Kindly do the needful

2/1/2012 9:28:09 AM

and revert.

2/1/2012 9:28:51 AM

Indian (dot) represent!

2/1/2012 9:53:59 AM

2/1/2012 9:55:56 AM

that makes me want to go back and play through that game again

2/1/2012 9:56:58 AM

It's one of my favorites

2/1/2012 9:57:24 AM

I still don't understand where they get "revert" from. It doesn't seem to come from the British.

And "do the needful" is pretty fucking rude

2/1/2012 11:07:31 AM

was this Hard Rain?

2/1/2012 11:17:04 AM

Bioshock

2/1/2012 11:26:07 AM

favorite game series behind metal gear

2/1/2012 11:29:19 AM

Quote :

"I still don't understand where they get "revert" from. It doesn't seem to come from the British. And "do the needful" is pretty fucking rude"

a lot of weird indian sayings aren't necessarily from British influence, but are direct translations of hindi phrases into English. Hinglish is the amalgamation of both directly translated phrases and various British influences. It's mostly hilarious.

2/1/2012 11:39:37 AM

i get kindly all the time, but asking me to do the needful always pisses me off.

2/1/2012 11:49:22 AM

I agree-- it's off putting.

the worst is how they write in the 8-year-old-girl-text vernacular.

2/1/2012 11:51:36 AM

I used to get one "please do the needful" e-mail a day.

2/1/2012 12:29:59 PM

the other day my white coworker from Michigan said this

it's rubbing off

2/1/2012 12:56:25 PM

Respected sir,

2/1/2012 12:57:43 PM

got this in an sms from an egyptian colleague

"please revert to me the soonest"

pissed me off!!! it is hilarious, actually.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_English

I heard a lot of the following growing up. Even then, I thought many of them were just ridiculous. Still hear a few of them on a regular basis, and they just drive me crazy! Some are or , but some are plain . Worth a read!

Vocabulary and colloquialisms

Indians continue to use phrases from British English that other English speakers now consider antiquated. Official letters include phrases such as "please do the needful", "... will revert back ..." and "you will be intimated shortly". In conversational speech it is common to ask, "What is your good name?" to a person of higher authority or social standing where a modern Western Anglophone would omit the word "good". Recent influences from American English have created inconsistencies. For instance, both "program"[11] and "programme"[12] can be found in Indian newspapers.

Doubt - Question or query (e.g. one would say, 'I have a doubt' when one wishes to ask a question.)
Marketing - Shopping (e.g. "... has gone marketing" to mean "... has gone to the market to buy groceries.")
Tell me - A phrase to start the main conversation after initial pleasantries or greetings have been exchanged.
Mostly - instead of "most probably" or "possibly".
Rubber - Pencil eraser
Flat - 'Apartment' / 'Apartment house'
pant - 'Trousers'
Mess - A dining hall, especially used by students at a dormitory. 'Mess' is also used in reference to eateries catering primarily to a working class population. Originated from the military term of similar meaning.
Eve teasing - 'Verbal sexual harassment of women'
Where are you put up? means 'Where are you currently staying'?.
Where do you stay? is the same as 'Where do you live?' or 'Where's your house?'. This is also used in Scottish and South African English, and in the African American dialect of English in the United States.
to shift - to relocate (e.g. He shifted from Jaipur to Gurgaon).
Wheatish (complexion) - light, creamy brown, or having a light brown complexion.[13]
"Out of station": "out of town". This phrase has its origins in the posting of army officers to particular 'stations' during the days of the East India Company.
"acting pricey": playing "hard to get", being snobbish.
"pass out" is meant to graduate, as in "I passed out of the university in 1995". In American/British English, this usage is limited to graduating out of military academies.
"on the anvil" is used often in the Indian press to mean something is about to appear or happen. For example, a headline might read "New roads on the anvil".
"under scanner" is used often in the Indian press to mean something is being investigated by authorities. For example, a headline might read "Power Station under scanner for radiation".
"tight slap" to mean "hard slap".
Time-pass - 'Doing something for leisure but with no intention or target/satisfaction', procrastination, pastime.
Time-waste - Something that is a waste of time; procrastination. Presumably not even useful for leisure.
Dearness Allowance - Payment given to employees to compensate for the effects of inflation.[14]
Pindrop silence - Extreme silence (quiet enough to hear a pin drop).
chargesheet n. formal charges filed in a court; v. to file charges against someone in court
redressal: n. redress, remedy, reparation
"Hill Station" - mountain resort.
"Railway Station" - Train station.
"stepney" refers to a spare tire. The word is a genericized trademark originating from the Stepney Spare Motor Wheel, itself named after Stepney Street, in Llanelli, Wales.[15]
"specs" means spectacles or glasses (as in colloquial UK English).
Cooling glasses - Sunglasses
"cent per cent" - "100 per cent" as in "He got cent per cent in maths".
"loose motion" - diarrhoea
"expire" - To die, especially in reference to one's family member.
"prepone" - To bring something forward in time. As opposed to postpone.
"bunk a class" - To skip class without permission.
"carrying" - to be pregnant, as in "She is carrying".
"pressurize" - to put pressure on someone, to influence.
"'club'" or "'clubbing'" - To merge or put two things together. "'Just club it together'"
"'cantonment'" - permanent military installation.
"'coaching classes'" and "'tutorials'" - cram school.




