Language lesson

[JanaknJanet 0]

OKOK .. I must say I am a total retard when it comes to learning languages.. but.. I sooo want to learn.

My oldest daughter is a linguist.. getting her Masters to teach ESL .. Japanese/ Arabic.. .... and I have difficulty just making my tongue work to say the city name properly. haha.

I wish to learn a few words or slang.. any one wish to share what they have learned.

Janak is from Bhvanager.. Gujarat.. ..

so far . what I have learned..

Bahu(or bahoo) means "daughter in law"

Bhabhi( "pape") means sister in law

chalo bhai! "get a move on brothas!"

Pagal Mahilla (Crazy lady)

Didi is that sister? and .. may I be stupid and ask what does being called Desi mean?

can we make a list.. .. I would appreciate all i can learn... I want to suprise Jan...

[chri'stina 190]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desi

This article is about the South Asian people. For other uses, see Desi (disambiguation).

Desi (pronounced /ˈd̪e:si/ or /ˈd̪e:ʃi/, Devanagari: देसी, Nastaliq: دیسی and alternatively spelled Deshi), literally means local or indigenous, as opposed to videshi (or videsi) meaning foreign. The term is used to refer to people or things of South Asian origin.

If used in this sense, it can include:

* People of South Asian origins (from one of the South Asian countries: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives)

* British Asians

* South Asian Americans

* South Asians living in Canada

* South Asians living in Australia

* Indian South Africans

* Sometimes, people of Indian origin only

* In India, the term, used as an adjective, can also refer to things originating from the countryside, or Indian-made goods as opposed to foreign or imported goods.

The term can also be used to refer to the diasporic subculture of overseas South Asians, usually those resident in English-speaking countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, and Australia, or former British colonies such as South Africa, Kenya or Guyana.

Most South Asians embrace the term Desi while some consider it as derogatory.

There ya go!

Well I'm not sure of the variation between the Hindi words I know and what they speak in Gujarat but I'll tell you some Hindi that I know.

Pranaam= I think it's the respectful way to say greetings/blessings, because I say that to my in laws after hearing Sujeet always greet them that way

Chup Raho =shut up/be quiet!

Idhar aao= come here

Chalo = let's go

bahut dhanyavaad(that last word's a hard one to say right ) = thank you very much

shukriya = thank you (I believe it's Urdu, not Hindi but is used by Hindi speakers too)

Kripaya= please (also Urdu, but used)

bolo = to speak, like you want someone to say something

sundar = beautiful

mujhe tumse pyar hai =I love you (I learned that one a long time ago when Sujeet was still in India)

pagal! = crazy!

I'll leave it at that for now...

Edited January 16, 2007 by stina&suj

[The_dip_sticks 0]

A wonderful person that I once knew a few years ago thought me a couple of phrases. This is what I remember. You can imagine what I sounded like when I spoke it.... I'm mexican American.....with my accent speanking Hindi LOL

Appka naam kia hai? = What is your name"

Meri name (insert name here) hai. = My name is....

yaar = friend

Mein tumse pyaar karti hoonn = I love you

dil= Heart

bohout= allot

tum meri jan= your my sweet heart.

Nann= bread

panee= water *to ask for some water you say Panee de

Ghee= butter

gobi=colliflower

aloo=potato

shavel=rice

chalo=bye

ha= yes

nahi= no

kia bolta hai = slang for hows it going

chuma = kiss

chuma de= give me a kiss

Q =why (not sure how you spell this but you just prenouse it just like the letter "Q"

Q' kay = because (not sure how you spell this but you prenounce it it just like the letter "Q" and the name "kay"

Bachi or bacha= baby, infant, new born

ek second= give me a second

lol thats what comes to mind now....I will reserve all the bad words. I dont think you want to learn that. LOL

[deathbydalbhat 0]

If you want to learn the naughty/nasty words, here you go:

Hindi:http://www.insultmonger.com/swearing/hindi.htm

Gujurati:http://www.insultmonger.com/swearing/gujarati.htm

I learned some interesting things to say to my future ILs here : Nepali: http://www.insultmonger.com/swearing/nepali.htm

Warning: some ads on this site may be offensive/not work-safe so don't say you weren't warned!!

Edited January 16, 2007 by deathbydalbhat

[Alex+R 0]

Q=Kyoon*

Mein chuti puti Hindi bolti hoon .... or something, LOL

Edited January 16, 2007 by Alex+R

[deathbydalbhat 0]

Q=Kyoon*

Mein chuti puti Hindi bolti hoon .... or something, LOL

What did you say about my 'puti'?

Dunno what it means in Hindi, but it means something nasty(or nice, depending on how you use it ) in Nepali...

one hint: meow...

[deathbydalbhat 0]

On the topic of languages, I recommend the site http://www.phrasebase.com, especially the message boards. I haven't posted there in a while, but the S. Asian boards are really helpful. If anyone's interested, I know a lot of Nepali phrases/resources, but won't bore anybody here . Nepali is very similar to Hindi so a lot of the words are the same.

A good book for Hindi just published last year is 'Learn to Speak and Write Hindi' by P.K. Agarwal. It looks very straighforward but I honestly haven't really had a chance to study it - my focus is on getting our I-129F out the door...

