Thursday, July 25, 2013

Phrases and Meanings - I

I shall make no promises this time - except please do not be intimidated by that '- I' business. This is a self-contained post and no prior knowledge is required (and do not listen to those evil beings that say 'no brains required either') nor would you be left hanging unless you read the subsequent parts like one of those fantasy trilogies. Believe me, I had intended to finish off with "How are you?" also in the last post but - what can I say? - the words ran away with me.

This question - 'How are you?' - is really not an invitation to start with that pain in your big toe that you get from an impacted toe nail and work your way up to the sharp twinges in your knees, that dyspeptic feeling in your stomach which feels so much like a heart attack and that dull ache above your eyebrows which presages a migraine (the morning after without the night before). Not even if you finish off saying, "Other than all that I am fine". Unless of course you are an in-patient in a hospital - in which case the chap who asks you "How are you?" considers that as a mere preliminary to launching into a series of tales about his aunts, uncles, cousins and other such fauna who have all come to miserable ends after suffering exactly what you are suffering and ends with "Don't worry! You will be all right!" Not that the last statement reassures you.

Apparently the proper answer to that "How are you?" is a "How are you?' again. Seems like a game of oneupmanship. As though you thought, "You are not the only one who can show concern for me. I can show concern for you as well. Now stuff that in your pipe and smoke it." But that is the appropriate polite behavior apparently. What I have found is you ask this only when you mean, "I could not care less if you dropped dead of a heart attack right now". With people whom you actually cared about, you would be asking about specific ailments or just launch into a conversation without this preliminary. Maybe they started using this in more violent times merely to say "I did not come here of a purpose to kill you this time, so let us both relax".

As if that phrase were not enough, I had to deal with an answer to that question that I started hearing only after I shifted to Delhi. "Bus aapke chatra chaye mein" which literally translates to "In the shadow of your umbrella" and figuratively means "Safe under your aegis". Now when I first heard this I must admit to a feeling of fear - it seemed to me like the chap was saddling me with the responsibility of taking care of him and his family. Thankfully I refrained from voicing a hasty demurrer about how ill-equipped I was to take care of even myself. Later, of course, it seeped into me that this was yet another of those phrases that people say without any regard to what it literally or figuratively meant.

Huh! This has run into one whole post as well. About time I released you into the world to spray your How-are-yous indiscriminately.

40 comments:

  1. Word of caution though - never ever ask "How are you" in Calcutta. I did and was given a detailed health update from the person - not only his own, but that of his wife and also the bowel movements of his elderly grandmother (Dida). I am still scarred by the experience.

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    1. See? That caution about not doing it was necessary :)

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  2. Absolutely, no one is actually interested in knowing how exactly are you. It is just a goddamn greeting phrase! And all that you are expecting to hear is I am fine or all is well.

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    1. Or "All izzz wellll" after Three idiots released? :)

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  3. Well, that reminds me - I am also learning the tricks of humor 'Bus aapke chatra chaye mein'. So, what do we see next? The 'I am fine' phrase? Looking forward to it.

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    1. I feel like Drona training Aswaththama :) I cannot handle all this competition :)

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  4. Ha! Interesting analysis. These formalities are so tedious.

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    1. And so helpful when someone has run out of blogpost ideas :)

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  5. "(the morning after without the night before)" - You and your asides! Thumbs-up. And in Delhi, you will hear "Bus aapke chatra chaye mein" a lot. Are you working for the GoI. It's a most common phrase used on those pushing papers on moth-ridden desks. Other than that, it's used for God Almighty. So, either ways - feel powerful! :D

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    1. Oh! Yeah! I worked for a PSU and was seconded to the GOI as Consultant. :)

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  6. :D ROFL aapke chatra chaya ... hahhaa.. ( I almost imagined you all confused after someone invaded your umbrella on a rainy day just because you asked him how are u? hahahha ) I am all giggling .. true.. the literal meaning of that kind of response would surely scare me - "boss i have enough pending bills to pay .. get out of my umbrella" :D
    Suresh ji ..
    well even How are you has been scissored to Hows U!! :D and people don't wait for an answer.. they start talking business the very next second .. These articles on phrases should be produced as Bills to the Parliament and the govt should make sure they be passed and people use these phrases when they actually mean it :)
    It is always Amazing .. to be at your space and I make sure I have enough time because your posts are always talkative and a random read is impossible!

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  7. Oh I am just glad that someone wise decided to replace the old - How do you do - with a simpler - How are you. Otherwise imagine all of us getting annoyed with the old greeting. Do? Do what? would be the question oft repeated!