Food

Most Indians are familiar with local names for food items and ingredients than their English translations. To accommodate this, Indian English frequently uses local (especially Hindi) names for food items. On an Indian cooking show, it would not be uncommon to see "bhindi" and "apple" in a single list of ingredients.

Brinjal : aubergines / eggplant
Capsicum : called chili pepper, red or green pepper, or sweet pepper in the UK, capsicum in Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India, bell pepper in the US, Canada, and the Bahamas; paprika in some other countries
Curds : Yogurt
Sooji or Rava : Semolina
Pulses, dal : pulses, e.g. lentils
Karahi, kadai : wok
Sago : tapioca, Yuca in US
Ladyfinger, bhindi : okra
Sabzi : greens, green vegetables




Mathematics

into : times, as in "2 into 2 equals 4", rather than '"2 times 2 equals 4", which is more common in other varieties of English. The use of into dates back to the fifteenth century, when it had been common in British English.[18]
by : divided by, as in "10 by 5 equals 2", rather than "10 divided by 5 equals 2"
When giving a fuzzy estimate of numbers, the words 'to' or 'or' are omitted. For eg. "Add four or five teaspoons of sugar" would be "Add four-five teaspoons of sugar". This usage is derived from the grammar of local languages.

2/1/2012 8:06:17 PM

Divergent usage

"Uncle / Aunty" - Respectful way of addressing anyone who is significantly older than you. "Uncle, can I take your daughter Anouskha out on a date?"
Amount - a sum of money, such as "please refund the amount." or "the amount has been billed to your credit card."
Compulsorily - Mandatorily
Damn - used as an intensifier, especially a negative one, far more frequently and with far more emphatic effect, than in other dialects of English, as in "that was a damn good meal." As the verb 'to damn' is rarely used, most Indians are unaware of the word's original meaning and that it is considered a profanity in other dialects of English.
Dialogue - a line of dialogue in a movie. ("That was a great dialogue!" means "That was a great line!") "Dialogues" is used to mean "screenplay". In motion picture credits, the person who might in other countries be credited as the screenwriter in India is often credited with the term dialogues. Note the usage of British spelling.
Dress - (noun) is used to refer to clothing for men, women, and children alike, whereas in international varieties of English a dress is a woman's outer clothing with a bodice and a skirt as a single garment. The usage of dress as clothes does exist in international varieties but only in very rare occasions and in relevant context., e.g. schooldress. Young girls in India invariably wear a dress, which is commonly referred to as a frock in Indian English.
Elder - used as a comparative adjective in the sense of older. For example, "I am elder to you", instead of "I am older than you."
Engagement - not just an agreement between two people to marry, but a formal, public ceremony where the engagement is formalized with a ring and/or other local rituals. Indians will not speak of a couple as being engaged, until after the engagement ceremony has been performed. Similar to the use of term marriage, a person may say "I am going to attend my cousin's engagement next month". Afterwards, the betrothed is referred to as one's "would-be" wife or husband. In this case, "would be" is used to mean "will be" in contrast with the standard and American and British connotation of "wants to be (but may not be)".
Even - as well/also/too: "Even I didn't know how to do it." This usage of even is borrowed from native grammatical structure.
Graduation - completion of a bachelor's degree (as in the UK): "I did my graduation at Presidency College" ("I earned my bachelor's degree at Presidency College"), whereas in the United States it refers to completion of high school, master's or Ph.D. as well.
Hero - a male actor, especially of a movie; a person who is often a protagonist. Thus, "Look at Vik; he looks like a hero", meaning "he is as handsome as a movie star." Heroine is the female counterpart.
Kindly - please: "Kindly disregard the previous message."
Metro - large city (i.e. 'metros such as Mumbai and Delhi') This is a shortening of the term metropolis. This can be confusing for Europeans, who tend to use the word to describe underground urban rail networks. However, following the popularity of the Delhi Metro, the word metro now tends to be used to describe both the metropolis and the underground rail network.
Music director - a music composer for movies.
