Divergent usage (Part II)

Terms unique to South Asia (i.e. not generally well-known outside the region) and/or popular in India include those in the following by no means exhaustive list:

§  batchmate or batch-mate (not classmate, but a schoolmate of the same grade)

§  BHK is real-estate terminology for "Bedroom, Hall and Kitchen", used almost exclusively in housing size categorization. "Hall" refers to the living room, which is highlighted separately from other rooms. For instance, a 2BHK apartment has a total of three rooms - two bedrooms and a living room.

§  boss is a term used to refer to a (generally) male stranger such as shopkeeper. It is mildly respectful and friendly, and not considered condescending. ("Boss, what is the cost of that pen?")

§  compass box for a box holding mathematical instruments like compasses, divider, scale, protractor etc. Also widely referred to as a "geometry box".

§  co-brother indicates relationship between two men who are married to sisters, as in "He is my co-brother". Similarly co-sister.

§  co-inlaws indicates relationship between two sets of parents whose son and daughter are married, as in "Our co-inlaws live in Delhi."

§  cousin-brother (male first cousin), cousin-sister (female first cousin)

§  "eggitarian" for a person who eats vegetarian food, milk and eggs but not meat; ovo-lacto-vegetarian.

§  foot overbridge (bridge meant for pedestrians)

§  flyover (as in BrE, overpass or an over-bridge over a section of road or train tracks)

§  godown (warehouse)

§  godman somewhat pejorative word for a person who claims to be divine or who claims to have supernatural powers

§  gully to mean a narrow lane or alley (from the Hindi word "gali" meaning the same)

§  long-cut (the "opposite" of short-cut, in other words, taking the longest route)

§  mugging or mugging up (memorising, usually referring to learning "by rote"; unrelated to street crime, as in BrE/AmE)

§  nose-screw (woman's nose-ring)

§  tiffin box for lunch box, also commonly used to mean a snack between meals

§  topen or topun (pronounced toe-pun) refers to the cap or cover of a pen. This word is common in some parts of western and southern India.

§  vote-bank is a term commonly used during the elections in India, implying a particular bloc or community of people inclined to cast their votes for a political party that promises to deliver policies favouring them.

Terms that are considered archaic in some varieties of English, but are still in use in Indian English:

§  dicky/dickey - the boot/trunk of a car.

§  in tension - being concerned or nervous. Phrased another way, "He is taking too much tension". Found in 18th century British English.

§  ragging - equivalent of AmEhazing; still used in BrE

§  the same - the aforementioned, as in "I heard that you have written a document on .... Could you send me the same?"

§  Use of double and triple for numbers occurring twice or three times in succession, especially for a phone number. For example, a phone number 2233344 would be pronounced as double two, triple three, double four. Still used this way in BrE.

§  Use of thrice, meaning "three times", is common in Indian English.

§  Use of the phrases like nothing or like anything to express intensity. For example, "These people will cheat you like anything". Such usage was part of colloquial English language in 17th century Britain and America.

§  Word pairs "up to" and "in spite" compounded to "upto" and "inspite" respectively.