: This word's origins lie in "nervous breakdown". To take nbd over something is to get all worked up and worried about it. "Nabdus" are people who are always in this state. Such people are compulsive worriers. They need not be academic nabdus at all. night out: As the name implies, a night-out is the act of staying awake the whole night, sometimes due to a cack session, sometimes due to a combination of cack and intoxicants, and sometimes due to exam nbds.. obscene: A word used to express a large amount/intensity of anything, e.g. An obscene dinner, an obscenely good grade etc. As the previous examples show, the adjective can be applied to positive things too. ok types: Anything that is good or went off well. Basically this word can be used almost any place where a positive feeling/result is involved. Panchii: A generic term used to refer to any general person peace: A gesture of relief and happiness. When an IITian clears a course in which one had CTs, or when one cracks a schol,then he says, "PEACE", or "Peace ho gayaa". "Peace Life" can also be used in this context. It's close cousin "peaceful" is used to denote something easy, e.g. a peaceful exam, a peaceful prof ( one who doesn't harass his students ). pseud: A derogatory term for anybody or anything that's very heavily westernised or has pretensions to be very sophisticated. I think it came from "pseudo-american" Punter: Another variant of "Panchii" ragging: The time-honoured tradition of initiating a freshie into the IITian way of life. The process primarily involves a month or so in which the freshies are interrogated by their seniors in different ways, made to perform certain tasks ( some of which are a bit on the unpleasant side ) and in general given a hard time, all with the noble intention of getting to know them better ( and to have a little fun in the process ). The best time I had in iit was during those times. I used to enjoy those sessions, frankly :-) rg/rg-giri:Derived from the word "Relative Grading" ( supposedly ), this term defines the act of doing something for one's benefit at the expense of someone else. A good example is submitting an assignment/homework to the Professor before everyone else, and that too without informing them. Schol: Scholarship; What almost every IITian used to live for, and something which is still in heavy demand, a schol is essentially a composite offer of Admission and Financial Aid from a US University. For many IITians, it is the culmination of their stay in IIT. scope/scope kyaa: A word/phrase used to characterize something as being impossible or beyond the capacities of the person talking about doing it. A very commonly used word in IIT. shady: Something or someone which/who is not as it/he should be. e.g. A shady prof, or a shady ( avoidable ) person. It's meaning varies a bit with regard to the context in which it is used. sidey: A word which can mean "fart" or "shady" ( another one of those flexible context-dependent words ). stud: Someone who extremely good at his/her field. slog: To work really hard is to slog. Thankfully for most IITians, the perecentage of sloggoos is not too high ( unlike IITM and other pretenders ), just the level required to ensure a steady supply of class notes and assignments, and not so high that everyone becomes a sloggoo due to nbds. suck: An inevitable part of the apping process, sucking involves sending letters/emails to the Professor(s) in the US in whose fields one is interested in working ( due to those fields being well-funded ) in which the writer raves about having been interested in the profy's field since the day he was born and that nothing would give him greater satisfaction than working under him ( the Prof. ). tension: Tension is an inevitable part of life in IIT, with people "taking tensions" over several things and people ( esp. Profs ) "giving tensions" for several things too. "Tense" is also used to refer to anything that is challenging or difficult. e.g. "A tense problem". "types": This is another vestigial word that is added to sentences for no reason whatsoever. The most famous example is: "OK types". Y-Point/YP: The gate of IIT closer to Kanjurmarg, YP was a far more heavily trafficked site than the "Main Gate". zeneraal: A corruption of "general". Some more slang: Regional identifiers: bong:Someone who is from the state of West Bengal. This word has become the nickname of countless bongs in IITB. ghat: Someone from the state of Maharashtra. It's origins probably lie in the Western Ghats, those being the mountains(?) on India's West Coast. I learned in a hard way that marati people actually dont like this word- be careful when u talk to a non-iitian.. gujju: A person from the State of Gujarat. gult: People from Andhra Pradesh are called Gults. The origin of this word is not very clear, but the most popular version is that it originated from the word "Telugu", which is the language spoken by gults. "Telugu" when spelt backwords sounds like "Gulutey", which changed to "Gult" with the passage of time. maddu/tam: Someone from the state of Tamil Nadu. "Maddu" has originated from the capital city Madras. Mallu: A person from the state of Kerala. Origin lies in Malayalam, the language spoken in the state :-) panju: A Punjabi ( someone from dee istate of Pajaab ). Sporting abbreviations: baddy: Badminton basky: Basketball footer: Football volley: Volleyball |
