Indianisms - Common errors we make in English

[third eye]

Some grammatically-insane phrases found in common Indian English

We are a unique species, aren’t we? Not humans. Indians, I mean. No other race speaks or spells like we do.

Take greetings for example.

A friendly clerk asking me for my name is apt to start a conversation with, “What is your good name?” As if I hold that sort of information close to my heart and only divulge my evil pseudonym. Bizarre.

These are called Indianisms. Here are some..

1. "Passing out"

When you complete your studies at an educational institution, you graduate from that institution.
You do not "pass out" from that institution unless of course you are referring to a Military institution where a Passing out Parade is the culmination of training.

To "pass out" refers to losing consciousness, like after you get too drunk, though I’m not sure how we managed to connect graduating and intoxication.

Oh wait … of course, poor grades throughout the year could lead to a sudden elation on hearing you’ve passed all of your exams, which could lead to you actually "passing out," but this is rare at best.

2. "Kindly revert"

One common mistake we make is using the word revert to mean reply or respond. Revert means "to return to a former state."

I can’t help thinking of a sarcastic answer every time this comes up.
“Please revert at the earliest.”
“Sure, I’ll set my biological clock to regress evolutionarily to my original primitive hydrocarbon state at 12 p.m. today."

3. "Years back"

If it happened in the past, it happened years ago, not "years back."

Given how common this phrase is, I’m guessing the first person who switched "ago" for "back" probably did it years back. See what I mean?

And speaking of "back," asking someone to use the backside entrance sounds so wrong.
“So when did you buy this car?” “Oh, years back.”
“Cool, can you open the backside? I’d like to get a load in.” ( !!)

4. "Doing the needful"

Try to avoid using the phrase "do the needful." It went out of style decades ago, about the time the British left.

Using it today indicates you are a dinosaur, a dinosaur with bad grammar.

You may use the phrase humorously, to poke fun at such archaic speech, or other dinosaurs.
“Will you do the needful?”

“Of course, and I’ll send you a telegram to let you know it's done too.”

5. "Discuss about"

“What shall we discuss about today?”

“Let’s discuss about politics. We need a fault-ridden topic to mirror our bad grammar.”
You don't "discuss about" something; you just discuss things.

The word "discuss" means to "talk about". There is no reason to insert the word "about" after "discuss."

That would be like saying "talk about about." Which "brings about" me to my next peeve.

6. "Order for"

"Hey, let’s order for a pizza."
"Sure, and why not raid a library while we’re about it.”

When you order something, you "order" it, you do not "order for" it.

Who knows when or why we began placing random prepositions after verbs?

Perhaps somewhere in our history someone lost a little faith in the "doing" word and added "for" to make sure their order would reach them. They must have been pretty hungry.

7. "Do one thing"

When someone approaches you with a query, and your reply begins with the phrase "do one thing," you're doing it wrong.

"Do one thing" is a phrase that does not make sense.

It is an Indianism. It is only understood in India. It is not proper English. It is irritating.
There are better ways to begin a reply. And worst of all, any person who starts a sentence with "do one thing" invariably ends up giving you at least five things to do.

“My computer keeps getting hung.”

“Do one thing. Clear your history. Delete your cookies. Defrag your hardrive. Run a virus check. Restart your computer... .”

8. "Out of station"

“Sorry I can’t talk right now, I’m out of station.”
“What a coincidence, Vijay, I’m in a station right now.”

Another blast from the past, this one, and also, extremely outdated.
What's wrong with "out of town" or "not in Mumbai" or my favorite "I'm not here"?

9. The big sleep

"I’m going to bed now, sleep is coming."
"OK, say hi to it for me."

While a fan of anthropomorphism, I do have my limits. "Sleep is coming" is taking things a bit too far.

Your life isn’t a poem. You don’t have to give body cycles their own personalities.

10. Prepone

“Let’s prepone the meeting from 11 a.m. to 10 a.m.”
Because the opposite of postpone just has to be prepone, right?

"Prepone" is probably the most famous Indianism of all time; one that I’m proud of, and that I actually support as a new entry to all English dictionaries.

