the language of Bombay....
1. Binglish (for Bombay_English).
2. Bhindi (for Bombay_Hindi)
3. This list is perpetually incomplete since the evolution of this language can
never possibly cease.
4. Bhindi/Binglish: Pronunciations are in brackets following the words.
5. Chikna - Stands for any good looking fellow. Chikna actually means smooth.
6. Keeda - An absolute pest.
7. Jhakaas - Superb. Excellent.
8. Haila ! - This originated from "Hai Allah !" but I don't think 99% of the users
know about this. Haila would translate to "Oh God!"
9. ChappanTikkli/Punter/Tapori/Shana - Roadside loafer. Tapori is among the most
commonly used words in Bhindi.
10. Bevada / Gutter / Taankee / Batli / JohnnyWalker - A Drunk.
11. Saand - A boisterous or an exceeding brash guy.
12. Chotay - For any kid working in a Tapri. If the shop has more than one kid
all would have to be Chotays.
13. Cutting - A little_morethan_half cup of Tea is a cutting. The Cutting concept
would have been started by people who used to split a cup of tea between 2 people...
and finally the tea vendor started selling half cup of tea and called it "cutting".
A little_more_than_half is given to increase the patrons.
14. Dhapnya / Battery / double battery - Refers to a person wearing prescription
glasses. Dhapnya is a Marathi word. The Ghati way of saying this would be "bya-tree".
15. Hajaam - Hajaam in its true sense would mean a barber. It refers to anyone
with a moronic intellect.
16. Rappak(stress on"pp") - means Slap.(eg.Kaan kay neechay rappak lagaoonga.)
17. Chinese Gaadi - No ! this is not a Chinese make of an automobile!! It's the
"Tapri" selling Chinese food on the side of the road. You find one after every
10 meters. The best part is that all these Chinese Gaadis are red in color, have
names like "Red Sun", "Red Dragon", "Fong's", or anything that sounds vaguely
Chinese. The cook is normally a Nepali gurkha working as a night watchman in some
nearby apartment complex. The only criteria to get a chef's job at a Chinese Gaadi
is to have slanted eyes.
18. Mahim - Matunga / Vasai - Virar - This is a term used for squints. M-M and
V-V are neighbouring localities in Bombay. The origin of this term is unknown.
19. Ghungroo Salmaan - This term is very new but catching on fast.Ghungroo refers
to a curly haired guy. Salmaan (Khan) comes in the picture since the "Ghunroo
Salmaan" fellow is obviously mistaking himself to be a Hindi film hero. It's used
as a put-down.
20. AndhaDhuni/Aadva-Patta - These are a cricketing terms. AadvaPatta comes from
Pune, means "Cross batted shot".AndhaDhuni means "Blind shot". But nowadays these
refer to any guy who doesn't bat well.
21. Ghaati - Ghaatis are the residents of the hilly/rural regions of Maharashtra.
In Bhindi, a Ghati would mean any person whose mother tongue is Marathi. It's
quiet demeaning..... and thus heard more frequently.
22. Gujju / Ganda-Gujratis. The money men of Mumbai. These guys are easily spotted
on the road - either in colorful shirts, embroidered trousers, against the mirror
of a parked vehicle combing their hair, or something equally funny. These guys
are the second largest community in Bombay after the Marathi-speaking people.
23. Madrasi - Madras is a place in the southern part of India. Madrasi refers
to any guy from a place to the South of Maharashtra. Doesn't matter where he is
from. If he is from Bangalore he is a Madrasi. If he is from Kerala he is still
a Madrasi. Doesn't matter. And the best part of being a Madrasi is that you are
supposed to eat idli sambar for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner. And rasam-chaval
is supposed to be the favourite dish.
24. Pavwalla/Sausage - The Christians. This started because of the fact that they
eat bread(pav) instead of chapatis. Sausage is a fairly new term and refers to
a female (of the same faith). As Javed Jaffery would have immitated a Pav from
Bandra: "What man ! One Fataak Rap only I'll give you under your ear man." "Hey
! What she is looking yaar. See see." / "Bloody I am scared or what ? Go No...
call anyone. Go Man!"
25. Gulti - This is a fairly new term. Used for people from Andhra Pradesh. The
clue about its origin or actual meaning is the inverse spelling of telegu.(gu_le_te
= gulti)
26. Bhaiya/Pandit - Any guy from UP / Bihar / MP / Delhi / Northern states is
called a Bhaiya.Pandit is also used interchangeably but is mostly used for the
guys at the Lassi/Doodh shops or for Panwallas.
27. Paapay/Papajee - A Sikh. Dont know what a paapay means. I am sure its not
insulting or anything.
28. Bawa / Pestonjee - The Parsees. The most harmless. Jovial and great company.
Definitely the most teased people on the Hindi silver screen. Every movie has
to have at least one funny character called "Rustom" or "Pestonjee" who has to
have a fat and an overtly boisterious wife. Incidently Parsees also are the most
affluent and among the richest in the Indian community. Bombay is also called
"ParseeSthan" since this is the place where you find most of them.
29. Cheena/ Chapata / Nepali / Shaab-babu ( 'sh' as in 'huSH' )- Any slant-eyed
guy is called Cheena or Nepali. Doesn't matter if he is from Kerala and some genetic
disorder messed up his eye. He would still be a Nepali. The best part is many
of the north eastern states and even West Bengal have people with slant eyes.
However, if they happen to land in Bombay, they would be from Nepal. The Chinese/Japs/Koreans
all fall in the same category. Shaab-babu comes from the fact that these Nepali
gurkhas call every other person they see "Shaab-babu". I wouldn't be too surprised
to find out that they call their parents that too.
30. Sai ( Saa-eeen - the second part is increasingly nasal ) - The Sindhis. The
Partition-time migrants from Pakistan. If a Hindi movie doesn't have a Parsee...
a Sindhi has to come at some point to lighten the spirits. These guys are known
for all the Papads they consume.
31. Mia-bhai - The members of the Islamic faith.
32. Bong / Bonglababu / Babumoshai ( pronunciation should have maximum sounds
of "O" as possible ) - for any Bangla.
33. Bambaiyya - Anything that relates to anything that even vaugely relates to
Bombay. Bambaiyaa is something that every resident of Bombay would love to be
called !