If you are thinking “we speak Hindi in Indore so what’s the big deal I am making out of it” then you, my friend, haven’t overheard a conversation between two Indoris, yet. Though you can typically identify an Indori just by their accent, I am going to talk here about unique words and phrases that might go above your head, if you are new to this city.
Greetings and Addresses
भिया (Bhiya)
We don’t use bhai, bhayya or bro here. Bhiya has a deeper connect here than any other address. So strong that an auto driver would instantly agree to drop you anywhere you want, when you say
“bhiya mars pe jana hai, chaloge kya”
भिया राम (Bhiya raam)
If someone says this to you, he has not mistaken you for his friend named Raam. It’s a religious greeting like “jai shri krishna”, “jai jinendra”. So when someone says, Bhiya raam, you just say it back 😉
तेको (Teko)
Well Americans might be experts in shortening their names, but we can apparently shorten any darn word. That’s how tere ko becomes teko and mere ko becomes meko
बड़े (Bade)
If you are thinking about size or age, it’s not that. It’s an informal address usually to a similar aged peer, not the elder ones. Use it at your own risk for an age conscious person though. 🤕
aur bade, kya haal-chal
Adjectives
चोट्टा (Chotta)
Chotta is a person who steals from you or simply just cheat on you with something.
bhot bada chotta hai yar wo.
ऐबला (Ebla)
It refers to a crazy person who likes to tease you or prank on you, or in other words, someone who does ebla panti
The (un)measurables
सत्रा सो साठ (1760)
This is a magic number which is practically equal to infinite. Like, when someone does not want to do something you told him by giving trivial reasons. You’d say,
tu ren de yar ni karna to, 1760 bahane mat ginaye
अंड संड (and sand)
When something is unmeasurable, you use this to approximate the infinite 😉
Bhiya yar ambani ke paas to and sand paisa hai
This can also be used you see a huge deviation from accepted behavior. Like when someone uses cuss words, you would warn him very sternly
jyada and-sand mat bole samjha na
सनन (Sanan)
When someone is so fast that you can’t even blink. In practice, this is faster than aanan-fanan 😉
Friend: *misses a left turn*
Indori Bhiya: are kab se bolriya left le le, aur tu sanan mein bhagaye ja riya hai yar
बारीक़ (Barik)
Barik is a person so small and skinny that you wouldn’t be able to see with naked eyes 🧐
नी नी करके (Ni ni karke)
If you are giving an estimation , this would be a base line for all your computations.
Friend: Shadi mein kitna kharcha hua
Indori Bhiya: Yar, ni ni karke 4-5 lac to ho gaya
When someone’s being noisy
कंजरवाड़ा (Kanjarwada)
The word kanjar refers to a tribe who, according to wikipedia, can speak multiple languages, and can communicate with each others in sounds like animals and birds. The meaning here is not much different. If kids are making their mom go nuts, she would probably say
Chup karo, kya kanjarwada macha rakha hai
किच किच (kich kich)
When your throat is congested you do khich-khich (खिच खिच) but when it’s not, you might be doing kich kich 😜 That is, when someone often habitually gets into a brawl, you would probably avoid meeting him saying
Wo bhot kich kich karta hai yar
Expressions & Adjectives
हओ (Hao)
Hao is an affirmative expression, just like Haan
Friend: chal chai pine chalega kya
You: Yes, sure, why not.
Indori bhiya: Hao
बारा की ढेर (Barah ki dher)
No No No. I am not talking about a heap of 12 things. For Indoris, its very polite way to express anger. If someone is trying to outsmart you, instead of abusing with choicest curse words, you would just say
teri barah ki dher
a similar expression is barah-bajana so if you are telling to beat someone black and blue, in Indori language it translates to
iski barah bajau
झांकी (Jhanki)
It usually means a procession of sort, carried out as some kind of celebration. Indoris use this to refer to someone who stands out, like an exhibition in a procession. Say, if in a group of people, a pretty girl asks out your friend, inside you’ll be like iski barah ki dher, but you’d say
Kya baat hai, jhanki hai bhai ki
एक नंबर (ek number)
Something which is top notch, the best, extraordinary and unmatchable.
Friend: *clears all subjects in the first attempt with 35% marks*
You: ek number
ओ भेंकर (O bhenkar)
Bhayankar is the original word. But for us, it’s an expression we use for an overwhelming outcome, can be used in both positive or negative situations.
o bhenkar, kya shot mara
किलीयर कट (Clear cut)
If you are going to warn or respond to someone in a way that leaves no scope for a confusion, you’d have to say him that very clearly. In other words, it would be a clear cut warning. He would probably not mess with you, unless he belongs to this below category
निसड़ला (Nisadla)
he is simply such a shameless and stubborn person, who will never listen, no matter what you do.
सई साट (Sai saat)
By quality control parameters, if you find something reasonably acceptable, you can simply call it to be sai saat
चतरा (Chatra)
We all have met someone at least once in our life, who wants to outsmart everyone else. Not necessarily for cheating, may be out of spite or just habitually. Just be wary of such chatre guys. Simply nudge him off by saying,
aye chal jyada chatra mat ban
तेज चलना (Tej chalna)
If an Indori told this to you “jyada tej mat chal”, it doesn’t mean you are walking very fast, he is just pissed off because you tried to cut him off or tried to out smart him. I am just warning you to not do that again 😉
कालाधुस (Kaaladhus)
Kaaladhus, bhurabhas goragat are the words we use to tell how pure the specified color is. For example, kaaladhus is something darker than pure black. In argb terms, it’s the exact rendering of #0000
din bhar dhup mein khade khade kaaladhus ho gaya yar
Bonus words & phrases
कई नी रे (kai ni re)
Someone: What happened?
You: “nothing”,
Indori: are kai ni re
चनकट (Chankat)
It is a hardest possible way of slapping someone. If you wont toe the line…
main chankat maar dega
टेशन (Tesion)
Even if we can reduce one letter from a word, we would happily do that 😉 But I think it’s not why we call it tesion and not station. May be because going to a railway station might actually cause you hypertension 😀
Friend to auto driver: bhai station chaloge?
auto driver: ye kidhar padega?
Indori Bhiya: bhiya teshion chaloge?
auto driver: how bhiya baitho
And Last but not the least
ऐं (ein)
A tiny sound that is used to express complete disbelief and shock. Such a surprising turn of events that even if god comes to tell you, you are not going to believe.
Friend: yar pata hai modi ji ne demonetization kar diya
Indori Bhiya: ein
| I hope you liked reading this. If you did, please share it with your friends. You can also drop a comment below in the comment box to tell me what you did or did not like. |