urdu

ThuDDii when used as a noun means "chin". In another thread, littlepond jii mentioned he uses ThuDDaa/ThuDDii as an adjective with the meaning of "blunt, hard". Is anyone else familiar with this meaning? Thank you.

Dear Foreros, I am pretty sure Urdu uses a Persian derived word for the crotch you find on your shalwaar or pants but for one reason or another I can't put my finger on it. Perhaps someone here would be able to assist me on this matter. I have come across ruummaalii as an alternative but I am...

Dear Foreros, In the respective languages mentioned above how would you refer to a gym or building which was "under-maintenance?" Best Regards, Sheikh

Hello all, I used the word thoDi (ठोड़ी or ठोढ़ी-- shabdkosh has both-- I used the latter) in front of my dad yesterday, who is a native Hindi speaker, and he had never heard the word before. When pressed as to what would be 'chin' in Hindi or Punjabi, he just said 'chin.' What would most...

Hey guys, simple question here how do you say these words in Hindi and Urdu in terms of political context? Also, how would you say these words to describe someone's personality?

This word came up in a recent thread, and I am interested in knowing two things. 1. What is the most accurate Urdu pronunciation of this word. 2. What is the import of an alif khanjariyya ( ٰ ) over a ی at the end of the word? How does it impact the pronunciation of the word?

Dear Foreros, In the Urdu language how would you refer to sitting at the table? With regards to conversations at the table what is locally referred to as table-talk we would se mez/maa'idah (rare but perfectly acceptable) par baat karnaa. However, would sitting at the table be mez par baithnaa...

Dear Foreros, This rather notorious word is used for a house husband who is dependant upon primarily his samdhi as his means of income. I am well aware of it's connotations and denotations. However, what I was meaning to know is whether the jama'ii in question derives from the act of jamaanaa...

Dear Foreros, It has become somewhat commonplace to hear "mujhe ek ek tafsiil chaahiye Hai" yaa (or) sunnii Hai to mean that you would like to know every single detail. However, is this usage correct? Could you say ek ek tafsiil when attempting to singularise one of many details I.e. in...

Hello, Is there any difference between these two words (बूढ़ापन vs. बुढ़ापा, بوڈھاپن vs. بڑھاپا) -- semantically, by register, by geography, or otherwise -- or are they entirely interchangeable? Much obliged EDIT: PS I'm not sure about the correct transliteration in the title, apologies. I get...

Aamir Khan's next film is titled Dangal دنگل दंगल . How would you distinguish dangal from kushti کشتي कुश्ती and akhaaRa اکھاڑا अखाड़ा ?

Dear Foreros, The fun fair and carnival culture of the US has spurred an increasing trend towards food trucks across Europe and Asia. However, how would you refer to a food truck in your native language. In Urdu interestingly enough Vans alone are called Dabbe I.e. Boxes and these trucks are...

What is the meaning of "dhokay baaz" and how would one use it in a sentence? From my understanding, it means "one who cheats/betrays/jilts." Does the word have a connotation of only being used in reference to lovers or idoes it have a more general usage? Also, does the "baaz" signify it is a...

What is the difference in saying "deta/deti hai" vs "de jata/jati hai"? Also, what is the best translation of "de jata/jeti hai"? Examples would be most appreciated.

Hello, I heard the following clause as a part of a longer sentence: laRkii ko saamne gaaRii meN le jaayaa gayaa. لڑکی کو سامنے گاڑی میں لے جایا گیا How would you analyse it? PS Do provide transliteration please for those who don't read Urdu.

Dear Foreros, Is "maiN achaa hooN" used in both Urdu and Hindi as a response to How are you (aap kaise haiN), or is it merely used in Hindi for I am good as opposed to I am a good person? Best Regards, Sheikh

Dear Foreros, In the languages mentioned above how would you refer to a test drive of a car at a dealership? In other words, in the following sentence; "you may take this car for a test drive", how would you translate the concept of a test drive/run in Urdu and Persian?

