Thursday Thirteen banner was made by my good friend, Samulli.
I live in the Deira side of Dubai where the English language I hear is the “tweaked” version. Here’ what I hear on a daily basis:
1. Up and down – Not referring to jumping of any kind.
“How much is going to Mumbai, up and down?”
“Really? You got yours for 1,000 dhs only for up and down?”
No idea what that means? Give up? It means, round trip. Don’t be too hard on yourself. I didn’t have the slightest idea the first time I heard it!!
2. Expired – food, service validity and you might NOT guess, human beings.
A colleague told me: “My uncle has expired last night. ”
3. Do one thing – or two or three, as many as you like! You can hear this when someone is giving instructions on what to do.
“Do one thing, Ali Baba, pick up the mail at the post office and bring it here.” Oops, those were two things!
4. One Mr. xx – There is someone called Mr. xx.
“There is one Mr. Kamal in the accounts department, go meet him.”
5. Increment – “Did you have increment this year?” or “No, the company will not provide increment because of the recession.”
It means, salary increase.
6. Snaps – “Grace, can you take my snaps?”
Huh?
“My snaps. I’ll come with a nice top (blouse) tomorrow so please bring your camera.”
Oh, photos!
7. Filipiniii– Pronounce, Fi-li-pi-niii, referring to Filipinos here in Dubai. I get this all the time: “Are you Filipiniii?”
8. Goggles– not the swimming gadget nor the search engine, heh. Goggles, dark ones, for the sun! Duh!
9. Pressurizing situation– I hear pressurinzing instead of “pressing” or “pressuring”.
“The client is constantly pressurizing us!” or “Please don’t keep pressurizing me, I am busy with other things!”
Oooh-kaay. Stop the pressurizing already!
10. Everything is “too much”– “Ah, summer. It’s too much hot!” or “What? 10 dirhams for this? it’s too much costly!”
Clearly. This is too much for my ears.
11. I have one doubt – doubt, question, confusion.
“Wait, I have one doubt, how to go to Karama?”
12. “Yeah”– the ultimate sentence ender in Dubai. Gotta love it. Not!
“I’ll call you tomorrow, yeah?”
“So you’ve been in Dubai for almost three years, yeah?”
13. xx Sir/xx Madam– the way the bosses or females are referred to. Here they don’t say Sir Elton John or Madam Tussauds (hehehe, can’t think of any better examples!) they say: Elton John Sir and Tussauds Madam.
This Thursday Thirteen is brought to you by Grace Madam. 🙂
If you missed the first part of What They’re Talkin, check out the post I did last year.
http://www.blenza.com/linkies/autolink.php?owner=sandierpastures&postid=04Jun2009&meme=tt
Finding Backroads 
I just wanted to let you know that “expired” is proper in California too!
I guess I am living in the cave then — it sounds so strange to me!!
LikeLike
Oh wow….I’d be lost if visiting then….but I do really like the version of photos…’snaps’. That’s a good one.
My Thirteen is posted…a message to all cats/dogs AND their owners. All in fun! Happy day wishes to you….
Hootin’ Annis last blog post..
LikeLike
Filipiniii?
That could drive you crazy 🙂
http://iamharriet.blogspot.com/2009/06/lovin-thursday.html
LikeLike
Yeah, I don’t think I would understand what they were saying if I were just plunked down in the middle of them all. 🙂
Jackis last blog post..Potpourri
LikeLike
Having been married to the Amazing Egyptian Dude for nearly 30 years, I’ve heard a few of these myself. My favorite, though, remains substituting OPEN for ON and CLOSE for OFF. Conquered this one by telling DH to read the words on the appliance he wanted to OPEN or CLOSE. 🙂
Carleens last blog post..Thursday Thirteen #5: Podcasts to Learn By
LikeLike
We would use snaps here too 🙂
JanMary, N Irelands last blog post..Lessons Learned – results, chefs, parties and talent!
LikeLike
I hear “I have one doubt” a lot here as well… mostly from my Indian colleagues.
Enrico Pangans last blog post..Classic MTV
LikeLike
I could use an increment 🙂
Chelles last blog post..
LikeLike
That was so much fun, Grace! Thanks for another peek at life in Dubai!
LikeLike
I figured out most of them. In context, it wasn’t hard. But yeah, I’d be grimacing right along with you at that poor syntax!
Susan Helene Gottfrieds last blog post..Thursday Thirteen: Soul Bendorff
LikeLike
Cool list. I would be totally “lost in translation” with those though. Thanks for the explanations.
Thanks for sharing. Happy TT!
LikeLike
I knew all save numbers 7, 8, and 13.
Jennifers last blog post..The Giving of One’s Time, Talent, and Kindness
LikeLike
Love it! Kind of reminds me of someone I used to work with. One of her favorites was the phrase “that one”-referring to pretty much anything.
LikeLike
Do one thing is my favourite!!
The one I hear alot is “tell me”. they say it as soon as you pick up the phone even if you’re calling them for something grrrrr
Come to the store to avail yourself the discount – we have discouns in store..
Do the needful… do what you gotta do (charity, wash your hands,etc)
Hello Ma’amsir – am i a madam or a sir or a bad crossdresser?
