coffee_rules Posted May 31 Posted May 31 (edited) On 5/25/2026 at 7:20 AM, goose said: adding 'isn't it' to the end of any sentence I hate when people (any) use “like” and “you know” in every sentence between words. I was literally like you know going this way and he was like all of a sudden you know said like why don’t you like Shah Rukh? I was like you know I don’t know .. like who knows right? O mean you know … Typical South Mumbsi fan- girl’. Edited May 31 by coffee_rules Lord 1
coffee_rules Posted May 31 Posted May 31 At the fag end of the day, there was no rubber in my geometry box BacktoCricaddict and jf1gp_1 2
coffee_rules Posted May 31 Posted May 31 (edited) I have heard my dad’s generation , use phrases like - have you come alone or with your family?? to mean wife! One even asked what is the name of your family? Also, they use. “Issues” for children. They ask how many issues do you have? Uncles and aunts asking young new newly weds - when will you give us the good news?? Edited May 31 by coffee_rules jf1gp_1, Lord and rangeelaraja 3
rangeelaraja Posted May 31 Author Posted May 31 5 hours ago, coffee_rules said: I have heard my dad’s generation , use phrases like - have you come alone or with your family?? to mean wife! One even asked what is the name of your family? Also, they use. “Issues” for children. They ask how many issues do you have? Uncles and aunts asking young new newly weds - when will you give us the good news?? Speaking of Issues. I rememeber as a kid, indian newspaper used to carry matrimonial bios with descriptions that had : " innocent divorcee, no issues" ( to say no children from 1st marriage ) Putting an innocent before divorcee is super Indian. coffee_rules 1
rangeelaraja Posted May 31 Author Posted May 31 Some other Indian English gems : Every middle/old aged person ( total stranger ) has to be addressed as "Aunty" and "Uncle". "Cold drinks" as a collective term for carbonated soft drinks is also uniquely Indian.
goose Posted May 31 Posted May 31 i get a lot of my quirky observations from cricket, since i'm not in india. i assume these are common in the wider population manjrekar is a frequent user of 'isn't it' - 'i think that pitched outside leg isn't it' ; dhoni, pandya - cannot answer a question without saying 'at this point of time' excessive and incorrect use of would - 'i think india would win the match from here easily' tendulkar is a repeat offender!
G_B_ Posted May 31 Posted May 31 6 hours ago, coffee_rules said: I hate when people (any) use “like” and “you know” in every sentence between words. I was literally like you know going this way and he was like all of a sudden you know said like why don’t you like Shah Rukh? I was like you know I don’t know .. like who knows right? O mean you know … Typical South Mumbsi fan- girl’. Indians speak in a rhetorical way. Another one is adding "only" at end of everything. "We are like this only". Some say "isnt it". The other annoying aspect is south indians adding "th" to everything. Sumant becomes Sumanth. Its a fudging proper noun. Same wih Vinod being pronounced as Binod in the east.
Ranvir Posted June 1 Posted June 1 (edited) I deal with a lot of offshore staff in my IT job. Here are phrases I hear frequently: 'Yes, yes, yes' 'Am I audible' 'Kindly do the needful' 'For the same' One that is pretty bad and shouldn't be used when dealing with westerners is someone has 'expired' when they've died. They're not a food item! I've also had colleagues who start every other sentence with 'means....'. Edited June 1 by Ranvir
BacktoCricaddict Posted June 1 Posted June 1 16 minutes ago, Ranvir said: I've also had colleagues who start every other sentence with 'means....'. Direct result of starting sentences in Hindi with ... "Matlab ... "
Vancouver Posted June 1 Posted June 1 (edited) On 5/24/2026 at 9:41 AM, Mariyam said: The word brinjal is used in only Indian English. Its called Eggplant or Aubergine elsewhere. Au-bergine is the final French form with "au" in front. The root word is the same badinjan, popularized by Arab traders. Eggplant is a different variety, same species though. White, small and round. Edited June 1 by Vancouver Mariyam 1
Tillu Posted June 2 Posted June 2 "Thank you, come again" was made popular by the character Apu from "The Simpsons" which the Americans always use to mock us. Not related to OP, but Americans always use soft language to conceal seriousness of the events. Watch this funny comic.
