World Groove

Refinement of tongue has become a thing of the past. Now languid prose is found only in the classics, whether books or movies. Nobody talks in eloquent prose anymore, much less write in that style.

Slang has invaded every corner of the world. And is unique to its region, territory, location, even within a country, there are so many different terms.

Singapore has a distinct sing-song style of speaking, where when talking to a friend, every sentence ends with ‘lah’. It’s almost musical. I said almost.

Bombay ought to trademark its ‘bambaiyya’ style of talk. The ‘tapori’ style has been used in many movies, especially among the 'goondas/dadas/bhai log' of a 'colony’. After “Munnabhai MBBS” became a hit movie, this kinda talk is now not restricted to just Mumbai, but all of India. Friends give 'maa behen gaalis' to each other in regular every day speak. Street talk has become a way of life.

Everyone thinks its ‘cool’ and ‘hip’ to talk in slang. Gals think 'Its soooo happenin', babe!'. ‘Aapun ka style hai, bhai’, guys say, and turn up their collar. 'Dudes' who like to think of themselves as a ‘stud’ mostly practise this.

The word ‘stud’ reminds me of a funny incident…
Some years ago, when all of us cousins got together from different parts of the globe during holiday season, we decided to play the board game 'Pictionary'. The game was gifted to us by one of the aunties. It occupied most of our summer vacation and was quite a rabble-rouser and super fun. We couldn’t stop laughing at how atrociously some of us drew, or at least, tried to. Me, the conservationist of the family, insisted that we save paper and draw within the same sheet for as many turns possible. Since others were too caught up with the game, they sorta forgot to mention this could get highly annoying. At every turn, I would remind the person drawing not to use up too much paper. Of course I was scrupulous in saving paper when it came to my turn, practising (for once) what I preached.

Anyway, to spice things up, we decided to enact the keywords instead of drawing them. Pictionary with a Dumbcharades twist, if you will. The competition was between two teams and a representative was chosen from each team to act out the chosen word. The team that guessed the word faster would score points.

It so happened that each team ‘actor’ were two of my youngest cousins, both girls about the same age, roughly 12 at the time. The word was ‘stud’. The cousin belonging to India (CBI) pointed to her ear lobe. At the same time, the cousin in America (CIA) (no puns intended :-)) pointed to the muscles on her arm. All the onlookers gaped. "How can they show different body parts," was the question writ large on the confused faces in each team. CBI continued to point and tug at her ear, (which was reddening by the minute) while CIA began striking macho he-man and muscleman poses.

It was a sight for sore eyes. The little ‘uns had interpreted the word so differently! Of course, Pictionary being a popular American boardgame, the answer was the clue provided by CIA. Poor CBI! It wasn’t a ear stud! I won the game with this clue and managed to corrupt li’l CBI at the same time. For the rest of the day, she cross-questioned me and CIA about what ‘stud’ meant and who 'stud boy' was.

In America, hip-hop lingo and music introduced slang in one clean sheet...err...sweep. Once CIA’s mom asked her son about his roommates and life on campus. Her 19-year-old son had moved to a new college away from home and had begun sharing an apartment with some fellow college mates. He replied ‘PHAT, mom!’ His mom thought he was being rude. :-)

Slang can be confounding, confusing, and yet delightful. Well, sometimes at least.

Well, slang words are a never-ending topic. Feel free to jump in with other interesting and fun terms. No, I am not compiling an Idiot’s Guide to Slang All Over The World. Aise hi, time pass yaar! :-)

World Groove, by the way, is an amazing CD I got at Landmark. Its got dance, electronica, R&B et al from musicians all over the world. New age music rocks! :-)