Images

What's the most Urdu English word you know? Twitter's got a few

What's the most Urdu English word you know? Twitter's got a few

Half the words you know are not actually in the language you think they are.
14 Apr, 2021

Imaan Sheikh — a journalist known for her association with Buzzfeed and The Juggernaut and just being hilarious overall — had an interesting question for the internet today, one that caught our attention.

She asked Twitter, "What's an English word that feels like it should've been an Urdu/Hindi word?"

Fraud, for certain, sounds like an Urdu word. Especially to an entire generation that grew up listening to Mr. Fraudiye (we miss you Awaz). Or maybe it's an association we can credit desi dads with, with their loyalty to the 'Sab fraud hai!' narrative.

Play around with these words as much as you wish but DON'T use it for a desi aunty — just take our word for it.

The post, obviously, got attention. Some of the other responses felt pretty accurate too. Tension, for example.

We feel what makes this association is less the phonetics of the word and more the definition. It might not particularly sound like Urdu/Hindi any more than any other random English word, but it's like our national state of being, if there is such a thing. We call for the global community to give us full ownership of the emotion of tension.

Daunt

Daun

Dau

Da

Daa

Daan

Daant

Yep, daunt's Urdu for sure.

Whether its frock or fraak, its more Urdu than English and you can't change our mind.

Wait...what's a chemise? Ohh you meant a shameez.

Load...shading you mean?

The moon landing was a fraud!

I, personally, vividly remember the time I learnt duffer was an English word. First thing I did was that I tried to imagine a white mom saying it to her child, and I'm still trying — duffer hun na.

Loafer (not the shoe) has been used to call out every desi human ever born, and you mean to tell me we didn't even come up with it? Outrageous.

I reject potty being an English word. Pick a new one.

It's interesting to study how languages evolve, how little 'purity' each has now, well into human evolution. In essence, all words are just sounds, or morphemes as the people with thick framed glasses like to call it (we must confess so do we, it's sort of a guilty pleasure), and as different sounds become associated with different things as signs, some signs become region specific, because they're born out of a certain cultural context that cannot be recreated outside of the said culture. Except for duffer, I can assure you, I'm a duffer in all contexts.

Comments

Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad Apr 14, 2021 04:06pm
Many people don not know, realize and understand that the great centuries old Urdu language is by far, the third widely spoken language in the world after Chinese and English.
Recommend
asim Apr 14, 2021 04:44pm
pajama, corruption, school, taxi, glass, cup
Recommend
Afshan Shahid Apr 14, 2021 05:12pm
Exciting. All those who are interested in the etymology of Urdu words should buy and read, one chapter a day, the book "Word for Word: Stories Behind Everyday Words We Use" by Khaled Ahmed.
Recommend
FAZ Apr 14, 2021 05:36pm
Fraud and Gutter Grew up in Pakistan around these two words.
Recommend
Ahmad Jawad Apr 14, 2021 06:51pm
Nikker in Urdu, ammi always used to say beta نیکر Pehan lo. It wasn’t till lot later that I realized that it is an English with with somewhat different meaning. Knickers in British English is referred to ladies underwear, little did I know as a kid:)
Recommend
Ehsan Apr 14, 2021 07:02pm
There is no such thing as Urdu or English, it’s either Urdu or Hindi. Only Pakistani people say both are similar, ask an Indian and they don’t recognize Urdu
Recommend
Mehak Apr 14, 2021 07:04pm
Sounds aren't morphemes. They are phonemes.
Recommend
Fast comment Apr 14, 2021 08:39pm
English stands for No.1 international language. Urdu ranks No.2. Mix both make one & only one international language.
Recommend
Kamil Sanaulla Apr 14, 2021 09:28pm
What about the words, "Jungle" , "bazaar" and there are so many words like these which are of Urdu/Hindi origin and are used in English language. Languages are simply ways and medium through which people express their thoughts and ideas and there are scores of English words used in India/Pakistan/Bangladesh in their local languages in daily conversations by people living there. No big deal.
Recommend
Syed Hafeez Imran Apr 15, 2021 12:15am
@Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad oh wise one Where does Arabic and Spanish stand
Recommend
M. Saeed Apr 15, 2021 12:42am
Bazar is the word borrowed by English from Urdu. Even Jungle, Baba, Taliban are Urdu words. Rail, Market, Madam are words used both ways. There are many more.
Recommend
Fakhar Zaman Apr 15, 2021 01:40am
How about “Fakhar” or “Fakr”. Admittedly not a word for the dinner table but an extremely common word that most English speakers are familiar with.
Recommend
Shahid Mahmood Apr 15, 2021 02:12am
In the reverse, I could think of pyjamas which is an English word taken from urdu/hindi/perisan. pae means foot and jama means garment.
Recommend
RationalBabu Apr 15, 2021 02:27am
@Fast comment height of delusion!
Recommend
Jo Apr 15, 2021 03:25am
@Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad wrong you're confusing this with Hindi Spanish and Arabic have more speakers
Recommend
Arshed Apr 15, 2021 05:04am
School is a English word every one uses in Pak.
Recommend
Abhay Mathur Apr 15, 2021 08:27am
This was a really interesting and fun look at the linguistics which tie our South Asian vocabulary to English or Hinglish or any other khichdee! For those who like this stuff, take a look at the famous Hobson Jobson Dictionary which goes to town on making these connections. Cheers!
Recommend
Ghazala Jamshed Apr 15, 2021 11:34am
I never thought these words will be of English language. The words are: Biscuit....biscut Jug Police Jeep Kitchen Bathroom Wiper Bleach Paisa...... easypaisa ( hyberdized word) Radio Engine Phone School Workshop Hall Ahh there are many more....
Recommend
Saami Siddiqui Apr 15, 2021 12:09pm
"Loot" is the first word from the Urdu language to enter the English dictionary, since that's what the British were doing in the Subcontinent. Therefore, Loot is both and Urdu and English word.
Recommend
M. Saeed Apr 15, 2021 12:40pm
@Jo, over 90% scripts of Hindi films are written in Urdu.
Recommend