A-Z of Kannada Slangs

Compilation & Design: RK

Bejaan dinagalinda ee post baribeku antha sketch haakidde…

(Was wanting to write this post for a long time)

Having studied for most part in Kendriya Vidyalaya, where students from all over India are present, I got to speak more Hindi than Kannada in school. At home, it was always ‘shuddhavaada’ Kannada that I got to hear. The only place where I got to hear Kannada slang was when I played with my friends in the evening. And also when I went to Khan’s cycle shop near Malleswaram 13th Cross where every few days, I got my cycle a new ‘fitting’ or a makeover.

The earliest Kannada slang words I spoke must have been ‘Sakkath’ and ‘Bombaat’. They can be used to describe anything ‘wonderful’ or ‘in plenty’. These two words are really very flexible and can be used in many contexts. Just an example: We can use it to say ‘Sakkath oota’ after having delicious food or say ‘Sakkath kelsa ide’ when you have lots of work pending. Gradually over the years, me and my friends have added more and more to our language, like most of our age.

But offlate, seeing some of my friends, relatives and myself speak at home, I have now come to believe that Kannada slang is localized at the household level!

Having been a regular user of KS (I meant ‘Kannada Slang’) for a long time, I feel, to express more strongly in informal contexts, the use of KS is really effective. For example, If you have seen a horrible movie and want to tell the same to your friend or a relative, you can say either “Film kettdhagide” or “Dabba Film”. I think the latter is more effective and the person will not even have second thoughts (in most cases) of seeing the movie.

Another scenario: Your team is having lots of work in office. But one of the team members (who can understand KS) is seen loitering around from cubicle to cubicle. You can either tell him “Yenu innu kelsane shuru maadilla” or ” Yenu bari othla hodithideera”. The second one will get him started on the job for sure.

Just one more example before signing off: Imagine (at least let’s imagine) India beating Australia by a huge margin and in a royal way. The sentence “Australia team Chindhi Chitranna aaghoythu” is certainly more effective than “Australia team-na India bahala chennagi solisthu.”

The above chart gives you just a sample from the vast lexicon of Kannada slang words. There are lots more, and readers are most welcome to add to the list.