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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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