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    1. I did think of "How do you do?" - but that one has implications ranging from the salacious to the obscene - so I opted for the simpler "How are you?" :)

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  8. So I felt like a tennis ball being hit on one side and then hit again from the other side of court...So, How were you when you started writing? And, How are you? O_o

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    1. Should I start with my impacted toe-nail and carry one from there? :)

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    2. Ha ha ha! Bass aapki kripa hi kaafi hai ;P

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    3. Ye Lo! That is the other version of Umbrella shade :)

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  9. I thought things were evolving...
    How do you do?
    How are you?
    How're you?
    Howdy?
    Hi!

    By the way, one often reads this 'How are you?' on FB chats and before you actually respond with something as inane (like, All well, so far...) the person has gone on to the next level of the conversation. I am seriously considering having a short-cut key to respond to this greeting... maybe 3 jabs on the space key! :)

    Nice post.

    Arvind Passey
    www.passey.info

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    1. Thanks Arvind! That shortcut key may be a great help :)

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  10. I couldn't agree more. There are times when I feel people ask that just to start off conversations to ask huge favours :P

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    1. Hahaha! Anyway, it is said without being meant :)

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  11. "kaise hain?"
    "bas chal raha hai, aur aap?"..
    "sab badhiya!"
    "chalo phir."..and they march off.(India mein)
    "hi, how are u." and before you open your mouth they are already on to the next person. Who wants to hear your story..hehe.. (In US)

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    1. Nobody, that is a fact :) Everyone only wants to tell their story :)

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  12. "Bus aapke chatra chaye mein" ! Well, for me that's claustrophobic to know that someone is standing with me under the same umbrella and I didnt even know about it ! The camel is bound to take over the umbrella and push the arab out before he says Timbuktoo !!

    Great post again..I am going to look up the thesaurus for words like nice etc..as I am sure you would sick of hearing the same thing again and again :D

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  13. Suresh there is another reply to how are you-aap ki kripa hai.Someone in the habit of replying thus was further congratulated for having been blessed with a baby son & imagine what happened when he gave the same reply?

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    1. Hahaha! Now why didn't I think of that :)

      "Bus aapki kripa hai"; "Bus aapki dua hai" - heard all of them :)

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  14. ROFL...BTW, I find the questions such as "how do you do?" and "how are you doing today?" quite baffling. I am never sure what process they are asking me about :P

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  15. This is probably one of my favorite phrases. I was hoping you would write of this in the series.

    Brings back memories of 15 years back when in my first week of landing here, one of my American colleagues made the mistake of asking me this Q on his way to the coffee room. I had just started driving and on that day had my rear tire was shredded on the highway at 75 mph by a dangling rear bumper. I had just reached work after this ordeal when I was posed this Q by this innocent victim. I was new to all this "how do you do", "how are you" stuff and I thought it would be rude on my part to not answer honestly to this guys queries and so I went into "considerable detail" on the days excitement. To the guys credit, he listened patiently till the end and told me the answer he was expecting, at most, was "good" :) Since then I just say good no matter what the other person says to me! Oh, what a day! good, Weather is crappy.. good, I totaled my car... good and so on and so forth.

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  16. There is another phrase, or rather word which is used in conversations in Delhi. 'aur?' This versatile term can be used to open a conversation, or when one wants to say, 'I have nothing to say to or ask of you, so buzz off.' The frequency with which it is used indicates the levels of boredom and 'off-with-you' sentiments :)

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    1. Long time no see, Zephyr! Great to see you here. There is an English equivalent too rght? "So?" is also used with various intonations to indicate about the same and further includes disapproval sometimes :)

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  17. I like the way the British reply to such queries. Their usual answer is - Not too bad.
    So basically, they are telling you that they are in a very bad condition but it could have been worse. How pessimistic can one get?

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    1. :)

      So, even the British have stopped playing one-up-man-ship :)

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  18. Oh this is truly a dangerous question with some folk, Suresh. Hypochondriacs should always answer with "How much do you want to know?" before they proceed to be upset that we're not listening to their woes! ;)

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    1. If they could exercise so much care, they would not be hypochondriacs Corinne :)

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  19. When my parents came back after visiting us in the US, that was one thing that they would always remember and laugh. How people responded to 'How are you' with 'Good, how are you'!! My Mom would be like 'When would it stop?" If they both keep asking How are you and responding the same way, wouldn't it just become a loop?

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