Because it makes sense. Because it fills a gap. Because we need it. We’re Indians, damn it. Students of chaos theory.

We don’t have the time to say silly things like "could you please bring the meeting forward."
Prepone it is.

There are many more pure grammatical "gems" in what we call Indian English. Perhaps in time I’ll list some more. And perhaps in the near future, we’ll get better at English.

Till then........ kindly adjust.

 

[neehar]

thank you for your educational post..i'll watch my grammer when ever i reply to you from now on

 

[third eye]

thank you for your educational post..i'll watch my grammer when ever i reply to you from now on

Grammar..actually.

 

[Liquidmetal]

Some grammatically-insane phrases found in common Indian English

We are a unique species, aren’t we? Not humans. Indians, I mean. No other race speaks or spells like we do.

Take greetings for example.

A friendly clerk asking me for my name is apt to start a conversation with, “What is your good name?” As if I hold that sort of information close to my heart and only divulge my evil pseudonym. Bizarre.

These are called Indianisms. Here are some..

1. "Passing out"

When you complete your studies at an educational institution, you graduate from that institution.
You do not "pass out" from that institution unless of course you are referring to a Military institution where a Passing out Parade is the culmination of training.

To "pass out" refers to losing consciousness, like after you get too drunk, though I’m not sure how we managed to connect graduating and intoxication.

Oh wait … of course, poor grades throughout the year could lead to a sudden elation on hearing you’ve passed all of your exams, which could lead to you actually "passing out," but this is rare at best.

2. "Kindly revert"

One common mistake we make is using the word revert to mean reply or respond. Revert means "to return to a former state."

I can’t help thinking of a sarcastic answer every time this comes up.
“Please revert at the earliest.”
“Sure, I’ll set my biological clock to regress evolutionarily to my original primitive hydrocarbon state at 12 p.m. today."

3. "Years back"

If it happened in the past, it happened years ago, not "years back."

Given how common this phrase is, I’m guessing the first person who switched "ago" for "back" probably did it years back. See what I mean?

And speaking of "back," asking someone to use the backside entrance sounds so wrong.
“So when did you buy this car?” “Oh, years back.”
“Cool, can you open the backside? I’d like to get a load in.” ( !!)

4. "Doing the needful"

Try to avoid using the phrase "do the needful." It went out of style decades ago, about the time the British left.

Using it today indicates you are a dinosaur, a dinosaur with bad grammar.

You may use the phrase humorously, to poke fun at such archaic speech, or other dinosaurs.
“Will you do the needful?”

“Of course, and I’ll send you a telegram to let you know it's done too.”

5. "Discuss about"

“What shall we discuss about today?”

“Let’s discuss about politics. We need a fault-ridden topic to mirror our bad grammar.”
You don't "discuss about" something; you just discuss things.

The word "discuss" means to "talk about". There is no reason to insert the word "about" after "discuss."

That would be like saying "talk about about." Which "brings about" me to my next peeve.

6. "Order for"

"Hey, let’s order for a pizza."
"Sure, and why not raid a library while we’re about it.”

When you order something, you "order" it, you do not "order for" it.

Who knows when or why we began placing random prepositions after verbs?

Perhaps somewhere in our history someone lost a little faith in the "doing" word and added "for" to make sure their order would reach them. They must have been pretty hungry.

7. "Do one thing"

When someone approaches you with a query, and your reply begins with the phrase "do one thing," you're doing it wrong.

"Do one thing" is a phrase that does not make sense.

It is an Indianism. It is only understood in India. It is not proper English. It is irritating.
There are better ways to begin a reply. And worst of all, any person who starts a sentence with "do one thing" invariably ends up giving you at least five things to do.

“My computer keeps getting hung.”

“Do one thing. Clear your history. Delete your cookies. Defrag your hardrive. Run a virus check. Restart your computer... .”

8. "Out of station"

“Sorry I can’t talk right now, I’m out of station.”
“What a coincidence, Vijay, I’m in a station right now.”

Another blast from the past, this one, and also, extremely outdated.
What's wrong with "out of town" or "not in Mumbai" or my favorite "I'm not here"?

