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You may speak a word in English, but, if the listener
is thinking in Hindi, he/she may get a completely different meaning. If you
ask for “more”, the listener may bring you a peacock, because in Hindi
“more” means a peacock. If you say that you need cheese, they would
think that you are looking for something whose name escapes you.
“Cheese” in Hindi would mean “thing". You merrily sing “Row, row your
boat, gently down the stream.” They may think that you are singing about
crying as in “Ab mera dil pukara. Row, row ke gum bhi hara.” Take
another word: “suffer”, which means something painful. In Hindi, it can
be quite pleasant, as in “Suhana suffer aur yeh mausam hasin. Humein dar
hai hum kho na jayen kahin.” So, you see, it can get quite confusing.
There can be even an “and/or” confusion because the word “or” to a Hindi
speaker would sound to mean “and”. If you were to ask for “John or
Khan”, they would think that they need to find both John and Khan for
you.
Anyway, you get the idea. But, there are a whole slew of
words that have different meanings in Hindi from English. In the
following I list a bunch along with some fillum (i.e. Hindi movie)
lyrics.
|
Word in English
|
Meaning in
Hindi
|
Used in a
Song
|
|
Ache
|
One
|
Ache
ladki to dekha to aisa laga,
jaise khilata gulab, jaise shayar ka khwab ....
|
|
Ash
|
Life
of
luxury
|
Sade naal rahoge te
ash
karoge.
Zindagi ke sare maje cash karoge.
|
|
Banana
|
To
make
|
Ise
banana, use mitana kaam tera,
marne wale kyon lenge ab naam tera?
|
|
Bowl
|
Speak
|
Mere man ke ganga aur tere amn ki jamuna ka,
bowl
Radha
bowl, sangam hoga ke nahin?
|
|
Calm
|
Sex,
work
|
Calm, crodth, mad, lobh ki, jab lag ghat mein khan.
Kahan moorkh, kaha pandita, dono ek saman
|
|
Cub
|
When
|
Cub
loge khabar more Ram?
Bari der bhai, bari der bhai.
|
|
Cull
|
Tomorrow
|
Zindagi hai sufer ek suhana.
Yahan
cull
kya ho kisne jana.
|
|
Gum
|
Sorrow
|
Kabhi khushi, kabhi
gum!
Na juda honge hum, kabhi khushi, kabhi
gum!
|
|
Gory
|
Fair woman
|
Gory
ke haath huye peele, nayan hue geele
Sajanke ghar ko chali, O, sajanke ghar ko chali.
|
|
Hall
|
Condition
|
Hall
kaisa hai janab ka?
Kya khyal hai aapka?
|
|
Hi
|
Wow!
|
Hi, hi, hi, ye nigahen!
Kar den sharabi jise chahen, jise chahen.
|
|
Hum
|
We
|
Hum
hain rahi pyar ke, humse kuchh na boliye.
Jo bhi pyar se mila, hum usike ho liye.
|
|
Jog
|
Awake
|
Jog
darde ishq,
jog!
Dil ko bekarar kar, chhed ke aansuon ka raag.
|
|
Kiss
|
Which
|
Hai
apana dil to aawara, na jane
kiss
pe ayega
hasinon ne bulaya, galese bhi lagaya bahot samjhaya.
|
|
Mugger
|
But
|
Na ye chaand hoga, na tare rehenge.
Mugger
hum hamesha tumhare rahenge.
|
|
Rook
|
Stop
|
Rook
ja o jane wali ruk ja,
admi bura nahin main dil ka
|
|
Row
|
To cry
or weep
|
Ab mera dil pukara.
Row row
ke gum bhi hara.
|
|
Shore
|
Noise
|
Sawan ka mahina, pavan kare
shore.
Jiyara re jhoome aise, jaise banma nache mor
|
|
Suffer
|
Journey
|
Zindagi hai
suffer
ek suhana.
Yahan cull kya ho kisne jana.
|
|
Thaw
|
Was
|
Thaw
ek din pani baras raha, galiyon me keechar chhai
thi.
Bachche chalate the lapak, lapak, buddhon ki afat ayi
thi.
|
|
Woh
|
She/he,
they
|
Kehne ko
woh
haseen they, aankhen thi bewafa,
hai, aankhen thi bewafa!
|
More Confusion:
There is plenty of room for confusion. If you say that you are looking
for a "guy", they may think that you are looking for a cow. Similarly,
the word "pee" in English means to pass water. In Hindi it means to take
in or drink. Here is a list of potentially more confusion causing words.
|
English |
Hindi Meaning |
|
English |
Hindi Meaning |
|
all |
scallion |
|
mull |
rub |
|
array |
hey! |
|
mutter |
pea |
|
beach |
between |
|
my |
mother |
|
bean |
snake charmer's instrument |
|
naughty |
short female |
|
buck |
talk nonsense |
|
nine |
barber's wife |
|
bun |
to become |
|
noun |
barber's wife |
|
bus |
enough |
|
now |
boat |
|
bye |
maid |
|
null |
tap |
|
call |
death god |
|
nut |
dancer |
|
chore |
thief |
|
one |
jungle |
|
come |
less |
|
ore, oar |
towards |
|
earth |
meaning |
|
par |
across |
|
eye |
came |
|
pass |
near |
|
gall |
cheek |
|
pea, pee |
to drink |
|
goalie |
pill, bullet |
|
peace, piece |
to grind |
|
golly |
called name |
|
pee |
to drink |
|
goo |
shit |
|
Pete |
to beat |
|
gully |
narrow street |
|
pi |
found |
|
guy |
cow |
|
piss |
being ground |
|
hill |
move |
|
poppy |
sinner |
|
holy |
Holi festival |
|
puck |
ripe |
|
hurry |
green |
|
punch |
five |
|
hut |
move aside |
|
rookie |
hesitating |
|
John |
life |
|
rose |
everyday |
|
jug |
world |
|
run |
battlefield |
|
keel |
nail |
|
rut |
cram |
|
kiss |
which |
|
sauce |
mother-in-law |
|
knock |
nose |
|
sewer |
pig |
|
knuckle |
copy |
|
shuck |
suspicion |
|
lay |
take |
|
sow |
to sleep |
|
mail |
befriending |
|
take |
crutch |
|
mall |
goods |
|
they |
give |
|
mama |
mom's brother |
|
thus |
ten |
|
Mary |
mine |
|
ugly |
next |
|
mill |
meet |
|
wish |
poison |
|
Updated: 10 Nov
2005 |
|
© 2005 Suresh
Chandra
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