LikeLike
lol good post….you do get confused sometimes….when i was learning Spanish there was this sentence which had burro in it.. now in Italian it means butter so i simply couldnt understand the sentence, then i ask my teacher and he tells me its donkey….ahhhh now thats better! but confusing
LikeLike
I posted on your earlier post on the same topic. To reiterate, I do not see the point in making fun of the way Indians speak English. Also, you may not have heard some of the terms like “goggles” or “expired” (or “full stop” from your other post) used in a different context to what you are used to, that does not make the usage incorrect. In fact all of them are perfectly acceptable terms for the use described. In any case who made you an expert on the Indian language? People in glass houses should not throw stones! Indians in general speak more grammatically correct English than Filipinos or Japanese, so get off that high horse of ties please. Filipinos also have some peculiar phrases, why don’t you discuss those for a change. I’m tired of people like you poking fun at my people. It is not funny and gets old really quick.
I used to like your blog but these two posts of yours are pathetic. Sorry if I sound harsh but someone needs to put you in your place a bit, about the way these two posts sound.
LikeLike
Sorry that should read, who made you an expert on the English language, not Indian language
LikeLike
And it should be get off that high horse of yours, not high horse of ties. This was a case of iPhone autocorrect.Thought I’d clarify before you had something to say about Indians way of writing next.
Suggestion for your blog- you need some way a person can review and edit their comments before they hit submit
LikeLike
I am reposting my comment after correcting the typos I had made earlier. Sorry for making your page messy. Feel free to delete the comments and corrections, made by me, above.
—————————————————————————-
I posted on your earlier post on the same topic (what they’re talkin’). To reiterate, I do not see the point in making fun of the way Indians speak English.
Also, you may not have heard some of the terms like ?goggles? or ?expired? (or ?full stop? from your other post) used in a different context to what you are used to, that does not make the usage incorrect. In fact all of them are perfectly acceptable terms for the use described. In any case who made you an expert on the English language? People in glass houses should not throw stones! Indians in general speak more grammatically correct English than Filipinos or Japanese, so get off that high horse of yours please. Filipinos also have some peculiar phrases, why don?t you discuss those for a change? I?m tired of people like you poking fun at my people. It is not funny and gets old really quick.
I used to like your blog but these two posts of yours are pathetic. Sorry if I sound harsh but someone needs to put you in your place a bit, about the way these two posts sound.
Thanks and have a great day.
LikeLike
I am not poking fun at Indians or their English. You know what’s poking fun? Stand up comedian RUSSEL PETERS. His has this “Indian English” gag that’s so popular. THAT is poking fun.
And FYI, he is part Indian himself. The Indian audience on his shows? They laugh too.
LikeLike
You probably find my comments rude and I know this is an old post but I just came upon it and had to comment because you are finding fault and poking fun without actually knowing that what is being said is perfectly acceptable. Allow me to back up what I am saying here.
1. Pressurizing is correct usage. See definition here http://www.thefreedictionary.com/_/dict.aspx?word=pressurizing
2. Snap is used in connection to pictures and photos all the time. Where do you think snapfish digital service gets its name from?
See number 6 in this link http://www.thefreedictionary.com/_/dict.aspx?word=Snap
3. Goggles is used for any type of protective eye wear. Not used much these days for sunglasses but still perfectly acceptable.
4. Expired means died. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/_/dict.aspx?word=Expired
Used a lot when people die, considered more polite than saying kicked the bucket or popped it.
5. I have worked all over the world. Some companies call it a pay hike, some a salary increase, some an increment. It means the same thing. More moolah. Just another word for it.
So Grace, my objective is not to offend, but to point out that just because you are used to hearing some words and phrases and not others, it does not mean that what you are hearing is wrong. Just different. I like your blog which is why I am taking the time to type this. People from all over read your blog and so please take the time to research what you are pointing out as wrong, for it may actually not be incorrect after all. Because when you put stuff like this out there, it perpetuates a stereotype. Which some people might find offensive.
Have a good day.
LikeLike
Hi Sunita,
I wanted to address your issue with me and this old blog post privately but since you didn’t leave a proper, working email, I’ll post it here.
*****
Thank you for taking the time to write me very long comments on the blog.
I respect where your opinion is coming from but please know that my objective was NOT to offend too. That post existed in the blog for almost four years and have been read by people including, I might assume, Indians.
And no one has reacted strongly like you did.
If you see both posts, I NEVER wrong that it was funny or implicated that I am poking fun at the sentences. I was merely listing out what I hear everyday and how confused I was. If you scroll down to the comments, most native English speakers say “funny!”. I only said it is interesting – as in, different, not the usual ones I heard all my life BUT I didn’t say it’s wrong so you
didn’t need to point out to me that the usages were indeed right.
I never contested it to be wrong usage, just *different*.
Also, remember that I wrote those in 2008 when I was a bit new in Dubai, just writing things as I go along – my observations of the different world and what is happening/ what I hear everyday.
I am sorry you felt offended by the post but I’d like to remind you that as someone being subjected to racism/discrimination myself here in Dubai, it is the least of my intention to do the same to others.
LikeLike
Sorry about the email address. Typed it wrong on my Phone and it auto filled it in each time after, without my realizing it. I have
corrected it now.
Not a fan of russell peters frankly. But to draw a similarity, its like an African American using the “n” word.
Perhaps you didn’t think you were making fun of the usage,or pointing out that it was incorrect, it comes across as that, even in your earlier post. Anyway, I felt I had to point it out. And I’m not the only one, one of my British friends sent me the link to part 1 of this topic, saying she thought it was rather racist and did I agree.
I do like your blog though. Just not these posts. Hopefully there are not many like them.
LikeLike