Local Lingo

See what new words and phrases we are learning every day both in Hindi and British-ese.

Dip: Every time I am at the ATM, it makes me laugh when I see this request: “Please dip your card to complete your transaction.” We dip our cards in India instead of swipe them.

Acha (like “gotcha” without the “g”): Hindi word meaning “good”

Boot: Not the kind you wear on your foot. “Boot” in India refers to the trunk of your car.

TK: Indians say “TK” for “OK”

Namaste (nah-mah-stay): Hindi greeting for hello

Shift: Not like shifting gears, “shift” means to move from one place to another. EX: We will shift to a new flat in New Rajendra Nagar this week.

Alam: Hindi greeting for “good morning”

Lori: A delivery truck

Opke nam kya hai? (opkeh nahm kee-ah heh): Hindi for What is your name?

Nimbu pani: Hindi for lemonade, Erik’s favorite drink — we have to make it from scratch

Hindi no atta: “I don’t speak Hindi” (we use this one often)

English atta: “Speak English” (another one we use all the time — I need to learn “please”)

Round-about: Most Americans don’t use this term because most places in the U.S. do not have these. A round-about is a traffic circle. Great fun to drive on and convenient — if you miss your turn off, just go around again.

kutta (koo-tah): Hindi word for dog

sundar (soon-dahr): Hindi word meaning beautiful

lahsun (lah-soon): Hindi word for garlic

pyaz (pee-yahz): Hindi for onion

kela (keh-lah): Hindi for banana

banana (bah-nah-nah): Hindi for “to cook”

Radha is helping us with our Hindi. I’ve learned most of our fruits and vegetables and we learned possessive pronouns today.

mera (meh-rah): mine

tera (teh-rah): yours

iksha (eek-shah): his

uksha (ook-shah): hers

Fruits:

seb (sehb): apple
kela (kelah): banana
am (ahm): mango
amrud (ahm-rood): guava
nimbu (neem-boo): lemon

Vegetables:

pyaz (pee-yahz): onion
lahsun (lah-soon): garlic
tamatar (tah-mah-tar): tomato
gajar (gah-shjahr): carrot
khirka (keer-kah): cucumber
ghobi (go-bee): cabbage
phul ghobi (pool go-bee): cauliflower

aj (ah-shj): today

kal (kahl): tomorrow

bonnet: Britishese referring to the hood of a car. I nearly fell out of the car when I realized what the gas station attendant was asking for when he said, “Open the bonnet.” Our Tata has a bonnet and a boot!

Hindi numbers 1-10:

ek (ehk): 1
do (doh): 2
tin (teen): 3
car (cahd): 4
pac (pahk): 5
chah (chah): 6
sat (saht): 7
ath (ahth): 8
nau (nahoo): 9
das (dahs): 10

Coke mobile: a 20 oz. bottle of coke (you have to say mobile like “mo-byel” to get the true effect)

It’s very minus: means “it’s cold outside” (below 65 degrees)