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Your hero, a professor at Harvard University, has just been appointed to a chair at Oxford. Are you struggling to convey the nuances of British speech (including the "stiff upper lip")?
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One of your characters, a hot-shot detective, is on the trail of a serial killer who has disappeared into the great Australian outback.
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Your plot deals with an international conspiracy to smuggle nuclear weapons through Turkey. You need the hero's sidekick to know a smattering of Turkish, sufficient to ask for directions in the busy streets of Istanbul.
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Your villain is a foul-mouthed vodka-drinking Russian mafia don who has kidnapped an American tourist in Petrograd. To make him sound credible, search for the right words in this glossary of Russian mafia slang.
Your heroine from Brooklyn has just landed in the heat and dust of New Delhi's Palam airport for a romantic vacation in the Orient. The locals speak English laced liberally with words from Indian dialects.
Click here to pick up the basics of "Inglish" from our glossary of Indian English slang.
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Glossary of Inglish (Indian English) slang

Compiled by Shanti Bhaskaran

This glossary of 'Inglish'(Indian English) slang lists words and phrases that are commonly used by Indian speakers of English. The list is a compilation of common words and is by no means an exhaustive one.

Click on a letter from the alphabet to go to words beginning with that letter. Click on an underlined word in an explanation and jump to that word listed elsewhere in the glossary.

A| B| C| D| E| F| G| H| I| J| K| L| M| N| O| P| Q| R| S| T| U| V| W| X| Y| Z

Ambassador ---- a model of car common on Indian roads
Amma ---- 1. mother 2. used as a form of polite address to a woman
Angrez ---- British who colonized India for two centuries
Anna ---- 1.older brother 2. a coin used prior to India's independence in 1947
Auto----autorickshaw, a three-wheeler, a common form of transport in Indian cities (see also, fatfati )
Ayurveda ---- an ancient Indian system of herbal medicine

B

Baapu----1.father 2.Mahatma Gandhi, father of the Indian nation
Babu----a person in a position of authority in the Indian bureaucracy(see also, dastak)
Bada----big
bandh----a general strike called by a political party (see also, hartal)
Baksheesh----a dole or a handout
Beta----son
Beti----daughter
Behn----1.sister 2. used as a form of polite address to a woman
Bhai---- brother
Bharat----India
Bibi---- wife
Bike----motorcycle
Bollywood----the film industry in Bombay city which churns out popular films in the Hindi language
Brahmin----person of a high caste in India (heard of the Boston Brahmins?)

C

Carnatic----form of Indian classical music
Caste----hereditary social class. Brahmin and Dalit are at two ends of the caste spectrum
Chai----tea made by boiling tea leaves with milk and sugar
Cheeni----1.Chinese 2. in South India, "Cheeni" refers to sugar
Chor----1.thief (usage common in North India) 2. cooked rice (usage common in Kerala, a southern state in India)
Chota----small
Chulha----kitchen stove usually burning coal or wood, used in Indian villages
Chutti----vacation
Chamcha---- a sycophant. A politician's popularity can be gauged by the number of chamchas in his camp
Convent----a school offering education in the English medium
Cricket----a sport that is an obsession on the Indian subcontinent
Curry----1. a spicy dish that signifies Indian cuisine to foreigners 2. to Indians,one of the many spices used in cooking

Dastak----signature. Indians are resigned to waiting in long lines outside government offices for some babu's dastak
Dalit----Indian born in a lower caste
Deewana----obsessed with desire
Desi----a person or thing of Indian origin
Dharma----duty or religion (usage common among Hindus)
Drumstick----long green vegetable ( has nothing to do with chicken )

E

Elaichi----cinnamon, a spice used to flavor tea and sweets
Ethnic----a tradition that becomes fashionable (To pierce one's nose is "ethnic"!)

