Hindi Slang, Jargon, and New Words from Double-Tongued Dictionary

Hindi language, including Hinglish. You can also see entries assigned to this category.

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chamcha n. Akbar has been called a chamcha (which means spoon in the Hindi language and has become a slang word for sycophant) to the Gandhi family, and some of that slavish devotion shows up in his uncritical acceptance of Nehru’s government-dominated economic program and the erosion of the country’s grass roots political structure as a result of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. [English Hindi India Politics] [full cite] (Sep. 23, 2004)

chamcha n. I have my own standing in the party. I cannot be anybody’s chamcha (stooge). [English Hindi India Politics] [full cite] (Sep. 23, 2004)

chamcha n. Several hangers-on. They are available aplenty everywhere in the country and are often known in the local market as Chamcha. [English Hindi India Politics] [full cite] (Sep. 23, 2004)

chamcha n. No doubt, the British also had their sycophants—toadys, bachhas, jholichuks and hukkabardars—but chamchas of the modern vintage they had none. Chamchas are a breed apart. A chamcha, verily is more than a favourite. He is a catalytic agent to activate the Sahib’s ego and cloud and obfuscate his thinking. [English Hindi India Politics] [full cite] (Sep. 23, 2004)

chamcha n. Chamcha Sycophant (lit. ‘spoon’). [English Hindi India Politics] [full cite] (Sep. 23, 2004)

doosra n. Perth-based biomechanics experts subsequently tested him and initially found he straightened his bent arm by 14 percent in bowling a delivery tagged the “doosra.” The doosra is a delivery which spins away from right-handers instead of coming into them like a normal off-break. [Hindi Urdu India Pakistan] [full cite] (May. 17, 2004)

jugaad n. Daniel Chopra, who learned his golf in India, “seems to have plenty of the typical Indian quality of jugaad.”…A reporter who had peeked translated it as “finding alternative ways of doing improbable things ... creative improvisation.” [Hindi India Sports & Recreation] [full cite] (Jul. 17, 2004)

jugaad n. If one drives out of Delhi in any direction one is likely to encounter these hybrid vehicles within an hour. Known as “Jugaads,” which means roughly to provide or arrange, they have become a mainstay of rural transportation. [Hindi India] [full cite] (Jul. 17, 2004)

jugaad n. New Delhi-based IT entrepreneur Karan Vir Singh, managing director of Voxtron Dezign Lab, called it the “jugaad” factor—the improvised quick fix. “It’s like putting two spoons of turmeric powder into your radiator if you spring a small leak,” he said. “It works, it will seal the leak. In Punjab, I have seen villagers buying an agricultural water pump at government subsidised rates, cannibalising some other parts from here and there, and turning it into a vehicle.” [Hindi India] [full cite] (Jul. 17, 2004)

jugaad n. The operative world of jugaad, implying alternatives, substitutes, improvisations and make-dos, is spurred by a native inventiveness steeped in a culture of scarcity and survival. [Hindi India] [full cite] (Jul. 17, 2004)

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