At least 50 of the 1,700 new words in the new Concise Oxford are Indian English, making it one of the top sources of English vocabulary. Words we thought in our innocence were English have finally been given the Oxford nod: history-sheeter, sixer, batchmate, brinjal, buck, bogie, corporator, eveninger, gymkhana, lakh, crore, undertrial, prepone.... And of course, the words we deliberately injected into angrezi: adda, aloo, baba, babu, badmash, begum, Bhagwan, bibi, bundobast, burra, Burra Din, bustee, chacha, chai, chamcha, chappal, chota, dastur, desh, desi, devi, dhaba, didi, diya, dum, filmi, gherao.... The words were trawled from iwe fiction, newspapers, scientific journals and chatrooms. The TOI was one source, but more so was Meera Syal whose novels and TV comedies have made Hinglish part of angrezi slang.
Finally we can spare ourselves the blush. Ever used the word "dicky" in videshi company and have them sidle away in embarrassed silence? Now all they have to do is look up the new Concise Oxford to find its real meaning: n. Indian. the boot of a car.
