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English words from Hindi and other Indian languages.

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inglish  +  7587 Wed, 10 Sep 03 10:56 AM
Exactly,
I want to know wether crack came from kerak or kerak came from crack.
In fact we find many such words in english which are identical with hindi words.
May be because britishers and greeks ruled India and words getting used in both languages.
inglish
Joined on Wed, Sep 10 2003
Secunderabad - India
Full Member 197
Some men sees things as they are and say why??? I sees things that never were and say why not!
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Mike in Japan  +  7589 Wed, 10 Sep 03 11:04 AM
You are probably right Inglish. I know certain aspects of Indian culture have been spread far and wide. For example in Japan the dominant religion/philosophy is Buddhism (albeit mixed with Shinto, Confucianism, Taoism, and a touch of Catholicism).
Mike in Japan
Joined on Tue, Aug 19 2003
Senior Member 4,371
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Related discussions
Elena  +  7665 Thu, 11 Sep 03 09:57 AM
Aha, 'loot' great word, and see this one, seems funny, 'shampoo', from Hindi 'champo'.
Words travel a lot.
Elena
Joined on Thu, Jul 31 2003
Regular Member 827
Enjoying my English study
Mike in Japan  +  7683 Thu, 11 Sep 03 11:15 AM
It's nice to meet another loot lover Elena! Smile [:)]
Ah, shampoo - another word that has a great sound.
Mike in Japan
maj, 6 yr 74 days ago
Words travel a lot. Feelings even faster.
inglish, 6 yr 73 days ago
I think new words will goes on created as long as people of differenct culture and nation geeting use to it.
inglish, 6 yr 73 days ago
pukka(english)
Genuine; authentic.
Superior; first-class

pucka(hindi)
sure,definetly,strong,real
janskii  +  12236 Thu, 06 Nov 03 02:31 PM
juggernaut-a deity me thinks
jodphur-flappy trousers
chowwallah- purveyor of foodstuffs
charwallah- purveyor of tea
janskii
Joined on Fri, Sep 26 2003
New Member 32
bfeltovi  +  45902 Thu, 16 Sep 04 09:36 PM
I think "khaki" is also from Hindi, if I remember right.
Khaki trousers somehow made the transition from the British Army to all English speakers and now Americans are mad for their khakis.

Another good one is dekko or dekho. Not sure how to spell it. I've heard Brits of a certain class (and probably ex-army) use it, as in "Let's have a dekko" meaning "let's have a look." Not sure what the Hindi word was originally.

I could be wrong but I think I once heard that "chowder" (a kind of soup) was originally a Hindi word, maybe "chowdah"?

I'm sure there are dozens and dozens more, but I can't think of them now.

b.
bfeltovi
Joined on Thu, Sep 16 2004
New Member 01
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