Saturday 17 March 2012

Hindi / Punjabi derogatory terms and swear words

Dear Dmitri,

This post is in response to your comment. I am glad at least someone is reading! 

So here we go: 

Being a freeter (past few months) and with very little social interaction here, I don't think I am the right person to compile a list of Hindi and Punjabi derogatory terms and swear words. Still I will try. After all I have spend more than two decades here and despite my best attempts I can't unlearn these words which I picked up at different times. 

Here is a list of the words I know with their English translations. (This is by no means an exhaustive list.)

Abbreviations used:

H - Hindi = Urdu = Hindustani
Pb. - Punjabi
Sr. - source
cr. - corruption
b. - benign
s. - slightly offensive
o. - offensive

Derogatory names for religions and nationalities
  1. muslā (H, Pb) - a Muslim man, a follower of Islam (Sr: cr. of Muslim)
  2. muslī (H, Pb) - a Muslim woman (Sr: cr. of Muslim)
  3. kaṭuā (H, Pb) - a Muslim man (Sr: refers to circumcision Muslims undergo, literally 'cut' )
  4. cīnī-mīnī (H, Pb) - a Chinese person, or anyone with Chinese facial characteristics  (Sr: cr. of  Cīnī, 'Chinese')
  5. cinkaṇ (H, Pb) - a Chinese woman, or with Chinese facial characteristics  (Sr: cr. of  Cīnī)
  6. cinkī (H, Pb) - a Chinese woman, or  with Chinese facial characteristics  (Sr: cr. of  Cīnī)
  7. kāṃcū (H, Pb) - a Nepalese man
  8. kāṃcā (H, Pb) - a Nepalese man
  9. kāṃcū-mancū (H, Pb) - a Nepalese man
  10. habśī (H, Pb) - an African, or anyone with a dark skin (Sr. from Arabic, 'cannibal')
Depending on the tone of a speaker, these terms that can or cannot be derogatory
  1. bholpurī (Pb) - a descendant of refugees who migrated to India during the partition from Bahawalpur
  2. bhāpā (Pb) - a descendant of Sikh-Hindu refugees who came to India from Pakistan during partition. They are treated the same way, Jews are treated in Europe or North America. Everyone hates them but they are very successful. The Indian prime-minister is a bhapa.
  3. bāpū (Pb) - it means 'father' but educated people consider it uncultured and it's rarely heard in the cities
  4. gorā (H, Pb) - an Englishman, anyone with a fair skin
  5. bihārī (H, Pb) - a migrant worker (chiefly a manual labourer) from Bihar
  6. bhayīā (H, Pb) - a migrant worker (mainly who does manual work) from Uttar Pradesh
Swear words
  1. marjāna (H, Pb) (b) - used to express surprise. If your friend scares the hell out of you, you may smile at your reaction and say: Marjane! Why did you do that? 
  2. kuttā (H, Pb) (m) - between friends it denotes intimacy, otherwise you are literally calling another person a 'dog'
  3. kuttī (H, Pb) (m) - variant of  kuttā, used for women
  4. ulū kā paṭhā (H)/ulū dā paṭhā (Pb) (b) - silly, simpleton. It is not used for persons the speaker is unfamiliar to.
  5. bhaincod (H, Pb) (o) - sisterfucker
  6. māṃcod (H, Pb) (o) - motherfucker
  7. cūtiyā (H, Pb) (m) - sucker. However, it can be used amongst friends without offending the other person
  8. mamā/momā (H, Pb) (o) - breast
  9. mame/mome (H, Pb) (o) - bosom
These are also swear words but I don't know what they mean. They make no sense, at least to me. Nonetheless you can bet to hear them when the speaker is really pissed off for some reason.
  1. terī bhain dī lan (H, Pb) (o) - your sister's willy
  2. terī māṃ dī lan (H, Pb) (o) - your mother's willy
  3. māṃ dā loṛā (H, Pb) (o) - (you are a) dick of your mother
  4. bhain dā loṛā (H, Pb) (o) - (you are a) dick of your sister
Have never used a swear word so far (I am not joking or being snobbish!). So I don't have a long list. 

2 comments:

  1. Shukriya for the list!

    marjāna! - means "to die!", doesn't it.

    ulū kā paṭhā must be owl's youngster

    I am really surprised to see that breast and bosom are swear words. Perhaps they should stress that a man is like a woman.

    The list teaches me some interesting words: codna, lora and lan. I'd like to know also the opposite for lora, if possible. And also, what about urination, defecation...

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    Replies
    1. @Dmitri

      Marjāna is not used in the sense of 'to die.'

      Though the literal meaning of ulū kā paṭhā is an 'owl's youngster', it's used to refer to people who are not street smart or shrewd or otherwise very clever.

      'Stan' is an acceptable word for 'breast' while 'mamā' can be translated as 'tits' or something similar.

      Perhaps the opposite of 'loṛā' (dick) is 'cūt' (ass, vagina).

      We normally say 'maiṅ bāthrūm/vāśrūm (bathroom/washroom) jā rahā hūṅ.' An indecent way to express the same is to say: 'mūt āyā hai' (H), 'mūtne jā rahā hūṅ' (H) and 'mutar karan jā reā āṅ' (Pb).

      The same goes for defecation. The decent way is to say: 'maiṅ laiṭrīn/poṭī (latrine/potty) jā rahā hūṅ.' If you don't give a shit to social norms, say: 'ṭaṭī āyī hai' (H), 'ṭaṭī jā rahā hūṅ' (H), 'ṭaṭī karan jā reā āṅ' (Pb) and 'hagan jā reā āṅ.'

      And 'PSSS Karna' is used as sort of a stimulant. An adult mutters this to a child while holding the baby in his arms so that the child quickly completes the task of urination or defecation.

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