Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Did you Know?


Change Gender:
Cow x Beef
Dog x Bull Dog

Overheard at Charminar
Oh! They even built a monument to sell cigarettes.

My reckoning of Orkut
Started by a Malayali for nostalgic social networking reason Ormakalude Kootaayama (getogether of memories).

Malayalis contribution to English
Tapioca
The story goes that the Englishman asked the farmer who was digging out the tapioca and “ What are you doing?”
He replied rummaging,”Tappi nokka”(searching)
And soon he showed the tuber and so the tuber was christened Tapioca by the Englishman

Hippopotamus
The malayali servant accompanied the Englishman on an African safari.. They saw the Hippo taking a mud bath. And the Malayali said, “Ippo Pottum”( will burst now)
And the Englishman liked the name, to add effect he added ‘us’.

Cashewnut
The Englishman went to the nut store in Kochi and asked the vendor the rate. The vendor replied “kaashne ettu” ( 8 for a kaash – kaash was the currency then in Kerala). Thus the name Cashewnut.

Tell me about your enlightenment:)

39 comments:

  1. Change gender: The best of the lot!! LOL!!!!!! :-)))

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  2. The mallu has contributed a lot to literature. Now, isn't all this solid proof? :D
    Nothing beats your interpretation of Orkut. Rofl...:D

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  3. hahaha loved the charminar one :D
    ROFLing post :D

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  4. :) i loved the Charminar one and the Orkut and the Hippo ACtually i liked the whole of it .. cant decide which one is the best :)

    excellent piece of knowledge that he he

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  5. Hehehehe...liked the Charminar one. To enlighten you :-), 'Catamaran' one of the type of ferry derived its name from malayalam - "kattu maram"

    :-D

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  6. Enlightened....!!!

    lol...Mallus have contributed way too much...nahi!!:D

    What a compilation!Kudos!:)

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  7. That orkut definition was truly matching...

    I thout about my childhood days when read Malayalis contribution to english language..Though I had heard about Tapioca, Hippopotamus and Cashewnut were novel things..

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  8. :D

    Funny !!! :)

    quite witty.. [why do i lack it? :(]

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  9. :) nice and interesting!! Thanks for a great post !!

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  10. I laughed so hard on the Charminar statement. and the rest were brilliant! Thanks for my morning dose of laughter :D

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  11. Novice Writer
    Next time you can tell:)

    Destinys Child
    So, you are enlightened.

    Rajlakshmi
    Just keep you eyes and ears open. knowledge flows in:D

    Bikram
    Can't choose? No probs.

    Insignia
    You just have to start it. The knowledge chain spreads. Thank You for your piece of info.

    Jaunty Anima
    Look Around you and you can find some Kashmiri and Dogri contributions too.

    Tomz
    There, I found a fellow as brainy as myself.

    Tulika
    Overruled. I like only witty people and I like you.

    A New Beginning
    Glad you liked the fresh look at words.

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  12. Are these things for real? Or did you cook this up? :P
    If it's the former, then I'm sure enlightened. :)
    Lol... :D That Hippopotamus was awesome. ;)

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  13. lol:) charminar one was too good:)

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  14. Shruthi
    At your service. Put the smile on through the day.

    Karthik
    I think Cashewnut is real, rest ....:)

    Antarman
    You didn't know. See the light now?

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  15. HL...rofl,my oh my !!To pick a favorite is difficult here.Thanks,you made my day.

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  16. hahahaha..ROFLMAO...what an interpretation man..loved it :D

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  17. A most interesting blog!
    Glad to meet you - you are most welcome to visit my Hawaii blog

    Aloha, Friend!


    Comfort Spiral

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  18. Kavita
    My Pleasure:)

    Neha
    Had a nice time reading?:D

    Cloudia
    Welcome here. Will visit you Hawaii blog too.:)

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  19. lol @ tapioca :) ...mallus rocks

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  20. Nice one, I kept on thinking what the bengalis have contributed to english after I read your post but alas, nothing came to mind...
    I really liked the orkut one. For all you know, it might be true.

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  21. Anish
    Glad to bring on the laughs

    Aparna
    The race of races:)

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  22. Charminar was really a good one ....lol!!

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  23. lol . Though i've heard the cashewnut one before!

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  24. cow is beef and dog become bull dog, that summarises my son's knowledge in gender change..!! loved it!

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  25. Scarlet Pimpernel
    Sure, Boss. The Credits:
    Gender Change
    Rosemary, Idukki, 1978
    Charminar
    Arun, Thrissur 2001
    Orkut
    My Holy self
    Tapioca
    Ittychan, Mannar, 1788
    Hippopotamus
    Ayyappan nair, 1897
    Cashewnut
    Ibrahim Kunju, Kollam, 1599

    (God Save the Lama)

    Nazish rahman
    Anything for a laugh;D

    Gymnast
    Welcome to the knowledge pool.

    Sujata
    Now you know why they say:
    Child is the father of man

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  26. Ha ha...that was hilarious...I had heard about the cashewnut one, not the others...I would have never have guessed the Orkut one...perfect.He he...we are tooooo goooood naaaa....:) Not exactly in the same lines..but I find these two words fascinating.... 'Debo Nair' and 'Pheno Menon'.

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  27. lol.. this is hilarious. have heard other mallu versions but these are abs new. Charminar and ippo potam are too funny..

    Du live in the gelf or eat benena jibs too??

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  28. Thanks for the absolutely funny (and insightful!) blog post - managed a hearty laugh despite the hectic work schedule that's driving me up the wall!

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  29. JD
    Glad to make you laugh. Nope, I live in Cochin.

    RGB
    Hats off to you to be able to comment.

    Swatantra
    Now you can share it with others.

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  30. I liked the cashewnuts part...i am enlightened now :)

    P.S: liked jyothi's debo nair and pheno menon too :P

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  31. Welcome to enlightenment, my dear child:D

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  32. whoooa! Please stop there is so much of this divine light....Oh wait! let me put my Rayban Aviator Glasses ( I wish).....Oh look, Everything make perfect sense now

    And BTW now I can connect the blog name with it :)

    Grt Post!!

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  33. Pratik Gupta
    You seeked knowledge and now thou has it.:)

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  34. I am feeling very enlightened indeed! :) whats your fascination with malyalis?

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  35. Dhinchak post man.

    You rock.

    Very funny post.

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  36. Puplesilt
    B'coz Iam one. Welcome to this space:)

    Anirban Chakraborty
    That was a nice comment. Have fun visiting.

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