Shabash to Chris Hamblin for catching an excellent BBC article on Indian loan words in English! The occasion is the upcoming revised edition of Hobson-Jobson's Dictionary of Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, in print since its creation in 1872. Unselfconsciously Orientalist, the dictionary is an enthusiastic British exploration of the quirks and eccentricities of words brought home from the subcontinent. "Chilly," now chili, was first mentioned in English in an entry in Hobson-Jobson. Since then, Hobson-Jobson has inspired a variety of authors and playwrights, including Salman Rushdie and Tom Stoppard. Although Amitav Ghosh is quoted saying he'd like nothing to do with either of the authors, "'No. I don't think I would at all.. I enjoy the book but it's absolutely ridden with ideas of racial separation. I would never be a guest at their dinner party,'" the dictionary is a fascinating historical snapshot of the British experience in India. And it includes some rather splendid Indian words that have made their way into English, including:
avatar
bandanna
bangle
bazaar
bungalow
cashmere
catamaran
cheroot
cheetah
chintz
chit
chutney
cummerbund
curry
dinghy
dungarees
jodhpur
jungle
jute
khaki
loot
nirvana
pariah
pashmina
polo
pukka
pundit
shawl
swastika
teak
thug
toddy
typhoon
veranda
yoga
I'm a huge fan of double rhyming words in Hindi, and can occasionally even be caught using the phrases "shopping-whopping" or "body-shody." So I can only express profound admiration that Hobson-Jobson not only addresses this linguistic phenomenon but also enshrines it in the dictionary's title.
