The kids have a ritual of clapping during their birthday month when we sing The Months of the Year song in the mornings. The other day Little Darlin' piped up that "It is my maid's birthday" soon. (Did I mention that we teach the kids of the rich?)
"How old will she be?" I asked.
"Fourteen!" he cried. "She is big!"
She is big.
About Me
- Ubiquitous Pidgeon
- I recently moved to Pakistan to teach Kindergarten in a new American-style school for Pakistani kids. This means that in English I'm forever speaking in the first person plural ("Today we learned to grow plants!"), and in Urdu I sound like a two-year-old ("DSL kharab hai? Lal bijli kyu?" "The DSL is bad? Red light why?").
Today's Urdu lesson
- ahm/am: mango
- akela: lonely
- Al-Hamdullah: [Arabic] praise G-d
- amroud: guava
- ayk: one (number)
- bara: twelve/twelfth (not to be confused with 'bara' meaning 'big')
- Baree Eid: Big Eid, aka Eid ul-Zuha, or Eid al-Adha for those of you who speak Arabic
- Begum: Respectful way to address a woman; Mrs., ma'am, or wife
- bhen: sister
- bhi: too, as well
- bijli: electricity or electric light
- biryani: a yummy (and spicy) aromatic rice dish made with chicken
- chai khana: tea shop
- channeh: beans
- chappals: sandals, especially flip-flop style sandals, often fancy and decorated with beads or sequins
- chirriah: bird/sparrow
- choogley: back-biting
- choti: little, small
- churria: bangles
- daal: a sort of stew made from lentils
- dhobi: launderer/washerman (or woman)
- dhol: big drum
- dholki: mid-sized drum; also the drumming usually done for wedding celebrations
- dupatta: large, usually colorful rectangle of fabric, about 7 feet long, that Pakistani women typically wear wrapped over their hair and chest. Women who don't cover their hair generally wear it as an accessory, draped in a 'v' with the ends fluttering behind them.
- firni: sweet pudding made with rosewater
- gadger: carrot
- ghobi: cabbage or cauliflower
- gulab jaman: sweet fried donut-hole-type thing, soaked in sugar syrup
- Habibeh: [Arabic] Sweetheart or My Love; "Habibti" for girls and women
- halva puri: sweet semolina mush scooped up with flat fried dough. Usually eaten for breakfast
- Iftari: meal that ends the day's fast during Ramzan.
- jummah: Friday; also the congregational prayers said at the mosque on Friday afternoon
- kela: banana
- khala: maternal aunt
- Khanoum: [Persian] ma'am, lady (not actually used in Pakistan, as far as I know)
- kheer: rice pudding with pistachios
- kon: who (is it)?
- maghreb: the prayer said just before sunset
- mera/meri: my
- murghey: chicken (if dead) / hen (if alive)
- naan: flat bread (thick)
- nam: name
- namaz: prayer
- nehin hai: there is not
- nehin: no/not
- palek: spinach
- Rabi-ul-Awwal: the third month in the Islamic calendar
- raita: yoghurt dipping sauce, usually with spices in it
- roti: flat bread (thin, rather like a wheatflour tortilla)
- saag: pureed mustard greens
- Sahib: Respectful way to address a man; gentleman, sir, or Mr.
- Sahiba: Respectful way to address a woman; Ma'am or lady
- salat: the five daily prayers Muslims offer to G-d
- Sehri: pre-sunrise meal before the day's Ramzan fast.
- shaadi: wedding; I believe the word is taken from Hindu culture
- shukria: thank you
- tik hai/TK: Okay
- wallah: one, as in "the one [person] with the vegetables/milk/shoes." The number one is 'ayk.'
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