Life 2

I blogged about Indians' usage of English over here before. Consider this a follow up posting.

Us Indians have added a special touch to our usage of the English language based on what we think is appropriate, not what the language asks for. So when you're speaking to an Indian, you might hear some of the following examples. Don't be surprised or alarmed. These are in normal usage in India. We are just being Indian. For example,

You might be asked to ON the fan or OFF the fan. We don't think "turning it on" or "turning it off" is appropriate because that implies a knob like operation which no switches do. So maybe we should say "flip it on" or "flip it off" but it's just easier for us to say, "Could you please ON the fan?"

You might be told that we tried to call you but your phone was "engaged". We're not sure who it's engaged to but that seems to be the common term used to indicate a busy line. Maybe your phone got lucky and found someone to spend the rest of it's life with but that's not what we're trying to tell you. Try to get call waiting so we don't have to deal with an "engaged" phone all the time.

My friend's wife was really sad when her grandfather "expired". We tend to use this to mean that someone died. However, 'died' is too strong a word and we go for the milder milk can version. Trust me, the grandfather did not have a date imprinted on his forehead with a "Best if used by" sign next to it. But he did "expire". Probably not refrigerated after opening. That can cause it.

Indian students are so brilliant that we never take tests. We always "give exams". We're essentially doing the same things as the rest of the students worldwide - write a bunch of answers to a set of questions and hand in our answers for evaluation. We just make it sound like we're doing them a favor and being generous to our teachers by "giving exams".

You may find us seeking your opinion when we add a "no?" to the end of some really assertive sentences or true facts. We might say, "It is so cloudy today, no?". Please do validate our statement. On the other hand, if we just say, "It's so cloudy", we're not seeking your opinion. We're pretty sure it's cloudy and you just need to leave it at that. If you contest it you're going to piss us off!

By the way, no cars in India have "trunks". We're not riding elephants there so there are no trunks involved. Instead, the space in the back of the car where luggage typically resides is called the "dickey". We put everything in the 'dickey' of the car. The origins of the word are unknown but it has the same amount of logic as calling that backspace 'trunk'.

So the next time someone's relative 'expires' and you hurriedly try to call them but the phone is 'engaged', rest assured we did not put the body in the 'dickey'. That's what they do in a hearse, 'no'?

Current Mood: chipper

chipper
Current Music: Love Actually - Original Sound track