You Know More Hindi than You Think

Being a native-English speaker has certain advantages as a Hindi-learner.  Hindi is filled with a lot of English words, so when I'm trying to express a thought, but don't know the word in Hindi, I'll just throw in the English one. But language is a two-way street and English has also adopted quite a few Hindi/Urdu words into everyday vocabulary.   As a proud word nerd (yes, I did read the dictionary, not the A-Z part, but the introductory parts about English language history and grammar), I'm going to share with you my top favorite Hindi/Urdu words that you hear in everyday English. Some feel obvious, and some of them are so subtle, it will blow your mind. Click on the links to see the dictionary definition and etymology (history) of the word.

People

Guru गुरु & Pundit पंडित

Both words are used to describe knowledgeable experts. You hear guru more in the form of a teacher or expert that you learn from. Pundit is a word you'll hear a lot especially during election seasons, which may make you wonder if they're experts at all.
Photo by Product School on Unsplash

Thug ठग

This word has a lot of history and can be a little charged depending on the context. However you may view this word, it is a part of our vocabulary. The Hindi pronunciation of the original word sounds more like "tug", but I have only heard people use it with the current English pronunciation. This isn't the only word on the list that came from Hindi to English and has boomeranged back to Hindi with a different pronunciation and slightly different flavor.

Places

Jungle जंगल

You have Hindi to thank for the catchy theme song "It's a Jungle Out There" for the TV series Monk. In Hindi the meaning of jungle is broad, like Forest is in English. But in English the meaning has narrowed to just mean tropical forests. Fun fact: Many of the names of characters in The Jungle Book are just the animal's name in Hindi: Baloo (भालू) bear, Hathi (हाथी) elephant, Sher (शेर) lion/tiger.

Photo by Chris Abney on Unsplash

Clothing

From a summer wardrobe staple to business casual and from work/school uniforms to overalls, your comfy clothes' names find their origins in South Asia.

Pajama (Urdu/Farsi) पजामा 

Put on your jammies and get ready for a sleep over! Thanks to this gift from Urdu, our sleepwear has a proper name.

Khaki (Urdu/Farsi) खाकी 

This versatile staple in your closet be dressed up to meet business casual standards at the office or relaxed enough for a laidback weekend outing.  And you always have to remember to never wear them with red shirt when doing a Target run. 

Dungaree डंगरी

Like khakis, your dungarees can do double as heavy duty work wear or as casual overalls that even toddlers enjoy wearing.

Photo by Look Studio on Unsplash

Seersucker सीरसकर   

Seersucker screams summer and is the ideal fabric to beat the summer heat.  It comes from two Persian words meaning milk and sugar that is still a desert eaten today. I'd like to think that ice cream also fits into this 'milk & sugar' category which you can enjoy while keeping cool in your seersucker outfit.

Additional Everyday Words

Cot खाट 

Naptime at pre-school or kindergarten wouldn't be the same without a cot. I was very surprised with this word because it sounds very English, rhyming with words like hot, not and lot. But it just goes to show languages can integrate foreign words and make them their own.

Loot लूट

I remember hearing this word for the first time, I thought it was another English word being written out in Hindi. But I was totally wrong; it was the exact opposite. Thanks to Hindi, we have a great way to describe stolen treasures.
🤯🤯 This was by far the most shocking word to me. I thought that may have been a French word that anglicized and corrupted. But nope, it was a Hindi word that we've corrupted beyond all recognition in both spelling and pronunciation to the point that it has boomeranged back into Hindi with its English meaning. It cracks me up when I see it written on shampoo bottles with both English and Hindi letters.  Shampoo comes from a Hindi word, (the command form "champo" from the infinitive "champnaa"). It means to massage, which makes sense when you think about washing your hair. 

TV/Entertainment

I don't have much to say about these other than they are interesting finds if you've seen the movies or read the comic books that have these characters in them.

  • Juggernaut जगनाथ  
  • Yoda, in Hindi योद्धा (yoddha), meaning Warrior
  • Avatar (Sanskrit) अवतार 

Honorable Mentions

Here are some honorable mentions that and Hindi/Urdu adopted and later made it to English
  • Pariah, from Tamil
  • Cummerbund, from Arabic/Farsi. I remember the first time I heard this, I was very confused; I kept thinking "Why are they talking about a tuxedo belt?" 
  • Shellac has had a long journey to English traveling from Sanskrit > Hindi > Persian/Farsi > Arabic > Latin > French > English 

What do you think of this list? What words would you add here? Share them in the comments below!

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