F

Family way---- euphemism for being pregnant
Fatfati---- three-wheeler used as a common form of transport in North India (see also, auto)
Fakir----a wandering minstrel or preacher
Feni----liquor made of cashew, popular in Goa ( a seaside resort)
Foren---- foreign place, person or thing (A "foren-returned" Indian is usually held in some awe by Indian society)

G

Ganga - the river Ganges (revered by Hindus)
Ganja----1.opium 2.baldness (usage peculiar to Hindi speakers)
Grease----bribe given to a babu (see also, rishwat)

H

Haan----yes
Half-pant----used to indicate the garment that Americans call "shorts"
Hartal----a general strike or bandh declared suddenly
Hooch----liquor, illegally brewed
Hungama---- commotion, similar in usage to "brouhaha"

I

Iftikar---- party given by Muslims to celebrate the end of a month of fasting (known as "Ramzan")

J

Jaldee ---- to perform an activity quickly. (The phrase "Jaldee Karo" is the equivalent of "Hurry up"!)
Junglee---- wild, savage
Jawan---- 1.soldier in the indian army 2. youth

K

Kabaddi----a rough and tumble sport popular among children
Kalyanam ----wedding (usage common in South India)
Kameez----shirt
Kanjoos----miser
Karma----actions in a previous birth that affects one's destiny, a Hindu belief
Keep----euphemism for mistress
Khana---- a meal
Kurta----loose shirt made of cotton which men wear with baggy pants called "pyjamas"
Kisan----farmer
Kismet----fate

L

Langar---- free meal that is shared by the entire community (a practice among the Sikhs)
Leg-pulling----banter (what Americans call "kidding")
Loo----hot dry winds that blow across the plains of North India in summer
Lorry----truck

M

Maha----adjective, signifying great or extraordinary (Coke is advertised in India as the "maha cola"!)
Masala----1.blend of spices 2.exaggeration 3. films that follow a standard story line
Mama----1.uncle 2. polite form of address to older men
Mehman----guest
Mehndi----henna, a red substance used to dye hair and to decorate women's hands and feet at weddings
Memsahib----similar in usage to "Madam" or "ma'am"
Motor----automobile

N

Nahin---- no
Namaste---- greeting said with palms pressed together (similar in usage to "hello")
Naya---- new
Neta----leader

O

Om----mystic word used in chants by Hindus
OC----anything that is free

P

Paan----betel-leaf coated with various delicacies and chewed with great relish after a meal
Paani----water
Paadri----parish priest
Parsi----a follower of Zoroastrianism, a religion that believes in fire-worship
Patao----tactics adopted to please a girl
Punga---- to fight with a person stronger than you
Pita---- father
Pagdee----1. turban worn in some parts of India 2. the rent payable in advance
Pooja----hindu rituals of worship
Purdah----1. veil, usually black, worn from head to toe by Muslim women 2.curtains
Pyaar ----love

Q

Quom----nation (usage common among Muslims)
Qila----old fort

R

Raja----king
Roja----Muslim ritual of fasting 2. roses (usage common in South India)
Rickshaw----pedicab
Rishwat---- synonym of grease
Roti----bread made of wheat

S

Sari----a five-and-a-half-feet-long cloth worn by Indian women
Saab----polite form of address to a man
Salwar----draw-string pants (usually worn along with a kameez)
Samaadhi----grave of a political leader or a saint
Sandal----1. footwear 2. fragrant wood used in Hindu worship
Sardar----Sikh men who wear turbans
Sati-Savitri----devoted wife
Scooter----motorcycle
Shaadi----wedding (usage common in North India)
Shikari----hunter
Shikara----houseboat for tourists in the state of Kashmir

T

Tandoori----method of grilling chicken over a coal fire
Tantric----Indian wizard
Thana----police station
Tonga----horse-drawn carriage

U

Umma----1. matriarch of a Muslim family 2. to kiss (usage common in parts of South India)

V

Vanji----long wooden boat, used in the southern state of Kerala
Vindaloo----a spicy Indian meat dish
Veena----a string instrument like the lute

W

Wazir----minister in the government of a Pakistani province

X

There are no words beginning with X in Inglish. Go back to top

Y

Yaar----A term of endearment among friends, as commonly used as "mon" among West Indians
Yatra----journey, usually a pilgrimage
Yatri----1.tourist 2. passenger
Yuppies----newly rich middle-class urban Indians

Z

Zabardastee----to coerce or use force
Zameen----land
Zamindar----landlord

Zenana----portion of a Muslim household reserved for women

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