Bengalooru Slonguaze Dictionary Part 2

Do you see what I see?

There are few things in life which go unnoticed by a lot of people, probably because they are so frequent in their occurence or probably because of their close resemblance to the things we do. In the end, we tend not to notice these dissimilarities. But again, there are people, people like me, who catch these moments and occurrences and try to bring out a new way of looking at things. Starting from today, there will be a series of articles on the same.

didn't get what i'm talkin' about? I'll tell you.

Let me start with one of my favourite states and its people. Maharashtra. but before that, a small bit of information about marathis. Marathis are very patriotic, just like the Sardars. Theatre was the major industry till the last decade or two. It, still is one of the major ones, and Mumbai being the base for the Indian film industry, Bollywood confirms the same. Ok, now back to my point. Try this, next time you meet any Marathi, ask him/her to speak in 'marathi language' and observe his/her nose flaring in anger, eventhough what he/she might be saying is something very sweet! it's very funny. the first few times when i saw these people talk in front of me (my first trip to bombay in 1993, it is still very vivid), i just couldn't stop wondering why they were angry all the time. Infact, i even went on to ask my dad to take me back home quickly as these people would kill us someday soon looking at their anger.! :) but, as i started meeting them more frequently (during a phase later in my life), i learnt a lot about their culture, their life, and now, i've kinda started liking them.

Next in my list, come, probably the coolest group of Indians, the Malayalis, or the Keralites, or rather as we all commonly know them, the Mallus. There were a few jokes on mallus which did the rounds when we were kids in school. One of them goes like this: If you find a language which you can read, write and speak, then it's Kannada (Just assume that you know Kannada for the time being, okay? you see, i was born and brought up in Karnataka where such jokes made a lot sense). And If you can read the script partially but do not understand the language, then it's Telugu. If you can understand the language a bit, but cannot read the script, then it's Tamil. But, if you cannot read, write or understand the language, then it's definitely MALAYALAM!

Language Check: Pronunciation - Malayalam, just make sure you roll your tongue over the second 'L' and bamm! let it go with a click.

Anyway, my point is rolling of tongues is a major, major part of the Malayalam Language. Now, here's a question your way.

How to roll a tongue?

   I, instead of describing it here, i would let you observe a Mallu yourself when he/she speaks. You can count atleast 10 rolls in a sentence. It'll be the most common shape his/her mouth will take in a sentence. An interesting generalisation that people generally make is that Tamil is very closely similar to Malayalam. Yes, it is. The only addition is the Nasal Talk in Tamil.

Question of the Day: How will a Malayali spell 'MOON'?

yam - vo - yet yanodher vo - yund (read: and) yun.!

Alrite then guys, I think i'll have to cut short my article here. It's 4 in the morning and it is time for me to sleep. Also, it is time for me to get over the frustrating draw by my favourite football club, Liverpool FC over Olympique Lyon. I'll be back with the second edition in a couple of days. Till then, tata.

The Bengalooru Slonguaze Dictionary

If you are dying to be hip with the latesht Bangalore street slang but do not know how, look no further I say! For here is a yo man service rendered unto the kanglish slanguage, otherwise known as:

The Bengalooru Slonguaze Dictionary

A compilation of the latest slang words in the Kanglish language for daily use.

Aa? : Universal question tag. (is it? are they? was she? shall we? etc.) Often mistaken by non - south indians as mispronunciation. When an auto driver asks you "Leftaa?" he means "Left, is it?" Variation: "na?" used when the last sound in the question is a vowel. "Koramangala na?"

Adjushtu: adjust. Most important word that originates from the accomodative nature of all Bangaloreans. "Solpa adjusht maadi shiva." "Sir one more banana buying means it will adjusht within 10 rupees." "Sir traffic signal jump fine kodi." "Urgent ithu saar, solpa adjusht maadi"

Adu bere : That also. (That was all I needed). "Adu bere kedu"

AJM: Short for Akkan Jusht Missu (Lit: Elder Sister just missed) 1. Minor disappointment 2. Narrow escape. "Aye ticket siktheno?" "Illa lo, AJM agoythu." Do not use in polite company!

Bekitha : Was this required? A sort of "I told you so". "Boss, idu bekitha antha."

Bombat : Fantastic, excellent. "Aye hows your car doing?" "Oh bombattagide kanla."

Boss : Term of address. Used to call friends, auto drivers, waiters, conductors etc. Should not be used much aside from among friends. "Boss, one gobi manchuri dry."

