| Humour - It Only Happens in India - The Bizarre, the Strange, and the Unexpected. Share your Experiences. |
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Oct 5th, 2008, 20:25
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#1 |
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Drunk Member
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Sydney, NSW
Posts: 1,574
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Indian Print Media
I was reading William Dalrymple's City of Djinns and he was basically writing the same thing as I'm about to. So here it is: what's the deal with Indian print media and the very old-school headlines such as "Murder most foul: Man burnt along with bike" http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/C...ow/3558162.cms .
I love it how they use terms which were used say 100 years ago by the British papers. I can't really say it happens the same on Indian TV, and I don't watch much TV when in India (except if the odd episode of the Simpsons or Seinfeld is on). Any of you guys at IndiaMike have bizarre, funny headlines or passages you've read in the papers? |
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Oct 6th, 2008, 02:48
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#2 | |
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Maha Guru Member
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: INDIA
Posts: 1,262
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Quote:
Must say you have got me worried about my English...is "Murder most foul" that outdated as I did not find this phrase that strange ? Yikes ! Are you implying the Brits no longer say things like : "I say, dash it all !", "What a bounder", "Oops a daisy" and all that sort of thing ? Oh no ! I am now languishing in a quagmire of despondency ! An extract from "Life of Pi" : When I told a friend who knew the country well of my travel plans, he said casually, “They speak a funny English in India. They like words like bamboozle.” I remembered his words as my plane started its descent towards Delhi, so the word bamboozle was my one preparation for the rich, noisy, functioning madness of India. I used the word on occasion, and truth be told, it served me well. To a clerk at a train station I said, “I didn’t think the fare would be so expensive. You’re, not trying to bamboozle me, are you?” He smiled and chanted, “No sir! There is no bamboozlement here. I have quoted you the correct fare.” [Forsooth ! I didn't know "bamboozle is funny English] |
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Dec 15th, 2008, 21:14
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#3 |
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Miscreant AND 10-year visa holder
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Ahmedabad
Posts: 101
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The other day in TOI someone was "bobbitised" and I did a quadruple-take until I realized what they meant... Hope I don't have to spell it out....
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Dec 15th, 2008, 21:52
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#4 |
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Maha Guru Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Chennai
Posts: 757
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About headlines; Something like "Man bites dog" would make news while the reverse does not hold true!
Also news is written in such a way that a sixth standard passout equivalent should be able to read and understand the context. Lets make this thread more interesting; why not poke humour at the US of A English expressions? Btw the Indian english speaking population are highly influenced by USA english (due to media,movies and books) while the education remains moored in what the Brits left behind. Anyways it would be interesting to read about funny Indian English expressions, thanks. |
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Dec 16th, 2008, 01:40
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#5 |
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This is just a cameo appearance
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Chennai, India
Posts: 36,213
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I love the Life of Pi Bamboozlement story
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