Excerpts on Indian English from the book Living and Working in India
One of the factors which make India so attractive to foreigners and foreign businesses is the widespread use of the English language within the subcontinent. In fact, India has now edged in front of America as the country with the largest English-speaking population. However, Indian version of English is quite distinct from other varieties, such as British, American, Australian, or Caribbean English.
What is Indian English?
Indian English is a fascinating creative combination of old English expressions from colonial times, grammatical constructions and direct translations from the native speaker’s language, words borrowed from other colonial languages, and especially Indian languages such as Hindi, together with simplifications of English grammar that increase the user-friendliness of the language. You may even find yourself picking up some Indian words or expressions and using them when you go back home, as the British colonists did when they brought home the words, ‘bungalow, pyjamas, shampoo, chutney, pundit and chintz’, which became firmly lodged in the English language.
Rhyming Combinations…………………While British English has ‘mumbo-jumbo’ and ‘helter-skelter’, similar combinations occur in Indian English, to give a gentler feel to the sentence, so instead of being told that you have come to visit for too short a time, in India you may be told that this time you came in a ‘hurry-burry’ and next time you should stay for several days as a guest.
Lakhs and Crores.………………While the British and Americans tenaciously hold on to ‘miles’, in favour of ‘kilometres’, the Indians prefer ‘Lakhs’ (a hundred thousand) and ‘crores’ (ten million) to the closest western equivalents of thousands and millions, and will place a comma at the lakh or crore mark in a large number. For example, while the British would describe 50,678,954 as 50 million, 678 thousand, nine hundred and fifty four, an Indian might write 5,06,78,954 and call it 5 crores, 6 lakhs, seventy-eight thousand, nine hundred and fifty four.
Staying on the topic of arithmetic, an initial point of confusion between British and Indian English arises if an Indian says, for example, ’4 into 8′. To a Briton this might mean, 4 divided into 8 [written with a division bracket] (i.e. 8 divided by 4), with the answer, 2. However, to an Indian it means 4 multiplied by 8, with the answer, 32!
Differences in Vocabulary……………………………………………………………..’Roaming’ can be used to refer to a young lady undertaking social events such as shopping or watching a film at the cinema without her father’s knowldege or permission….. Indians use the American word, ‘movie’, rather than the British, ‘film’ for a show at the cinema. However, paradoxically, what a British person would call a ‘blue movie’ (i.e. an offensively explicit movie) would be called a ‘blue film’ in India. Incidentally, the word ‘cinema’ is not used, but instead, one goes to see a movie at the ‘theatre’. Moreover, if the film you want to see is sold out and you can only by tickets from touts, these are referred to as ‘black’ tickets, rather than ‘black market’ tickets in British English. These tickets are said to be bought ‘in black’.
In India the word ‘since’ can be used to mean ‘for’ when expressing a period of time. Examples of this usage are ‘I haven’t mailed you since a long time’ and ‘Since how long have you been in India?’.
While the British use a ‘ruler’ to measure an object’s length in centimetres or inches, Indians use a ‘scale’. For example, to ask, ‘Is there a ruler?’ in Indian English one might hear, ‘Scale is there?’. The word ‘rowdy’ is usually an adjective in British English, in Indian English it is commonly used as an adjectival noun to describe a trouble-causer or hooligan. ‘Kitty party’ is an expression used for a girls-only event, roughly corresponding to a British ‘coffee-morning’ or ‘girls’ night-out’.
Some of the words and expressions used in Indian English
Indian English ** Standard English
Britisher-Briton/British
Cover – Plastic bag
Advocate – Solicitor/Lawyer
Ragging – Bullying/Teasing
Eve-Teasing – Harassing women
Pulling (he is pulling me) – Making fun of (“pulling your leg”)
By walk – On foot
Brown sugar (He takes brown sugar) – Narcotic drugs
Hot drinks – Liquor
Current – Electricity
Hostel – Halls of residence
Thanking you – Thank you
Please do the needful – Please do what is required
Dress – Clothes
Purse – Wallet
Dickie – Boot (of a vehicle)
Double confirm – Re-confirm
A Himalayan blunder – A big mistake
Godown – A warehouse
Would-be - Fiance/fiancee
Pass out (My son passed out from college) – To graduate
Hotel (lets go out to a hotel for dinner) – Restaurant
Pre-pone (the meeting was pre-poned) – Bring it forward/advanced
‘Like anything’ (we were laughing like anything) – Very much
For further examples from this fascinating topic, see the Chapter ‘Indian English’ in Living and Working in India