Budding: Short for Brigade road Up and Down. bangalore's most popular pastime. (Also Mudding - MG road Up and Down)

Byawarsi : Lit: heirless. Useless, vagabond, ne'er do well. "Aye thoo byawarsi, sumne iro"

Chindi : Lit : Torn piece of cloth. Fantastic, fabulous

Chitranna : Lit: flavoured rice. (1) Fantastic job (2)Broken to bits (3) Badly botched job. "Sariyag madthini anth helbittu full chitranna maad haakidaane nodri."

Da : Term of address for friends, inferiors or younger people (borrowed from tamil). Rude when used in a non affectionate sense or with strangers. Fem: di. "What da, where y'all went yesterday?"

Deal : Nefarious activity. "Yeno deal maadthaane maga"

Escape : General departure. "Naan oota maadbit escape aagtheno, don't mind aitha?"

Free kotre phenoylu kudithaane : Lit: If its free, he'll even drink phenoyl. Curmudgeon, compulsively economical person.

Goobe : Lit: Owl. Stupid person. "Lei goobe, yaar ninge license kottiddu?"

Goodhlu : Scam. "India nalli education fullu goodhlu boss."

Gumpal Govinda : Lit: Govind in the group. To blend into the crowd. "I have gone gumpal govinda to see movie"

Guru : Lit: teacher. Also used jokingly to call a friend. "Yen guru, aaraam aa?"

Gubbal : Dumbass "Loose nan maga gubbal thara aadbeda lei."

Hawa : Lit: Air. To scare someone. "Full hawa itbitte aa loafer ge innond sali illige barodilla"

Hengythe myge? : Lit: How does your body feel now? i.e, Im going to beat you black and blue. "Yendande? Dhuddilvaa? Yengythe myge?"

Hinde inda Urvashi, munde inda Bevarsi : Looks like the celestial nymph Urvashi from the back but a vagabond from the front.

Jai : With enthusiasm. "Naan jai antha hog koothkonde alli". "I went off to college jai antha"

Kachko : Get stuck. "Sorry maga naan traffic nal kachkondiddene"

Kanjipinji : Meretricious object/activity. "Why you're making so much fuss for one kanjipinji job boss"

Kui : To lie, to bore. "Kui beda maga."

Loafer : Vagabond, flibbertygibbet. "Thoo loafer, get out I say."

Macha(tam) : Lit: Brother in law. Used commonly among friends, though not in polite society. "What da machaaa, not coming uh?"

Maga : Lit: son. Dude. "yeno magaa, yellidde isht divsaa?"

Mane haaLu : Lit: Ruiner of a household. Use to describe expensive things, and people who don’t act in your good interests. "Mane haaL maadbeda", "Aiyo mane haaLa, ningen bantho roga"

Maneyalli hel bandya? : Used for reckless drivers Lit: Did you tell the people at home? (ie, have you informed your family that they have to make arrangements for your funeral?)

Meetru : Lit: (autorickshaw) Meter. Gumption/cheek. "Yeno, eshto ning meetru?"

Mishtik : Lit: Mistake. Used for errors, leave, illnesses, sudden departures, misunderstandings, deletions, etc. "Yeno nenne officege mishtik aa?" "Haudo, nenne mai mishtik aagithu. Yake, manager yenadru andra?" "Yenantharappa avaru. Full mishtik aagbittu solpa hothu kirchaadidru. Aamele full scope itkond ondu dodda mail kalsidru. Adhara bagge yaak sumne thale mishtik maadskobeku antha odhdhe mishtik maadbitte." "Thoo manager emails na yaako mishtik maadthya? Adhe neen maado dodda mishtikku. Eega avaru nin mele mishtik aagthaare. Matte neen mishtik maadkolthya. Full situationey mishtik aagoguththe."

Naayi Paadu : Lit: Dog's work. "Nanage yaake ee naayi paadu?"

Nan maga : Lit: My son (ie son of). Usually used in conjunction with some other word. "Thoo, waste nan maga he is". Not a polite phrase at all. Has complicated undertones. Use only among close friends.

Nimmajji : Lit: Your grandmother. Another phrase that has hidden meanings. Do not use in polite society.

Off : Transliteration from the kannada "bidu" : "I came off quickly" (Naan bega band bitte). "I sat off there only." (Naan alle koothkond bitte)

Oh what a. : General exclamation. "You won lottery aa? Oh what a!"

