Indian English

It is amusing how several words and idiomatic forms, derived from Indian literary and vernacular languages have made their way into the every-day English we speak today. Over the long history of the language in India, the implication of many English words and the context in which they are used has changed considerably. Following are some of the most noticeable and interesting instances of such usage, as pointed out by wikipedia:

• Use of "blood pressure" or "BP" to refer particularly to high blood pressure, as in "I have BP!" to mean "I have high BP or hypertension".

• Use of ‘no’ or ‘na’ as a tag question, as in “He's here, no?” or “You are lying, na?”

• The word "marriage" used to mean "wedding", as in "I am attending my cousin's marriage next month”.

• The word "healthy" as a euphemism for fat people, as in "His build is on the healthy side" to refer to an overweight person.

• 'B.A. fail' for someone who was admitted to college, took college classes, but did not pass the final examinations, as opposed to someone who did not go to college! 'Higher Secondary fail' and 'M.A. fail' are used in a similar fashion.

• Creation of rhyming double-words, as in "No more ice-cream-fice-cream for you!", "Let's go have some chai-vai.” or "There's a lot of this fighting-witing going on in the neighborhood".

• The word "hero" is used to mean a male protagonist in a story, especially in a movie. The protagonist need not have any specifically heroic characteristics! Thus, "Look at him; he looks like a hero", meaning "he is as handsome as a movie star."

• The word "dialogue" to refer to "a line of dialogue" in a movie. ("That was a great dialogue!" means "That was a great line!"). "Dialogues" is used to mean "screenplay". In motion picture credits, the person who might in other countries be credited as the screenwriter in India is often credited with the term "dialogues".

• Use of "engagement" to mean not just an agreement between two people to marry, but a formal, public ceremony (often accompanied by a party) where the engagement is formalized with a ring and other local rituals. Indians will not speak of a couple as being "engaged", until after the engagement ceremony has been performed.

As Binoo K John says in his book 'Hazaar fundas of Indian English', "savour the sorry and soaring love affair between India and English"!