We speak a khichdi English. Just how khichdish it can get can be seen in this example which a friend’s brother gave me of what he called Chapel Road English. It’s a line expressing admiration for a young woman, Peter’s sister. The first word is an abbreviation of a Marathi obscenity, the rest recognizable: Che bugger! Pitu sas asli chick, men! (Eunice De’Souza, English Pedigree, Mumbai Mirror, June 2, 2005)
In flipping through my Russian edition of Vasmer’s Etymological Dictionary,
I occasionally run across words that strike me as odd or intriguing in one
way ...
No comments:
Post a Comment