Sunday, January 11, 2009

A Neologist is born

I was talking to my sister after a couple of months and a word that I used to taunt her with when we were younger propped up in the conversation. We started reminiscing all the stuff I had come up and surprisingly enough my mom remembered a lot of them.

People who don't know tamil might not find this amusing. Actually, I don't know what lauguage most of them are, so maybe you will.

For my Sister:
1. loosaandibulbul - loosu means idiot. bulbul is a bird.
2. AK,YK, JS, SS - Archana Kali (Archana is my sisters name and Kali is the goddess of death), forgot what YK stood for, I cant tell you what JS stands for(my sis will kill me), and Sori Saami(Sori means itch, Saami means God). I remember having a longer list at that time which I would use only on special occassions.
3. Poikari Pookari - Poi means lie, Poo means flower and kari refers to someone female. I used it when she told a lie or blamed me for something she did. (I even called my mom this.)
4. This one is my favourite. I would get her everytime. You read it fast and like a song. Dhadhichi, Gundachi, Yaanachi, Paeyachi, Madachi, Sadachi, Vadachi, Archee

Btw, all this doesnt make me a mean brother. You have no idea about my sister. I didn't called her Kali for no reason. :)

For my Mom:
1. Annayae - There used to be this show called Veer Hanuman which was dubbed into tamil. Little Hanuman used to called his mom that.
2. Aatha - Slang for mom.
In the following you can clear see the etymology
3. Ammi Jaan - Means dear mother in Urdu
4. Gummi Jaan - The Gum in Gummis is pronounced  like boom, just replace the 'b' with 'g' and shorten the 'oo'. Gummi is a completly new word. No idea how I came up with that.
5. Gummi
6. Gum - I still call her this.
7. Gumthalakadi - My latest, Its a word thats part of many folk songs. Doesnt have any meaning. I call her this when I really need her to listen to me. Its like being called by the full name when you make mischief and get caught.

I know theres a few more, but cant recollect any at this moment.

My uncle who's even more creative, came up with these:
1. Gubbaccha - Apparently his son when he was a child tried to say "Book padichen" but came out something like this.
2. Takilimuthu - No idea.
3. Kootha, Guppa - Again, no idea.

I understand that for a third person, these may seem strange and childish, and maybe they are, but in a family its endearing. You know what, long after we have stopped using them, when we talk about it, it certainly brings a smile and maybe sometimes, even a tear.

Do you have any such names or came up with one in your life?

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