9. The big sleep

"I’m going to bed now, sleep is coming."
"OK, say hi to it for me."

While a fan of anthropomorphism, I do have my limits. "Sleep is coming" is taking things a bit too far.

Your life isn’t a poem. You don’t have to give body cycles their own personalities.

10. Prepone

“Let’s prepone the meeting from 11 a.m. to 10 a.m.”
Because the opposite of postpone just has to be prepone, right?

"Prepone" is probably the most famous Indianism of all time; one that I’m proud of, and that I actually support as a new entry to all English dictionaries.

Because it makes sense. Because it fills a gap. Because we need it. We’re Indians, damn it. Students of chaos theory.

We don’t have the time to say silly things like "could you please bring the meeting forward."
Prepone it is.

There are many more pure grammatical "gems" in what we call Indian English. Perhaps in time I’ll list some more. And perhaps in the near future, we’ll get better at English.

Till then........ kindly adjust.

Sorry buddy this is not just Indianism, we do the same, we can call it Pakistanism, or Pinglish!!

You are right some of it is annoying but prepone is a real gem. We do need it.

Thanks for the humour.

 

[Sugarcane]

Grammar..actually.

LOL!!!

 

[W.11]

third eye, i like inglish

 

[[Bregs]]

Along with the grammar the invent of computers and smart phones with there in built directory have added to the spelling owes too

 

[888jamie888]

Years back isn't so bad. It's the kind of thing a Cornish farmer would say.

A bit different but some of the Indian guys in my class really struggle with how to use the word 'literally'.
Despite explaining what the word meant she still insisted she was 'literally petrified'

 

[onionkiller]

its not a big thing. ;-)

 

[Ammyy]

2. "Kindly revert"

4. "Doing the needful"

Commonly used in office.

But still English in not our first language.

 

[third eye]

Some more..

1. cooling glasses: 'South Indian' for dark glasses or shades. They cool your eyes, and will also make you think you look cool.

2. ceasework: a strike. The word came into use in eastern India in the late '70s. Also, the title of a poem by Bibhu Padhi, who had to gloss the word when the poem was published in TriQuarterly. Now listed in some dictionaries.

3. to beyond a problem: to surmount a difficulty with ease and put it far behind. Shakespeare's favoured trope was the anthimeria, the use of one part of speech as another. So when we transform 'beyond' (a preposition and adjective) into a verb, we are Shakespearing a bit!

4. co-brothers: two unrelated men married to sisters. Evidently the looser 'brother-in-law' won't do, given the importance we accord to inflicting precise kinship terms on each other. The feminine equivalent (co-sister?) awaits coinage.

5. folder: assistant, factotum. A metonym, used in Gujarat and Bombay, for someone who carries or fetches his boss's files.

6. curved question: a tricky question, one with pitfalls for the unwary. Not unlike a googly, which doesn't go where it seems to be going.

7. fall: nothing sinful or autumnal about this. It's that strip of cloth lining the lower border of a sari to reinforce it against damage while also helping the fabric to 'fall' properly.

8. looking London, talking Tokyo: used jocularly for someone with a lazy eye, a wandering eye, or intentions that don't match what he or she says. It certainly takes a Bob Beamon leap of imagination to connect two far-flung cities, wavering attention, and hidden motives.

9. simply-sitting officer: one who does little or who has little to do, usually in a government office or PSU. Pronounced the way it is in Kerala, the expression takes on the subject's languor.

10. cutting: roadside tea served in a small glass for one person, as opposed to 'full', which is usually served brimming over from cup to saucer and often shared by two persons, one drinking from the cup, the other from the saucer. To catch its flavour, go to a tea-stall with a friend and yell for 'Do cutting!'. (You may go unanswered in the South). Mumbaikars will connect with this.

11. cut-piece: lengths of fabric discarded by bigger shops and sold cheap at thrift markets; also a rudimentary whist played in north India.

12. timepass: any activity to while away time; as an adjective, it describes, say, a movie or book with little weight. Vendors on trains use it for salted peanuts and other eats.