I am interested in learning the non-standard uses of ne نے in Urdu : the uses that are not taught in grammar books or in schools but are used by some in everyday speech. I know we have had some discussion about this before, but 1) I can't seem to find those discussions and 2) I wonder if those...

Dear Foreros, How would you refer to both a matriarchy and a patriarchy in the languages given above. Clearly by extension mentioning the existing terms for a patriarch and matriarch would also be most helpful as it would help lay out a pattern. Here is an example sentence to ease the process...

How would you explain the difference between the following two sentences? ghar pe kaar hai ghar pe ek kaar hai What I am getting at is in English one usually has to say 'a' when taking about existence of an object. "There is a car". I get the feeling this is not necessary (using ek) in...

A few days ago, I wrote a simple poem in Bengali. Bangladeshis appreciated so much the poem. They could understand the changes of structure in a poem I made. Example this simple sentence in Bengali: Ami prem a porcilam. We could change it become: Prem a porcilam, ami. Then, porcilam, prem a...

Many people on this forum would have dismissed "putr" as a word belonging only to "unnatural" Hindi or to mythological serials. I myself would not have expected its usage in Pakistan! And yet, in this documentary film, in the village of Hakimwala, 3 hours from Multan, a village family used...

I was just thinking about it earlier today, but in English we have somewhat of an idiomatic phrase "Rule of Law". When I keep translating it into Hindi, the essence of that phrase seems faded. We use Niyam for Law and Rule in Hindi, but in Hindustani/Urdu there is a specific word for Law...

Dear Foreros, In the languages above how would you refer to an "infectious smile" that lightens the heart and passes on from person to person? Poetic references would not only be appreciated but adored. Best Regards, Sheikh

Hello, The question is how to say "a survivor" in Urdu and in Hindi as in "rape survivor", "earthquake survivor" etc. Somehow my mind is not working well enought to think of anything suitable. Thanks in advance for the contributions.

Dear Foreros, What is the pluralised form of a saHaafii I.e. Journalist. For instance the White House hosts an annual correspondents' dinner. However, I am not sure how we would pluralise saHaafii perhaps via the Persian saHaafiiaan? Is there an Arabic derived alternative? Best Regards, Sheikh

Dear Foreros, I doubt the White House needs any introduction for the janaabaan e giraamii that gather here from time to time. Although what I wanted to learn from you was whether you used indigenous terms I.e. Translations in your native tongue or just "White House", when speaking in your...

Dear Foreros, In the two languages above how would you refer to" comedic timing" both individually and as a set term. For instance "Obama is famed to be a President with great/good/fabulous comedic timing." In terms of individually I meant how would you refer to comedic as well as timing in...

What is the meaning the sabr kaa daaman? (sabr kaa daaman haath se CHoRnaa) It is simply an idiom? Is "daaman" used in this way with other things?

How does one use the phrase xatm hone kaa naam nahiiN lenaa in Urdu?

Dear Foreros, The purpose of this thread was to learn whether ba der can be used in one of two contexts rather than just the one. In other words bohat ba der aanaa means to arrive very late. Therefore, one denotation of ba der is to happen after a long time. However, can it be used for to be...

Friends, how should one understand 'سفید فام مائی بوپوں کو' in the following sentence, which I understand to say that the huqqa was a legacy of East India Company to the British Raj that succeeded it (from shahabnamah): لیکن جہاں کمپنی بہادر نے ملکہ معظمہ کے لیے ہندستان کا ملک چھوڑا تھا، وہاں...

Speaking in Hindi/Urdu to my baby daughter points out to me on a daily basis how little H-U I know! The latest word was 'puddle.' In urban areas, do we just say 'puddle'? How about keechaR (or is the transliteration D?) Is this the most common word rather than the English? (Other suggestions...

I was thinking about the word aasra, which I've only recently become familiar with. I thought it had two meanings-- shelter (cf. aashram) as well as hope. Platts doesn't have the meaning of hope. Shabdkosh.com has both shelter and hope, along with anchor and reliance. In everyday language do we...