Non-veg - (short for non-vegetarian) is used to mean food which contains flesh of any mammal, fish, bird, shellfish, etc. or eggs. Fish, seafood, and eggs are not treated as categories separate from "meat", especially when the question of vegetarianism is at issue (milk and its products are always considered vegetarian). E.g., "We are having non-veg today for dinner", whereas the native varieties of English would have: "We are having meat today for dinner". Also note that a non-veg joke is regarded as a joke with mature content.
Paining - hurting would be more common in Standard American and British: "My head is paining."
Shirtings and suitings - the process of making such garments; a suffix in names of shops specializing in men's formal/business wear.
Solid - great or exceptional ("What a solid idea!" means "What a great idea!").
Timings - hours of operation; scheduled time, such as office timings or train timings, as opposed to the standard usage such as "The timing of his ball delivery is very good."
Trainings - to indicate multiple training prorgammes.
Gentry - generalized term for social class - not specifically 'high social class'. The use of 'good', 'bad', 'high' and 'low' prefixed to 'gentry' is common.
mutton - goat meat instead of sheep meat.
Although not mainstream, the insertion of as in describing a designation, where it would be omitted in Standard English: "Mahatma Gandhi is called as the father of the nation". This is similar to the American English usage of the phrase "different than", a form that would be considered erroneous in Britain.
disco - nightclub, and "to disco" meaning to dance at a nightclub.
marriage - wedding, and vice versa. Indian languages do not distinguish between the two terms.
back - ago, ("Gandhi died sixty years back.", "I finished the painting two hours back.")
mobile - cellphone
SMS - a single SMS message, "I am going to send him an SMS to remind him." Similarly, to SMS: "Let me SMS him the address."
goggle or goggles - sunglasses
only is used to emphasize a part of speech preceding it. For eg. "He is coming only" instead of "He is coming", "He was at the meeting only" to emphasize that he was nowhere else but the meeting, "She only is not coming" to mean that everyone is coming except her.
to see instead of to watch ("He is seeing TV right now"). Similarly, to see may be used as an imperative to mean to watch ("See that very carefully.") Most Indian languages do not distinguish between the two verbs.
Words unique to (i.e. not generally well-known outside South Asia) and/or popular in India include those in the following by no means exhaustive list:
batchmate or batch-mate (Not classmate, but a schoolmate of the same grade)
"eggitarian" for a person who eats vegetarian food, milk and eggs but not meat; ovo lacto vegetarian.
compass box for a box holding mathematical instruments like compasses, divider, scale, protractor etc. Also widely referred to as a "geometry box".
cousin-brother (male first cousin) & cousin-sister (female first cousin)
foot overbridge (bridge meant for pedestrians)
flyover (overpass or an over-bridge over a section of road or train tracks)
godown (warehouse)
godman somewhat pejorative word for a person who claims to be divine or who claims to have supernatural powers
gully to mean a narrow lane or alley (from the Hindi word "gali" meaning the same).
long-cut (The "opposite" of short-cut, in other words, taking the longest route).
mugging or mugging up (memorising, usually referring to learning "by rote," and having nothing to do with street crime, what the word would mean in British/American English).
nose-screw (woman's nose-ring)
prepone (The "opposite" of postpone, that is to change a meeting to be earlier). Many dictionaries have added this word.
tiffin box for lunch box. The word is also commonly used to mean a between-meal snack.
BHK is real-estate terminology for "Bedroom, Hall and Kitchen", used almost exclusively in housing size categorization. "Hall" refers to the living room, which is highlighted separately from other rooms. For instance, a 2BHK apartment has a total of three rooms - two bedrooms and a living room.
co-brother indicates relationship between two men who are married to sisters, as in "He is my co-brother"
co-inlaws indicates relationship between two sets of parents whose son and daughter are married, as in "Our co-inlaws live in Delhi."
co-sister indicates relationship between two women who are married to brothers, as in "She is my co-sister"
boss is a term used to refer to a (generally) male stranger such as shopkeeper. It is mildly respectful and friendly, and not considered condescending. (" Boss, what is the cost of that pen?")
vote-bank is a term commonly used during the elections in India, implying a particular bloc or community of people inclined to cast their votes for a political party that promises to deliver policies favouring them.
topen or topun (pronounced toe-pun) refers to the cap or cover of a pen. This word is common in some parts of western and southern India.