13. mind it!: an expression of unstated menace that may come light as a feather's touch or sharp as a whiplash. Across South India, parents, schoolteachers, goons, heroes and villains have all camped it up for decades with these two words, blunting them so much in the process that in recent years those who ask others to 'Mind it!' seem comical despite their direst intentions.

 

[livingdead]

Years back isn't so bad. It's the kind of thing a Cornish farmer would say.

A bit different but some of the Indian guys in my class really struggle with how to use the word 'literally'.
Despite explaining what the word meant she still insisted she was 'literally petrified'

thats a problem with british too... david mitchell has a 3 minute rant dedicated to this...

'Do one thing' is literal translation of a Indian way of saying... 'ek kaam karo..' ... it actually means 'try doing this'

 

[third eye]

Yet some more..


1. Me and my friend
2. Mr. Smith please have little patience.
3. Mrs. Mary, How are you today?
4. I am here only.
5. She did it itself.
6. He himself did the work.
7. I will return it back to you.
8. Please revert back.
9. I had an operation three years back.
10. Dont worry sir, I will satisfy you.
11. Please be online for a moment while..
12. I did not took it.
13. I did not knew it.
14. I am loving it.
15. You are going. Is it?
16. The food is bad it seems.
17. I myself did it.
18. Sorry, I beg your pardon.
19. This work is more easier than that.
20. I have a terrific headache.
21. Prepone the meeting.
22. A newly arrived immigrant from India would try to speak "chaste English" with people he would meet, ask their "good name" and how many "issues" they have, and insist that they do not "observe formality', but "have a beer bottle" or two with him. They cannot meet his "better half", because she is having "a head bath", but being "newly married", he is "cent-per-cent" sure that she is "carrying". Since he is not "a busybody" today because he has had his "offs" changed to Sundays by "oiling" his boss, he might offer them a ride in his new car, but will make sure there is a "stepany" in the "dickey", otherwise they might have to "foot" it in case of a "puncture".
23. He is unconfident about his skills.
24. Run quickly quickly or you will miss the bus.
25. Eat slowly slowly.
26. The sky is so blue blue today.
27. Until you do not eat, I will not go from here.
28. I am a nonveg.
29. I am a veg.
30. When I was doing my schooling.
31. When is your happy birthday?
32. Are you coming for the happy New Year party?
33. She interrupted in between the meeting.
34. I have a Stepney in my car.
35. My would-be is from Bangalore .
36. Eve-teasing is very common in many cities across India .
37. She performs many charities.
38. Let us discuss about this.
39. They did it, no?
40. He is here, isnït it?
41. She closed the door, did she?
42. He does this always.
43. A question Didnït you take Rita to school? May be answered with: Yes, I didnt.
44. I only told her to do that.
45. She had so much of work to do that..
46. Lets go out for some ice-cream-vice- cream.
47. Seriously, she is a good person.
48. What is your good name?
49. A person from the south might say: I simply forwarded the mail to my boss.
50. My cousin-brother is younger than my cousin-sister.

 

[third eye]

Sorry buddy this is not just Indianism, we do the same, we can call it Pakistanism, or Pinglish!!

You are right some of it is annoying but prepone is a real gem. We do need it.

Thanks for the humour.

Indianism



Indianisms are speech errors caused when we translate directly from the mother tongue into English. Direct translation often leads to mis-communication. When translating directly from the primary language to English, the context could be lost and the consequences could be disastrous!

Indian speakers are comfortable responding to questions such as “What is your good name?” (as a literal translation from Hindi “Aap ka shubh naam kya hai? &#8221 However, native English speakers would be confused with such colloquial speech, and wonder whether they have a bad name as well!

Phrases such as “good name” are Indianisms. Indianisms are words, phrases and expressions that have become part of colloquially spoken English in India. Some of these expressions have been coined from a direct translation of one's mother tongue to English. Others have cropped up because of the differences in English and Hindi grammar.

For instance, there are no articles in Hindi and the word order in sentences is quite different. So a person trying to translate directly might use inappropriate words, phrases and sentence constructions. Such Indianisms are widely used in the country, and they have almost become accepted as colloquial speech.

Those interested may find the Demo in this link worth a look :

Content 6

 

[third eye]