Friends, In this sentence (from shahabnamah): اس میں کام کاج، رہنے سہنے کے وہ سب آداب تفصیل درج ہیں جن پر ہر ڈپٹی کمشنر کو کاربند رہنا لازم ہےتاکہ "رعیت" پر اپنے حاکم کا وقار خاطر خواہ قائم رہے۔ Is it aadaab-e-tafsiil? What does it mean? Thanks.:)

What's the first word that comes to mind if you were to translate "knife"?

Dear Foreros, In the two languages above how would you refer to a property title deed. For Urdu google translate offers unwaan walih which besides the unwaan bit which means title and is a verbatim translation doesn't make sense to me. However, it even goes so far as to cite two or three...

I heard the phrase "itilaa'an arz hai ki..." at least twice during the second episode of "Dhoop Kinare" and have no idea what it means. I tried to look up itilaa'an, but I am not sure of the spelling so I can't find it. I thought it might be related to اطلاعات "information." Does anyone know...

Dear Foreros, From my understanding, whilst the Arabic dunyaawii is commonly used and understood as worldy, the word dunyaa'ii a Persianised variant is used though uncommonly as an alternative for global. Thus you may at times hear on the news dunyaa'ii cricket ke fulaaN and so on and so forth...

While watching a Hindi movie, I recently took note of a dialogue which goes something like.. "Is kaam ko to tumhaare farishte bhii naa kar paayeN". I have heard sentences like this before too, but never paid much attention earlier. Now I am wondering what is the origin of this idiom? The...

Apologies for the not very informative title. I didn't know how help to describe the general topic of my query. What is the semantic difference, if any, between: soyaa hua (सोया हुआ / سویا ہوا )vs sota (सोता / سوتا) ? For example: Vo ek soyee hui gai hai / vo ek soti gai hai -- Do both of...

Dear Foreros, In a manner as unambiguously couched as possible how would you in Urdu/Hindi state that someone either has cheated on or has been cheated on, with someone without making a mess in terms of who was the victim and who was the culprit? For instance Paulo cheated on Maria with her...

Dear Foreros, In terms of when something has made a difference we use the term farq paRnaa to mean exactly that. However, with regards to making a difference could we possibly say farq paRwaanaa or paRaanaa? For instance us ke aane se bohat farq paRtaa hai- his/her being there made a...

Hello all, Is there a commonly used word for cozy that you could point me too? Cozy in the sense of a cozy, intimate restaurant, sitting cozily under a blanket by the fire, etc. These are the words from shabdkosh.com. I will transliterate for those who don't read devanagari. आरामदायक...

Is the commonly used Urdu word for parent waaldaiN والدین or are other words used in colloquial speech?

Dear Forum members, As things stand the word Urdu-phones would use for exclusive is xusuusii, the word for specification is xusuusiiyat and specifications is xusuusiiyaat. However, what word could be used for the sense of something being xusuusii? Xusuusiiyat would have made sense had that slot...

Dear Foreros, In the languages above how would you refer to a true learning experience? For instance he found it all to be a true learning experience. My suggestions would be as follows: SahiiH sikhaane waalaa tajribah Siikhne sikhaane waalaa tajriibah siikhtaa sikhaataa tajribah OR better...

Hello, Is there a stylistic or semantic difference between for example: Khelte hue and khelte vaqt/samay? I quote from an earlier thread to give context: And the following is I think a different case all together from the above-- but if I said: "Keep seated"-- is this baithe (बैठे /...

Dear Forum members', In the languages above how would you refer to surprise and its plural in the following contexts: a)I love surprises b) Castro made a surprise visit to the Communist Party Convention. C) His surprise tour of Iran delighted many in every corner of the forcibly isolated...

Dear Forum members', It is quite clear that kisii ke Piiche lagnaa/paRnaa is to pursue someone hotly. However, can you also use piiche lagnaa for to support someone and follow there lead or would that be stretching its meaning to far? In any case I do feel kisii ke piiche khaRe honaa could mean...