The South Indian Glossary

Diary Entry 25

This blog post is not meant for people from Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Do not waste time reading this, because there are better things you can do in life. It also applies for people who have not read any of my older posts. I have already warned you so dont tell me later this was a mokka post. For all those people who dont know what mokka means, read on... :) I am typing down my next post, so check back in an hour.

Some of you people from North India and elsewhere have no clue what Mallu and Tamil is. Because of this reason some of you have been finding it rather confusing when you try to read my blog. I have included the glossary of all the words I use or might use when I write. Before I get into that let me tell you a little about where I come from. There are two states in South India – Kerala and Tamil Nadu. I happened to be from both these places. They speak Malayalam in Kerala and Tamil in Tamil Nadu. You will find words from both these languages depending upon who I am talking to. Below is the list of vernacular words that I am so fond of using. 

Akka – Means elder sister in Tamil. You use it address strangers who are not old enough to be your great grandmother. If they are that old we say Pahti (If you say it wrong, it will mean dog in Malayalam)

This is the last person you should be calling 'Akka'

Anna – Similar to Akka.  If they are really old we call them Tha-tha

Chechi – Means elder sister in Malayalam. Unlike Tamil I address strangers who are much older than my great grandmother as chechi. I don’t know what else to call them in Malayalam. The male version of it is Etha.

Da – A tamil slang used to address guys. It is a connotation of familiarity. I used to use this with women too but some girls have found it irritating when I say it. So with much difficulty, I have stopped using it. It is a sign of closeness and bonding between friends. The female version is De. But De lacks all the love, bonding and warmth da has. I guess women can be offended by the smallest of things. You can call guys a**h*le and they will probably respond with a grin. Not applicable to women. So if you want to show lack of respect to a girl, all you have to do is use de in the sentence :D

Illa – Means No in Tamil and Malayalam. They are not pronounced the same way though.

Kadalai - It means nuts but what it actually means is flirting. But this term has be so over used that a simple conversation with a girl is called Kadala these days. When people see you talking to any girl, angel or crone, they will always say "Aye, Kadala" (Hey flirt).  

Konjam – Means little in Tamil. Example - Konjam over (Little too much)

Kutta – I don’t know what it exactly means. But it definitely does not mean dog. My mother calls me that for christ sake. It is like something like darling I guess.

Macha/Machi – I have been using this so much that people in my department stopped calling me by my name and started calling me macha. Sigh... It means something like dude in English. What it really means is brother in law. But some girls say this to their girl mates.  I don’t know of how that relationship works though.

Mallu – Short for Malaylis or people from the state of Kerala. Can be used as a insult or a compliment. :D

Mokka – There are several meanings to this word. People have a hard time figuring it out.

1. Boredom – Macha Mokkaya iruku. (Dude it is very Boring)
2. Easy – How was the placement aptitude paper? Mokka paper da. (It was too easy)
3. A joke nobody finds funny – This is highly popular in Tamil Nadu. They have Tv and Radio shows for this. After you heard the entire joke, you will probably be waiting to hear the part that is supposed to make you laugh. In such cases we simply say – Mokka poda dhey. ( Dont put Mokkai)

Mass – It means awesome.  So when I ask, “How is my blog?”, You should say “Macha your blog is mass.”

Seri – Means Okay. It can mean Okay as in an okay to a agreement or it can be the monosyllable okay that the girls are so find of using when guys text them.

Thala – Means Head. Another word like Macha used like Dude in English. It might also refer to Ajit Kumar. Some people say he is an actor. If you dont see this line after a week, that is because a fan must have beaten me up. (If you are tamil guy: 1.You were not supposed to read this post. 2. Yes. Mankatha is mass. I was talking about his Pre Mankatha era :D)

Hopefully from now on, you will have lesser trouble understanding the parts where I fail to give an English Translation :)

Previous Post - Ashley and Mamta
.