KOCHI: Last week, we covered goblin, permacrisis, gaslighting and homer words of the year chosen by popular English dictionaries. This week, allow me to begin with my personal pick from 2022: ‘buddyfoo’. Coined by my seven-year-old when he was a toddler, ‘buddyfoo’ has now cemented its place in my household lingo. It, basically, is an endearing derivative of ‘bloody fool’. Even my editor-in-chief at home prefers to use ‘buddyfoo’ while chiding me.
Never imagined cuss words could be turned cute with minor tweaks. And, who knows, ‘buddyfoo’ might someday find its way to the dictionary! Merriam-Webster, for instance, recently added ‘adorkable’ to its dictionary. The word means “socially awkward or quirky in a way that is endearing”. Well, that’s the beauty of language. It keeps evolving as we communicate, interpret or express our thoughts.
It is also interesting to note how the English language has been adding words from essentially ‘non-English’ parts of the world. “As countries such as India, Nigeria, South Africa, Jamaica and Singapore adopted English as a language, they also adapted it making significant changes to its pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary, and giving rise to new varieties now collectively known as World Englishes,” writes World English editor at Oxford English Dictionary Danica Salazar, in a fine piece for The Guardian.
She lists some World English words documented by Oxford:
Lepak: “The practice of loitering aimlessly or idly; loafing, relaxing, hanging out.”
Add oil: “A literal translation of the Cantonese phrase ga yao, it is used by Hong Kongers as an exclamation expressing encouragement or support.”
Deurmekaar: “A state of confusion; muddled” – from Afrikaans
Dirty kitchen: “a kitchen where everyday cooking is done by household staff, as distinct from a kitchen that is purely for show or for special use by the owner of the house” – from Philippine English
Skinship: “Esp. in Japanese and Korean contexts: touching or close physical contact between parent and child or (esp. in later use) between lovers or friends, used to express affection or strengthen an emotional bond.” The Oxford dictionary adds that the word “is a blend of two English words, skin and kinship, following the model of the Korean word seukinsip and the earlier Japanese word sukinshippu”.
Mama put: “A street vendor, typically a woman, selling cooked food at low prices from a handcart or stall. Also: a street stall or roadside restaurant run by such a vendor; (as a mass noun) the type of food sold by such vendors” – from Nigerian English.
Danica, in her article, explains that the word “comes from the way that its customers usually order food: they say “Mama, put …” to the woman running the stall, and point to the dish they want so it can be put on their plate”. Nice.
Let me add a few more entries that I loved during research.
Kilig: “Of a person – “exhilarated by an exciting or romantic experience; thrilled, elated, gratified”; from Philippines English
Ember months: “The final four months of the calendar year (September to December), esp. considered together as a period of heightened or intense activity”; from Nigerian English
Saudade: “Longing, melancholy, nostalgia, as a supposed characteristic of the Portuguese or Brazilian temperament” from Portuguese English
English dictionaries have many words with Indian roots as well. Let’s take a look at a few popular ones that are often highlighted.
Juggernaut: “A large and powerful force or institution that cannot be controlled” or “a massive inexorable force, campaign, movement, or object that crushes whatever is in its path”
The word is derived from Jagannath, or the “Lord of the Universe”. “Jagannath, a form of the god Vishnu, presides over a massive temple in Puri… The most famous ritual at the Puri temple is the Rath Yatra,” notes an Oxford English Dictionary article.
“During the Rath Yatra the wooden forms of the gods are ceremonially placed on large towering carts, or chariots, and pulled through the streets of Puri by devotees. ‘Juggernaut’ entered the English language in the early nineteenth century as colonial Britons in India encountered Jagannath and his chariot and tried to make sense of what they were seeing.”
Jungle: “The word jungle comes from the Sanskrit ‘jangala’ meaning ‘sparsely grown, arid’,” says the Macmillan dictionary. “This Sanskrit word was the origin for the Hindi ‘jangal’ meaning ‘uncultivated ground’, which is likely how the English word came to hold its current meaning as an overgrown, dense forest.”
Shampoo: “The word is derived from the process of shampooing or massaging one’s head, and has its roots in Hindi champo or champna, which means “to press, knead the muscles”.
Punch (beverage): “A cold drink made by mixing fruit juices, pieces of fruit, and sometimes alcohol”. According to etymonline.com, the word was derived “from Hindi panch ‘five’, in reference to the number of original ingredients (spirits, water, lemon juice, sugar, spice), from Sanskrit panchan….”
It’s been raining here. Some Mulligatawny soup, anyone? Mulligatawny is “a hot, spicy soup” that traces back to milaku-thanni, or ‘pepper water’ in Tamil.
Okay, time for me to make some soup for the buddyfoos here. Will leave you with some Indian words that recently made it to the Oxford dictionary. Wish you a kilig-filled week ahead.
Chakka jam: “A protest in which people block a road or cause a traffic jam”
Jugaad: “The use of skill and imagination to find an easy solution to a problem or to fix or make something using cheap, basic items”
Dadagiri: “The act of using strength and power to frighten or hurt weaker people”
Dabba: “A lunch box; a container with a meal or snack”
Didi: “An older sister”
Aadhaar: “The system of issuing a unique, 12-digit identification number to every individual resident of India”
Achcha (exclamation): “Used to show that the speaker agrees with, accepts, understands, etc. something”
Anna: “An older brother”; “the leader of a group of young people who go around together and sometimes cause trouble”
Aiyo (exclamation - also aiaiyo): “Used to show that you are surprised or upset”
Bapu: “(Used especially as a form of address) a father”
Chamcha: “A person who tries too hard to please somebody, especially somebody who is important”
Funda: “A fundamental principle that is the basis of something but that is not always easily noticed”