Thursday, May 25, 2006

What's in a "good" name?

Indian English is a unique language. There are some quirks in this language where the words are all English words, but the grammar and the context are so off base that most people outside of India attribute to incorrect knowledge of grammar. Case in point is the liberal use of the word "also" at the end of a sentence. "you can do ABC, and you can do XYZ also">. But if you speak an Indian language, the grammar makes perfect sense. "Aap ABC kar sakte ho aur XYZ bhi". In short it is a word - to - word translation of the Indian language that it is coming from. If ever I read some weird grammar in a sentence, I tend to translate it into an Indian language and try to see how it would sound. Most often it clears the doubt. Try it, it works.

But can someone please explain to me, what is the root for "What's your good name, sir?"

1 comment:

Someone Somewhere Out There said...

Methinks it has something to do with "aap ka shubh naam kya hai". You know how we tend to name kids auspiciously :)