rangeelaraja Posted June 10 Author Posted June 10 (edited) Perfect Proposal....in Bengaluru style English. Is this how Kannadiga boys propose and get laid ? @coffee_rules Edited June 10 by rangeelaraja coffee_rules 1
coffee_rules Posted June 10 Posted June 10 45 minutes ago, rangeelaraja said: Perfect Proposal....in Bengaluru style English. Is this how Kannadiga boys propose and get laid ? @coffee_rules Eggjactly how I got hitched!! Wokay .. no laafing matters.. rangeelaraja and Lord 2
vvvslaxman Posted June 24 Posted June 24 On 6/1/2026 at 7:40 AM, Ranvir said: I deal with a lot of offshore staff in my IT job. Here are phrases I hear frequently: 'Yes, yes, yes' 'Am I audible' 'Kindly do the needful' 'For the same' One that is pretty bad and shouldn't be used when dealing with westerners is someone has 'expired' when they've died. They're not a food item! I've also had colleagues who start every other sentence with 'means....'. Am i audible is the most common phrase in meetings, presentations whenever it is done by an Indian. It is very uncommon phrase herer. There is another thing that is used common is "Where in" . Listen to Sanjay bangar he uses that almost in every setnence lol . "Saar" is the gold star word to find when someone is an indian or not. LIsten to this guy in canada after getting caught in a sting operation. The "gurl" hahah https://rumble.com/v7b35uu-predators-wife-comes-to-the-confrontation-pp-toronto.html
vvvslaxman Posted June 24 Posted June 24 In Indian English, speakers often use "where in" instead of "where" due to the influence of their native languages, where prepositions of location are inherently fused with question words. In Hindi and many other regional languages, the location particle is directly attached to the interrogative, making literal translations sound perfectly natural to them. For instance, in sentences like, "The company where in I work," or "The village where in he lives," the phrase acts as a slight grammatical over-correction—the speaker is essentially combining the "where" (location) with "in" (the preposition that usually follows to pinpoint the location). [1]
BacktoCricaddict Posted June 24 Posted June 24 Not quirky English, but I think it's cool that we use a different way to designate large numbers. The entire western world uses million, billion going in powers of 3, but we said, eff you, we will go in powers of 2 - lakh, crore etc. I just wish there was something above that because when I read that some guy has 10,000 crores, I can't even fathom it.
Lord Posted June 24 Posted June 24 2 hours ago, BacktoCricaddict said: Not quirky English, but I think it's cool that we use a different way to designate large numbers. The entire western world uses million, billion going in powers of 3, but we said, eff you, we will go in powers of 2 - lakh, crore etc. I just wish there was something above that because when I read that some guy has 10,000 crores, I can't even fathom it. We call it arab and kharab. So 10000 crores in 10 kharab AFAIK
rangeelaraja Posted June 25 Author Posted June 25 xeroxed as a synonym for photocopied is common india - not seen it in the west. another one is using sugar as synonym for diabetes - this is unique only to india. Blood report mein sugar aaya. lol BacktoCricaddict 1
BacktoCricaddict Posted June 25 Posted June 25 7 hours ago, rangeelaraja said: xeroxed as a synonym for photocopied Also Godrej for any metal cabinet. "Hey ... xerox the passport and put it in the godrej carefully." jf1gp_1 1
coffee_rules Posted June 25 Posted June 25 On 6/24/2026 at 11:43 AM, vvvslaxman said: In Indian English, speakers often use "where in" instead of "where" due to the influence of their native languages, where prepositions of location are inherently fused with question words. In Hindi and many other regional languages, the location particle is directly attached to the interrogative, making literal translations sound perfectly natural to them. For instance, in sentences like, "The company where in I work," or "The village where in he lives," the phrase acts as a slight grammatical over-correction—the speaker is essentially combining the "where" (location) with "in" (the preposition that usually follows to pinpoint the location). [1] I have never heard any Indian say where in.
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