READING an article some days ago about the special vocabulary that develops between close couples, I was quite taken aback to discover that this practice was not as I had thought — an exclusive privilege enjoyed by our one particular group of friends. It seems that close friends and couples, as a norm, tend to develop their own private language over the years, thereby inadvertently excluding ‘outsiders’ from their conversations, who have no clue as to what is being discussed.
With us, too, — although my husband and I are lucky enough to enjoy the company of many sets of close friends — there is one group in particular with whom the closeness has given birth to a language that we have become so comfortable using, that we frequently incorporate our code words or phrases in our conversations even with others, on the natural assumption that we will be understood. The article made me think of the genesis of some of our private vocabulary, and I realized that it could constitute the ammunition for an amusing piece, albeit at the cost of our privacy!
So here goes nothing! And if you read my obituary after this feature is published, be in no doubt that my friends have ‘done me under!’
GAZAALA: A name used for anyone putting on airs and graces, and particularly an accent. The word was coined when a certain Ghazala went to the US, where she lived for a couple of years, and returned to introduce herself as Miss Gazaala!
TAKING ON AN F-16: The act of committing yourself to something without any idea of what it might entail. The phrase originated when some Generals were discussing the sale of fighter planes in Islamabad at a party, and one of them joined in late into the conversation. On hearing the word F-16, he assumed that the topic under discussion was the sale of plots in Islamabad and piped in “I want one, too, preferably a corner plot, West open”!
MAJOR: A boo-boo or a faux pas. Depending on how big the slip-up, the rank increases — to brigadier, etc. Major started as a short-form for a ‘major mistake’, and with the passage of time, other ranks were adopted into the vocabulary.
LWK: Short for La-haula..... Self-explanatory, it’s an acronym used when anyone does or says anything scandalous.
THROATABAD: When you are petrified. It is an abbreviation for ‘one’s voice getting stuck in one’s throat’. The word originated when one of the gang had nearly got caught doing something very embarrassing and used the term later to describe to the group his horror at the thought of getting caught in the act.
MUMANI JAAN GUZAR GAIN: When a statement could have a double meaning, usually a vulgar one! The phrase was coined in the memory of an aunt of one of the group members, who was known for speaking incomplete sentences, thus leaving a lot to the listener’s imagination.
BHAI SAAB: When you think you’re whispering but you are loud enough for people around you to hear what you are saying. The code came into being thanks to ‘Bhai Saab’ himself — a loved older brother of a group member, who suffers from Down’s syndrome — and speaks really loudly when he is under the impression that he is whispering!
SEE YOU TOMORROW: A code for informing the rest of the group that we are to meet up at our favourite haunt after dispersing from a party. It more-or-less transpired on its own when we were looking for a polite way of saying goodbye to others around us, without hurting their feelings that we were not inviting them to join us for coffee.
ST MICHAEL’S: A term used to describe anything considered the world’s best. It was inspired by a TV play in which a kebab vendor was trying in vain to sell his product to passersby. He noticed that the public was tending to buy from sellers that had fancy names, so promptly put up the board ‘St Michael ke kebab’ on his cart. Sure enough, within no time, he was flooded by customers!
TAKYA CASE: The sudden death of some remote relative whose demise at a later stage may have affected the dates of a forthcoming marriage or important event. It originated when a friend, desperate to get married, faced the prospect of his wedding being postponed at the last minute because of the ‘untimely’ death of a relative in the would-be bride’s family, who was suffering from a terminal illness. People started teasing him that he had suffocated the poor relative to death with a pillow, thus the code.
4337: THIS IS A RECORDING: Quite self-explanatory. When someone repeats a piece of news or a joke that others have already heard before — particularly from the same person, you say this phrase. Its genesis is a friend in the group who loves to hear his own voice and frequently repeats himself. The code was inspired by the message he had recorded in his own voice on his answering machine.
CONFIDENCE KI DENA: A term used when you are conning your way out of a situation with an air of confidence and authority, and are simultaneously warning your friends not to blow the cover. Its genesis is a group member who is famous for bluffing his way through life, who was trying to impress a foreigner with some far-fetched facts and figures about Karachi’s leading private hospital, and was afraid that we would call his bluff in front of him.
READING an article some days ago about the special vocabulary that develops between close couples, I was quite taken aback to discover that this practice was not as I had thought — an exclusive privilege enjoyed by our one particular group of friends. It seems that close friends and couples, as a norm, tend to develop their own private language over the years, thereby inadvertently excluding ‘outsiders’ from their conversations, who have no clue as to what is being discussed.
