One of the many upsides to Bangalore being a melting pot of cultures from across the country is the development of its own, unique language. Okay, calling it a language is pushing it. That said, there’s something uniquely Bangalore about the tone, voice, diction and verbiage used in daily parlance by Bangaloreans, irrespective of where we are from – north, south, east, west, centre, old City, Cantonment …you get the picture.
Something as unique to Bangalore as its reverential love of dosas and its pub culture is its slang. Bangalore slang, or lingo is peculiar, to put it mildly. You can travel to any part of the world, but you cannot take out something as innate as B-town slang from a Bangalorean. It’s a fact; medical researchers are stumped at this phenomenon.
Alright, no medical researchers have been involved in such an experiment. Still, it’s believable, right? Here’s a round-up of our favourite slang words from Bangalore, which we also use liberally at Bob’s Radio.
BELT
Actual meaning: a strip of material worn, typically round the waist, to support or hold in clothes
Bangalore meaning: to beat someone to a pulp. Also, to eat like there’s no tomorrow
BLADE
Actual meaning: the flat cutting edge of a knife, a tool or a weapon
Bangalore meaning: to talk the ear off of someone
BOB
Actual meaning: a quick, short, up-and-down movement
Bangalore meaning: another word for dude
BUGGER
Actual meaning: a British swear of sexual nature
Bangalore meaning: addressing someone, usually a third party, with some displeasure
CHUMMA
Actual meaning: kiss, in Hindi
Bangalore meaning: simply
CYCLE GAP
Actual meaning: a small space
Bangalore meaning: a sly way of doing things, like how a cycle fits through narrow gaps in heavy traffic
HAATH
Actual meaning: hand, in Hindi
Bangalore meaning: betrayal. Colloquially used as ‘give/giving/gave/will give haath
IT SEEMS
Actual meaning: appears to be/apparently
Bangalore meaning: same as above, but as an add-on at the end of a sentence
KEDI
Actual meaning: multiple meanings exist across the world – cat, autumn, extremely skinny and so on
Bangalore meaning: sly
LOAFER
Actual meaning: a type of shoe. Also, a person who whiles away time, or is idle
Bangalore meaning: same as above (not the shoe)
Oh, we aren’t done yet! Check out part II of Bangalore slang words.