Words which are considered archaic in some varieties of English, but are still in use in Indian English:
Curd - yoghurt
Dicky/dickey - the trunk of a car.[19]
In tension - being concerned or nervous. Phrased another way, "He is taking too much tension". Found in eighteenth century British English.[20]
ragging - hazing(US).
equals - is equal to (in calculations)
the same - the aforementioned, as in "I heard that you have written a document on .... Could you send me the same?"
Use of double and triple for numbers occurring twice or three times in succession, especially for a phone number. For example, a phone number 2233344 would be pronounced as double two, triple three, double four.
Use of thrice, meaning "three times", is common in Indian English.
Use of the phrases like nothing or like anything to express intensity. For example, "These people will cheat you like anything". Such usage was part of colloquial English language in seventeenth century Britain and America.[21][22]
Word pairs "up to" and "in spite" compounded to "upto" and "inspite" respectively.

2/1/2012 8:06:58 PM

did you really just use two posts to copy/paste a Wikipedia article?

what the fuck

[Edited on February 1, 2012 at 8:16 PM. Reason : :/]

2/1/2012 8:16:27 PM

he kindly did the needful

2/1/2012 8:32:07 PM

^^ please revert to me the soonest

2/1/2012 8:34:43 PM

will someone explain this shit to me

specifically the OP/1st response

2/1/2012 8:47:48 PM

the beginning of my post:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_English

I heard a lot of the following growing up. Even then, I thought many of them were just ridiculous. Still hear a few of them on a regular basis, and they just drive me crazy! Some are or , but some are plain . Worth a read!

Vocabulary and colloquialisms

Indians continue to use phrases from British English that other English speakers now consider antiquated. Official letters include phrases such as "please do the needful", "... will revert back ..." and "you will be intimated shortly". In conversational speech it is common to ask, "What is your good name?" to a person of higher authority or social standing where a modern Western Anglophone would omit the word "good". Recent influences from American English have created inconsistencies. For instance, both "program"[11] and "programme"[12] can be found in Indian newspapers.

2/1/2012 8:49:21 PM

but what does it meeean

2/1/2012 9:11:23 PM

paerabol obviously doesn't work with Indians

2/1/2012 9:47:38 PM

Wait do they use "revert" to mean "reply"?

That would annoy the shit out of me.

2/1/2012 9:51:33 PM

please do the needful = please do what needs to be done

please revert at the soonest = please get back to me as soon as possible

you will be intimated shortly = you will be contacted shortly

What is your good name? = what is your name?

2/1/2012 10:45:54 PM

wow. thats nuts...and I'm around Indians all the time but it's an academic setting so maybe that crap has been learnt out of them

2/1/2012 11:41:21 PM

student or faculty?

if student, just wait till they get in the workplace!

2/2/2012 12:05:10 AM