Jyada Shanpana Nahin Karneka! (Natasha Desai)

“Bhaigiri ko chod sab... BAKWAAS (Apart from the mafia everything else is rubbish)
Bhai ka under jo rehta... BINDAAS (Whoever is with the mafia/don is safe)
Bhai ko denga tras, hoenga woh khallas (If anybody troubles don, they are finished)
bahenga uska blood just like tomato sauce... (Their blood will flow like tomato sauce)

Ae... maarega sar pe haagega ghar pe kya? (Hey, If I whack your head, you’ll be scared shitless)
zyada shining nahi karne ka.. (Don’t act too smart)
Kasakai bhara hai I am Mumbhai. (How are you I am fine I am Mumbhai)

Abe aasmani kaboothar... (Hey you snob)
balcony se nikal kar ishtol mein aa ishtol mein.(Get off your high horse)
Khopche mein leke diyun kya kharcha pani... huh? (Should I whack you?)”

Sang Javed Jaffery about living in Mumbai in the 1998 film Bombay Boys.  For a person like Abhijat Sawarkar, a Puneite, Jaffery may as well have been speaking an exotic foreign language. He won’t be too wrong to think that way either. To elucidate, Javed Jaffery sang in a dialect/language typical to this glorious city. Sawarkar observes “The people in Pune speak almost pure Marathi, a lot of non-Maharashtrians too know Marathi. But in Mumbai, it’s more of a mixture and it’s very colloquial”

A lot of the words used in the Hindi spoken in Mumbai come from Marathi. A fair amount of the lingo has Tapori origins. Tapori, of course being the average young wastrel on the street.

The term bhai and its implications originated from the mafia dons of Mumbai. Who were addressed as bhai meaning elder brother, as a sign of respect. Bhaigiri is what you would say when referring to hoodlum behaviour or for bossiness in a more general use. Your boss/professor would certainly qualify as a bhai- a person indulging in bhaigiri.  

One favourite phrase of the Mumbaikar is ‘Samjha na?’ Literally translated it asks whether the second person has understood. Its implications… pretty much a threat. ‘You’d better do as I say or listen to what I’m saying or I’m going to beat you’ would aptly describe it.

Shanpana comes from a Marathi word shaana which means smart. When the suffix pana is added it becomes the abstract noun of shaana, but it has come to imply being over smart. “Jyada shanpana mat kar samjha na” said one five-year-old to another the other day; when he tried jumping his turn at batting on the cricket pitch.

Mumbaikars refer to each other as tereko and mereko.  Meaning ‘you’ or ‘to you’ and ‘me’ or ‘to me’ respectively. Tereko samjha na?

Tras is a Marathi word which means trouble or bother. It most commonly used in the phrase ‘Kya tras hain’ meaning how much of a bother it is. Trudging through the mounds of muck on your way to the station is major tras!

Some Mumbaikars have a tendency to attach the suffix -enga to words to indicate action. Denga comes from de in Hindi meaning to give.  Denga too means to give. Hence, aaenga, jaaenga, karenga, which means to come, to go, to do respectively.

Hagega too comes from the Marathi word hagne or hagh which means to poop. The word hagega is in the past tense normally used in hindi. Also, the bloody crow hagofied on your t-shirt today. Incidentally, Sawarkar abhors this word.

-ofied or -ofy is a suffix a lot of college-going Mumbaikars attach to their words to indicate an action. -ofied being the past tense of -ofy. Ghusofy,marofy, darofy, mutofy meaning to rush into, to whack, to scare, to pee on respectively. Samjhofied?

Oh and if this is boring you, then you are being pakaved also used as Kya pak raha hain! It comes from the hindi word pakana which means to cook. Hence, you are being irritated when you use pakav.

Often on the streets of Mumbai you will find the ‘cutting’ and the ‘pandu’. The former being far more agreeable than the latter. When you ask someone for a ‘cutting’, you’re basically asking for a shot of tea, which goes straight to the head like vodka would.

‘Pandu’ refers to the men in khaki that ensure the ‘smooth’ flow of traffic is the city. They are the same men who skulk in corners catching the road rule breakers. If a pandu catches you, then ‘full jhol’ happens. Jhol is a problem. A major problem. Also, the ‘pandu’ sometimes expects ‘kharcha pani’ when he catches you unaware. ‘Kharcha pani’ means a bribe and can also mean a beating. In this case the ‘pandu’ expects a bribe.

One of the most iconic words is ‘saala’ which literally means wife’s brother. However it implies someone who is up to no good.

‘Bas hua bad bad. We no, are like that only! Katle abhi.’ 

References

1.      Talk with Abhijat Sawarkar

2.      Bombay Boys, Lyrics of Mumbhai, retrieved from http://www.justsomelyrics.com/1354709/Jaaved-Jaffrey-Mumbhai-Lyrics