I love to use Bombayya Hindi slang and miss trading it with friends back home. Meanwhile, Usha is the guru of entertaining Tamil proverbs and wordplay. Poor Aakash, this multi-lingual noise boomerangs around his sanitized, mostly Anglicized world.
This silly Saturday morning, it was a new family game: we each get a 'pet name' formed out of Hindi / Tamil slangs, sayings, and other illicit wordplay.
For this weekend, Usha is "enthu cutlet" (Hindi slang, meaning over-enthusiastic. 'Cutlet'?? Forget etymology, just meaningless but memorable street talk).
I am "Sondhum kariyam zindabad" (Tamil, meaning self-centered plus Hindi, zindabad meaning long live. Imagine my luck, a multi-lingual novelty as my first nickname:).
Aakash is "vengayam bhajjee" (Tamil, think "Flat Stanley").
Rules of the game? The idea is to use these privately, our own little family secret. (Facebook is not real-world, does not count:) With long nicknames, its quite possible they get shortened, and thats fine. For e.g. "Sondhum kariyam" might become just Sondhum. All power to the user.
Pet names convey affection. Those who know us well also know that Sondhum, enthu cutlet, and vengayam carry more than a grain of truth about us three:)
Nicknames were an important part of growing up. Remembering a specific name that your parent or a favored relative used for you is the kind of pinprick on memory that few other recollections can beat. The tradition of giving nicknames was especially strong when horsing around with boyhood friends. You could be a slightly obese kid and the kind of names some friends might give you? - now, those would be the real pinpricks on memory.
Some family nicknames meant to poke fun become legendary, and I cannot resist sharing just one, political correctness be damned. "Ombhadu kalluh" (Tamil; nine tiles for a relative who was so big that when she sat on the floor, her girth would occupy all of 9 tiles). Tee hee.
And what's next with this weekend game? I'm trying to convince family that besides donning the names, we should also prove worthy of it. I'm also hoping, selfishly, to have several reruns of this particular nickname for myself. After all, how can it get better than "sondhum" kariyam" for myself when it is "enthu cutlet" for Usha?
This silly Saturday morning, it was a new family game: we each get a 'pet name' formed out of Hindi / Tamil slangs, sayings, and other illicit wordplay.
For this weekend, Usha is "enthu cutlet" (Hindi slang, meaning over-enthusiastic. 'Cutlet'?? Forget etymology, just meaningless but memorable street talk).
I am "Sondhum kariyam zindabad" (Tamil, meaning self-centered plus Hindi, zindabad meaning long live. Imagine my luck, a multi-lingual novelty as my first nickname:).
Aakash is "vengayam bhajjee" (Tamil, think "Flat Stanley").
Rules of the game? The idea is to use these privately, our own little family secret. (Facebook is not real-world, does not count:) With long nicknames, its quite possible they get shortened, and thats fine. For e.g. "Sondhum kariyam" might become just Sondhum. All power to the user.
Pet names convey affection. Those who know us well also know that Sondhum, enthu cutlet, and vengayam carry more than a grain of truth about us three:)
Nicknames were an important part of growing up. Remembering a specific name that your parent or a favored relative used for you is the kind of pinprick on memory that few other recollections can beat. The tradition of giving nicknames was especially strong when horsing around with boyhood friends. You could be a slightly obese kid and the kind of names some friends might give you? - now, those would be the real pinpricks on memory.
Some family nicknames meant to poke fun become legendary, and I cannot resist sharing just one, political correctness be damned. "Ombhadu kalluh" (Tamil; nine tiles for a relative who was so big that when she sat on the floor, her girth would occupy all of 9 tiles). Tee hee.
And what's next with this weekend game? I'm trying to convince family that besides donning the names, we should also prove worthy of it. I'm also hoping, selfishly, to have several reruns of this particular nickname for myself. After all, how can it get better than "sondhum" kariyam" for myself when it is "enthu cutlet" for Usha?
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for stopping by, would love to hear from you here ...