5 ms·

A Dictionary Packed with Stories from Eighteenth-Century Delhi

42 points by Thevet 11y ago

pm90 11y ago
This is an amazing article, and now my interest is piqued in the author's work :). Kudos to him for undertaking the task of figuring out more details about that period of Indian history.
- dang 11y ago
  It really is! though I wish it included more than one example from the dictionary. And how's this for a parenthetical aside: (The fullest account of Persian lexicography in English remains Henry Blochmann’s 1868 article) ... with a hyperlink to a working version: https://archive.org/details/contributionstop00blocuoft https://archive.org/details/contributionstop00blocuoft. There can't be many fields where the fullest account in English remains an 1868 article.
kafkaesq 11y ago
During war they don't hand out sweets. Love that saying.
greglindahl 11y ago
I once ran into a French/English dictionary from 1611 that had a bunch of proverbs in it[0], but this Persian thing is way more interesting! 0: http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/proverbs/ http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/proverbs/
selimthegrim 11y ago
I have to admit Hindi muhavare (aphorisms) are pretty awesome. I hadn't heard of the one they quoted but some of my favorites are ghore bech kar sona - sleep like you sold horses (sleep soundly) (nak) chana chabwana -to make someone chew chickpeas with their nose (to give someone a (very hard) time) munh tor ke jawab dena - to break someone's face in answer (to give a fitting/equal reply) unt ki munh men zira - cumin in a camel's mouth (peanuts, trifling, nothing, in the Zia to Carter sense) dudh men mengni dalna - to put scat in the milk (poisoning the well (in rhetoric)) bandar kya jane adrak ka swad - What does a monkey know of ginger's taste? (ie. pearls before swine) Nach na jane aangan terha - Can't dance? Crooked stage. (A poor workman blames his tools)
- lgessler 11y ago
  Never expected to be trading Hindi aphorisms on Hacker News of all places. Here's one of my favorites from a book full of them I leafed through one time: दो-एक गाँव में भोज हुआ और कुत्ते की जान हड़बड़ी में ही चली गई। My attempt at a translation: 'There were feasts in two villages, and in their running back and forth, the dogs died.' (A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.)

42 points by Thevet 11y ago

pm90 11y ago

This is an amazing article, and now my interest is piqued in the author's work :). Kudos to him for undertaking the task of figuring out more details about that period of Indian history.

dang 11y ago
It really is! though I wish it included more than one example from the dictionary. And how's this for a parenthetical aside: (The fullest account of Persian lexicography in English remains Henry Blochmann’s 1868 article) ... with a hyperlink to a working version: https://archive.org/details/contributionstop00blocuoft https://archive.org/details/contributionstop00blocuoft. There can't be many fields where the fullest account in English remains an 1868 article.

kafkaesq 11y ago

During war they don't hand out sweets. Love that saying.

greglindahl 11y ago

I once ran into a French/English dictionary from 1611 that had a bunch of proverbs in it[0], but this Persian thing is way more interesting! 0: http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/proverbs/ http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/proverbs/

selimthegrim 11y ago

I have to admit Hindi muhavare (aphorisms) are pretty awesome. I hadn't heard of the one they quoted but some of my favorites are ghore bech kar sona - sleep like you sold horses (sleep soundly) (nak) chana chabwana -to make someone chew chickpeas with their nose (to give someone a (very hard) time) munh tor ke jawab dena - to break someone's face in answer (to give a fitting/equal reply) unt ki munh men zira - cumin in a camel's mouth (peanuts, trifling, nothing, in the Zia to Carter sense) dudh men mengni dalna - to put scat in the milk (poisoning the well (in rhetoric)) bandar kya jane adrak ka swad - What does a monkey know of ginger's taste? (ie. pearls before swine) Nach na jane aangan terha - Can't dance? Crooked stage. (A poor workman blames his tools)

lgessler 11y ago
Never expected to be trading Hindi aphorisms on Hacker News of all places. Here's one of my favorites from a book full of them I leafed through one time: दो-एक गाँव में भोज हुआ और कुत्ते की जान हड़बड़ी में ही चली गई। My attempt at a translation: 'There were feasts in two villages, and in their running back and forth, the dogs died.' (A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.)