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by jbhoot 338 days ago
Not exactly Indian English, but my favourite English word with an Indian origin is Juggernaut.

Its a morphed version of the name of an Indian deity – Jagannath.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juggernaut:

> A juggernaut, in current English usage, is a literal or metaphorical force regarded as merciless, destructive, and unstoppable. > This English usage originates in the mid-nineteenth century. Juggernaut is the early rendering in English of Jagannath, an important deity in the Hindu traditions of eastern and north-eastern India. The meaning originates from the Hindu temple cars, which are chariots, often huge, used in processions or religious parades for Jagannath and other deities, the largest of which, once set into motion, are difficult to stop, steer or control by humans, on account of their massive weight.

3 comments

I have wondered if there are people in India who fit a description of certain europeans, in that they are said to speak 9 languages, none of them fluently. My father came from India originaly, but is of the type who is concerned with correctness in all things, but speaks fondly of the fun and games of multi lingual word play, and harder to master languages such as punjabi, and classical persian. I think that India is so multi lingual and large to begin with that there will be regional differences in the use of other languages...portugese, spanish, english, and many others and the concept of "indian english" is realy an intro into a much much vaster world of crosscultural exchange and cominication ongoing for millenia. edit: spelling, always spelling
Almost every Indian I know (including me) mixes at least two languages in their daily conversations seamlessly, that too within a sentence. Westerners may find that Indians talking among themselves in their native language(s) drop English words out of nowhere. Again, I can't imagine this to be a uniquely Indian phenomenon. Multilingual people would be doing this.

Lingual purists may find it irritating, but I love such mix-ups!

Thats a good one. Also as an Indian I didn't know Anaconda, Pariah, Mango, Mulligatawny, etc originated from Indian languages
Chintzy for rather twee flowery patterns.

The British Army uses a bazillion Indian words.

Khaki for pale tan. I think it means dust in Urdu?

Basha for your shelter of a tarpaulin usually suspended from a bush by...

Bungees - stretchy rubber ropes with hooks at the end.

Pukka - proper, the real deal. (Although nowadays good kit is referred to as Gucci)

Dumdums - bullets cut at the tip so they break up on impact. Named after the arms factory at Dumdum.

Ah, that's where Pukka Pies gets the name from. To add to your list:

Bungalow - a house in the Bengal style.

Khaki for me as an Indian is used to mean the color of police uniforms here. We call them Khakis. It's a dusky brown color. Except that and bungees, I'm not familiar with the other words
Not even solely the army. pyjamas, dekko, dungarees, gymkhana, bangle, pundit, verandah. The list goes on and on. India has been a large source of loanwords over the centuries.
Khaki means brown in a few languages. Means poop in at least hebrew.

Dumdums: I thought it was more filing the tip down. Causes tumbling, which then causes breakup. Nitpick, maybe I'm mistaken.

Juggernaut is definitely one of my favourites. Also, bandicoot from Telegu’s pandikokku, literally “pig rat”.