[JanaknJanet 0]

nice for all the assistance...

now for the phonetics of the language hahaha... im sure im butchering every word hahahah

[k1spain 0]

nice for all the assistance...

now for the phonetics of the language hahaha... im sure im butchering every word hahahah

I know kemcho = How are you? in gujarati. I learnt this from my colleagues at work.

Regarding desi, desi comes from des = country - literal translation of desi is "the one from the same country as me (assuming me - indian)" = Indian.

Indian people use it a lot to mean that other person is indian too. E.g you can hear myself telling hubby (although i am not indian) "A desi girl at work..." or "let's go to the desi dunkin donuts", meaning Dunkin Donuts operated by indian people.

However, desi has another meaning, this one used very ofen by young people.

When my desi hubby or his desi friends and some others, call other indian people desi, they don't really mean indian, they mean something completely different. This meaning of desi is more related to Behavior rather than country of origin.

How can I put this?

See, when hubby is driving and it happens that some other indian guy is you know, parked in the middle of the road where he is not supposed to or trying to park his car, or whatever that hubby considers it can be done in less time or in a more efficient way or something that is just not good because might bother others and the person doing the action doesn't care about, he starts calling this person "Desi, desi... desi ... Freakin***... desi..." and he adds "desi go back to India" and then I tell him >> "You should love your own people" and we laugh like crazy!

Anyway, I love my desi husband, my desi friends and my desi co-workers!

Another term that relates to desi and you might hear too, is 'abc' = american born confused. Indians apply this term to the American born people of indian immigrant parents, most of them first generation born in the USA.

[chri'stina 190]

Another term that relates to desi and you might hear too, is 'abc' = american born confused. Indians apply this term to the American born people of indian immigrant parents, most of them first generation born in the USA.

There is also the FOB...Fresh off the boat This would be applied to Indians coming here who don't understand things in the US like...you are not supposed to stare at girls, especially after they make eye contact with you....if a girl smiles at you does not mean she wants to have your babies, etc.

I heard it from an Indian girl, who was raised in the US and "Americanized", about local college students from India who kept thinking she was in love with them for saying hello and being nice.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Another term that relates to desi and you might hear too, is 'abc' = american born confused. Indians apply this term to the American born people of indian immigrant parents, most of them first generation born in the USA.

There is also the FOB...Fresh off the boat This would be applied to Indians coming here who don't understand things in the US like...you are not supposed to stare at girls, especially after they make eye contact with you....if a girl smiles at you does not mean she wants to have your babies, etc.

I heard it from an Indian girl, who was raised in the US and "Americanized", about local college students from India who kept thinking she was in love with them for saying hello and being nice.

I also use the term "abcd" for desis born in Canada, not even making up the more technically-correct "cbcd"--as the cultural difference between Canada and US are less than those between Lakhnau and Gwalior (both cities in India's "Hindi belt) contrary to the opinion of many born-Canadians, and official government policies (which assume that the difference is like that between Isfahan and Bangkok).

Maybe "XFOB" (ex-FOB) would work for those such as your "Americanised" friend (or myself, as I was born in India and raised in Calgary)?

[k1spain 0]

Just wanted to add that I didn't mean to be disrespectful with my previous posting. Just wanted to add a bit of humor to this topic.

When hubby saw my posting he said that maybe some people could get offended. I'm sorry if that happened, it was not my intention.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Just wanted to add that I didn't mean to be disrespectful with my previous posting. Just wanted to add a bit of humor to this topic.

When hubby saw my posting he said that maybe some people could get offended. I'm sorry if that happened, it was not my intention.

Haven't seen any of the born-Canucks on the thread yet (and it would be me, not you, who offends these).

[chri'stina 190]

Another term that relates to desi and you might hear too, is 'abc' = american born confused. Indians apply this term to the American born people of indian immigrant parents, most of them first generation born in the USA.

There is also the FOB...Fresh off the boat This would be applied to Indians coming here who don't understand things in the US like...you are not supposed to stare at girls, especially after they make eye contact with you....if a girl smiles at you does not mean she wants to have your babies, etc.

I heard it from an Indian girl, who was raised in the US and "Americanized", about local college students from India who kept thinking she was in love with them for saying hello and being nice.

I also use the term "abcd" for desis born in Canada, not even making up the more technically-correct "cbcd"--as the cultural difference between Canada and US are less than those between Lakhnau and Gwalior (both cities in India's "Hindi belt) contrary to the opinion of many born-Canadians, and official government policies (which assume that the difference is like that between Isfahan and Bangkok).

Maybe "XFOB" (ex-FOB) would work for those such as your "Americanised" friend (or myself, as I was born in India and raised in Calgary)?

Well, from what I understand, it takes a certain type of behavior in order to be considered an "FOB". I could be wrong, but I don't think it simply means a new-comer. It means someone who has no clue that their particular behavior is unacceptable here and make fools out of themselves, because they don't seem to even care or research anything ahead of time. Such as gawking at women, even after getting dirty looks from them.

[basanti 0]

I am Gujarati... I'm not sure what you want to learn to say, but you are more than welcome to ask me and I will teach you! Here is a bit:

Kemcho - hello/how are you

Mujhama chu - I am well

Su karo cho - what are you doing?

Chal - lets go

Quick question...what part of Gujarat is your hubby from? I ask b/c dialects differ from different parts of the state