Again only

-
Colleague- trying to sound prompt - on a call with a new phoren client, with a prospective long term relationship ahead:

We will do the analysis today only

Comments

  1. Rakesh KumarAugust 5, 2009 at 11:20 AM

    Interesting, the use of the word "only". Is it from the use of "mattum" in Tamizh? Here in Malaysia, there is always the word "what", some sort emphasis. This one comes from the same word in Malay, as used freely in Malay conversation.

    "I did the analysis today, what?" A protest.

    "He knows, what?" A reminder.

    "Don't know what what all he is thinking". This, I think, came from Tamizh. "Enanavoo nenechittu irukkaanoo?".

    ReplyDelete
  2. dagaltiAugust 7, 2009 at 1:50 AM

    //Interesting, the use of the word "only". Is it from the use of "mattum" in Tamizh? //
    No. Not at all.
    It is a patently North Indian expression. btw the pluralistic SouthIndians deem anything north of Bangalore as one clump: North India.

    "They" use the word 'only' to mean 'itself'. My colleague meant to say he will finish the task rightaway but ended up flummoxing the listener.

    I realize that 'itself' is itself quite patently SouthIndianenglish expression.

    'normal':I did it way back in March
    SI: I did it in March itself
    NI: I did it in March only

    I can kinda understand 'itself', not so much out of proximity as much as it is only an extending the expression and applying it to cases where it is not usually used.

    OTOH 'only' violates the basic relationship between a word and its meaning.

    ReplyDelete
  3. ttmAugust 7, 2009 at 2:57 AM

    Doug Altie,
    You might want to click here and read the part about Akram(do control-Fs):
    http://www.varioustopics.com/cricket/79804-ian-terenc-e-botham.html

    it's very revealing analysis..except that Akram was the kind of bowler who would take 2 wickets in a jiffy, then lost interest rather than batter the line-up with 5-6w like Waqar/Shoaib.

    ReplyDelete
  4. CalvinSeptember 3, 2009 at 1:44 AM

    hmm..the North-South interpretations.. quite interesting..and i agree for usage of "itself".. its slips in quite easily in day to day speech..
    for "only" i feel that its used as frequently in South Indian english usage..i am unable to tag it with North Indian English..

    Funnily though, people in North India, club anything below Mumbai as one chunk.. :-)

    I think its just about a madrasi staying in delhi for a while to appreciate how different each part in north india is..
    same as it takes for a punjabi in bangalore..

    ReplyDelete
  5. dagaltiSeptember 3, 2009 at 8:15 PM

    Nah Calvin..."only" in the usage "Pak beat India in 40 overs only" is exclusively North of the VindhyAs. First time I heard it was when I was in Mumbai from people as far apart as Orissa and Rajasthan !

    Curious how the English usage differences creep in. Down 'South' 1/2 is one by two, but in the 'North' one upon two !

    The clubbing in one chunk happens everywhere. Any south Indian getting offended by a Bihari's inability to know which language is spoken in which Southern state, should first be asked to name the 7 states in the North East.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Collection of Scattered Thoughts on தில்லானா மோகனாம்பாள்

-
Have blog, will archive. What follows is from a clutch of posts written at various points in time about ThillAnA MohanAmbAL - in my opinion, one of the most thoroughly enjoyable films with a distinctly homegrown aesthetic. Due to the nature of the post, you can expect all kinds of unevenness and abruptness, which the content shall hopefully compel you to bear with.  Plunge..
Read more

The Legend of Butler Kandappar

-
Image
Foreword I had intended to post this on Vaikāsi Anusham.  But today is Ayōthidāsar’s birthday and I saw  a tweet by the TN BJP  chief claiming  "திருக்குறளை இன்றைய அச்சு வடிவத்திற்குக் கொண்டு வருவதற்கு அரும்பணியாற்றியவர்".   This, in in of itself is a curious claim. Ayōthidāsar did write a commentary to it from his point of view. But that hardly qualifies as the definitive form we see today ( " இன்றைய அச்சு வடிவம்") I infer what Annamalai is referring to is  Ayōthidāsar’s claim to be the descendant of the heroic Butler Kandappan whose intervention ensured we have the text today. Story The story of ‘Butler Kandappan saving the TirukkuRaL manuscripts seems to have come from Ayōthidāsar himself,  like many others! 
I have not read Ayōthidāsar’s own’s words on the claim but many, including reliable scholars like Stalin Rajangam and Prof.Dharmaraj have made the claims that Butler Kandappar was the one who gave the kuRaL manuscript to F.W.Ellis (via Lor...
Read more

Kamal - the writer/director

-
Image
A few days back I managed to catch Thevar Magan and, as is my wont whenever I watch it, started raving about it. This time I also managed to have a conversation about it with @kalyanasc on twitter. Following the principle of 'Have Blog. Will Archive", I thought I'd post it here. Oh, the things I do for posterity! @ dagalti How much credit would like to give the late Bharathan? It is also beautifully photographed, especially Gowthami #ThevarMagan — Kalyan Raman (@kalyanasc) June 10, 2012 @ kalyansc I know nothing of Bharathan's works actually.I don't think his only other Tamil film (Avarampoo, (cont) tl.gd/hpiuov — dagalti (@dagalti) June 10, 2012 Credit Sharing - local-flavour I know nothing of Bharathan's works actually.I don't think his only other Tamil film (Avarampoo, which is a remake of his Malayalam film based on Padmarajan's script) reflective all the nice things I hear about him. Moreover, I am very partial to writers. Par...
Read more