Hinglish

My mind is befuddled. This year alone, I have spoken English, French (sort of), Gujurati (the language of the State in India my family is from), Hindi (again sort of), UK English (it is its own language) and now I am learning Hinglish.

What is Hinglish? It is the Indian English based on the language of the Britishers and a some words and phrases that are simply, made up... Here's a bit of a primer.

1. You do not live in India or Delhi, you stay there. And you don't just say, I stay in Delhi, you would say, I stay in Delhi only.

2. Only gets added to the end of many phrases, as in - I must finish this project only. It doesn't mean you only have one project to finish, just that you are finishing a project.

3. Shifting - you don't move, you shift, as in - I am shifting flats from Gurgaon to Delhi. I'm not moving my desk across the room, but I am shifting desks.

4. Prepone - we are familiar with the word postpone, this is its opposite. As in, I set a meeting for 3 pm but I must prepone it to 2 pm. (Honestly, I didn't realize we were lacking in a word for this, but it is kind of catchy)

5. Babudum - I'm not sure of the spelling, or if this is yet really in a dictionary of sorts - but in common use - it means bureaucracy - There was so much babudum involved in the Commonweath Games that everything is behind schedule.

6. Unless and until - this phrase is a favorite of the lawyers I work with. I'll ask, when will you be finished with the project? I should have it finished at 1, probably, unless and until something else happens. Even for a lawyer the lack of a straight answer (which I have in the past been wrongly accused of never giving) is frustrating - so, unless something happens you'll maybe, probably finish the project on time. Sigh.

7. Till - UGH - a major pet peeve of mine. As I've explained to the lawyers - till means to till the soil, It does not mean, until, or for, or of or any other preposition you want to substitute it for.

8. Mail - as a substitute for email - another pet peeve - Mail is snail mail, not email. I don't even care if you use the hyphen between the e and mail.

As you can see from this primer - there is much reason my brain (which seems to have stayed a bit blond in India) is quite befuddled.

For those of you who are familiar with Hinglish - please feel free to add to the list.