Ooshtu : Prob from the english Oust. Exhausted. "4 ghante basket baal aadbit full ooshtaagbitte."

Osi jeevana Janma pavana : Pile on (Lit: Free life, happy existence).

Pigaru : Figure. (girl) "Machaa, aa piagar nodo!"

Pitilu : Lit: Fiddle (violin). Braggart. "Avan bidu. Bejaan pitil aadthirthaane."

Saavu : Lit: Death. Terrible or Awesome as per context. "Boss that movie was saavu only".

Raiyya: From the English "Right" (used by bus conductors after passengers have got off or on at a bus stop). To leave/depart. "Boss picture mugdid takshna naan mane tava raiyya."

Scopu : Yap/boast "Lei, sum sumne scope thagobeda"

Simp-simply : Translated from the kannada sum-sumne. For no reason at all. "Aye don’t simp-simply come and dishtrub me I say."

Sisyaa : Lit: Student. Patronizing term of address to a friend. "Sisya, ba illi, koothko."

Siwaa: Lit: Shiva. Another term for dude. "Alla siwaa, naan en helthene andre...."

Suryanige torchaa? : Lit: Are you shining a torch to the sun? "Boss are you teaching him kannada badwords? Suryange torchaa?"

Ucheyal meen hidithaane : Lit: Catching fish in urine. Cheapskate who looks for opportunities in the most shady conditions.

Uh? : The anglicized version of "aa?" above. Usually blends into last syllable of the previous word unless it is a vowel. "What daa, didn’t go to college juh?" "Not well, luh?" "Wont come tomorrow also vuh?" "Watching movie yuh?"

Yaar nin chair na alladsidru? : Lit: Who shook your chair? Why are you so perturbed?

Courtesy: Bikerdude (bengaloorubanter).

the rechristening process

It took me a few minutes less today to complete SuDoKu, Kakuro and other puzzles in Bangalore Times. I still had another 10 mins to reach office. What to do? Read Bangalore Times, of course! We all know its a crappy paper, but we all read it (like the old people who crib and watch mega serials and soap operas!)

I expected to read some crappy article like - green is the 'in-color' this season or why pubs should be opened even after 11 or Mahima loves her dog more than her mom or why women are preferring metrosexual male to the ubersexual male or something like that. But, I was disappointed. Today's topic was about Bangalore being renamed to Bengalooru!

One college student was of the opinion that "ooru" would be like village name. Kid, the word for village is haLLi, if you care to know.
Some businessman suggested that government should concentrate on improving infrastructure than on these "silly" things. Mate, its as ridiculous as saying that you stop going to petrol bunk till you find a medicine to cure your hair loss. Why are you mixing two unrelated things?

The thing that irritates me most is that all these intelligentia did not have any problems when Bombay was renamed as Mumbai or Calcutta was renamed as Kolkota or Baroda as Vadodara. When it comes to Bangalore (or Bengalooru), the logic changes.
Many of these 'Bangaloreans' would have a flair for learning foreign languages and would say bonjour (pronounced as bawn-zhoor) more authentically than a Rousseau or an Edouard. No problems for the tongue there, monsieur!
The whole nation has no problem pronouncing Buddhodebo Bhattochorya as correctly as a Mukherji or a Chatterji would do, but pronouncing Bengalooru is as difficult as pneumono­ultra­micro­scopic­silico­volcano­coniosis!
Don't you find pronouncing pizza (as Peed-zah) very difficult? Did Italians never feel that the world would stop eating pizzas just because they are not to easy to pronounce?

Well, the simple fact is that India is very crucial to the global business today and Bangalore is a big brand. And if any company decides to lose millions of dollars just because they find it difficult to pronounce "Bengalooru", they are stupid. They better get an Indian diction teacher for a few hundred dollars!

If you are thinking that I am a regionist (Yes, I coined that word!) you are absolutely wrong. I am proud of my language and state, but I am no fanatic. I have as much contempt for "Bangalore-is-full-go-home" type Kannadigas as I have for "Bangalore-sucks-cribbing" type non-Kannadigas. My opinion is just that most of the Indian city names that the British had changed long long ago don't convey anything about those places. (Like Mysore sounds like some description about a wound) I welcome any change in name that has got meaning (be it Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkota or Bengalooru)

And if anyone quotes Shakespeare "Whats in a name?", tell them that the Bard would not have liked if he was called "Shake sphere" just because it is easier that way!