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There is such a thing as Indian English, maybe not officially but it certainly exists and it does differ from British and American English. As a matter of fact

There is such a thing as Indian English, maybe not officially but it certainly exists and it does differ from British and American English. As a matter of fact, if you look up prepone in Wiktionary "prepone" is mentioned as being used in India, so it's not that weird that the teacher in the article used it. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/prepone https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/prepone

brk 5y ago
There is such a thing as Indian English If there is one phrase that, to me, defines Indian English, I think it would be "do the needful". For American English speakers, I think the first time you hear/see that, it is totally confusing and jarring in an odd way.
- rocknor 5y ago
  Then you need to learn more about it, Indian English is more than just that one phrase. That's like saying, "if there is one phrase that, to me, defines American English, I think it would be "Howdy".
  - MispelledToyota 5y ago
    that would be a fine thing to say. Seems like everything is fine.
    - rocknor 5y ago
      No it's not. My point is that "do the needful" is not a proper representation of Indian English, as the parent comment implied. There are a lot more pecularities that makes the dialect what it is, but people are just not aware of them (yet). A quick google search will tell you that.
      - MispelledToyota 5y ago
        "Howdy" seems like a successful synechdoche for American dialect to me. Seems like what makes something a proper representation is somewhat personal.
        andrewzah 5y ago
        Not to derail the conversation more, but "howdy" is more of a southern American thing than just American. I never used that in the midwest/north until I moved to the south.
        MispelledToyota 5y ago
        Yeah, I'm from the midwest and only would use it somewhat tongue in cheek or to mix things up. But most short-hands for American culture internationally seem to be focused on Southern/Western.
      - darkhorse13 5y ago
        Yes it is. To the point where there is actually a meme about it: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/do-the-needful https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/do-the-needful I'm South Asian by the way, so this meme is also associated with my own culture.
- anotherhue 5y ago
  Heard this phrase growing up in Ireland also so I think you may be over generalising. A quick search shows Irish origins actually.
  - sumedh 5y ago
    > A quick search shows Irish origins actually. I thought the British gave that phrase during colonial times.
  - brk 5y ago
    Very interesting, thanks. I have some Irish friends and we've both commented to each other that it seemed to be somewhat unique to Indian English speakers, makes me wonder more about it. And in a sense, yes, I was intending to over-generalize a bit, I think that for various languages that used broadly in different geographies, certain words and phrases tend to pop up locally that are often not widely used outside of that region. This is just from observations I have made traveling globally and working with global teams for 20+ years. I mentioned "do the needful" as it popped into my head from the parent comment about Indian English.
- eralps 5y ago
  I am a non-native English speaker. “Even I” would come to my mind first and then that. For some reason it means “I also” in Indian English and it sounds weird to non Indian dialect. Like “Even I don’t understand this” sounds obnoxious to me because in my mind it means “Even I, an almighty being, don’t understand this, who are you to think you can understand it” but it means “I also don’t understand” in Indian English. According to google “Even” as adverb: used to emphasize something surprising or extreme. So I assume what I think at first is what native English speakers also think. I hear this daily and I know what it meant to mean now, I had a friend who did not know this and thought her Indian colleague was talking down to her.
  - qw3rty01 5y ago
    "Even I" is pretty common for native speakers, although it's normally used to break an assumption rather than being a full replacement for "I also". For example: you are in a class and someone asked a question about a topic. The person next to you turns and says "I can't believe they don't understand this topic." Your neighbor is making the assumption that you also understand it. So if you didn't understand the topic, a response could be "Nah, even I had some questions about it." Although someone could definitely use it to be condescending, or just trying to be cheeky.
- twic 5y ago
  That phrase is so well known, i think some Indian speakers now avoid it when speaking to British or American speakers! The one that sticks in my mind is "club" as a verb meaning "group". "We will club these events together into one message for efficiency".
- 908B64B197 5y ago
  I've heard "do the needful" used by non-Indians in tech, thanks to Indian expats in tech using it. I hope it goes mainstream some day, at least in tech.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
- Diederich 5y ago
  That's funny, because as a half a century long US native speaker, I started using that phrase a couple of years ago because I thought it sounded neat and everyone understands what it means.
- jkingsbery 5y ago
  The first time I heard/read "prepone" and "do the needful," it was maybe jarring because I had never heard either of those before, but in both cases it was pretty obvious what they meant.
- screye 5y ago
  Funnily enough, "do the needful" is proper English. It is too proper. It comes from mid-19th century British English, which was used to design templates for formal letter writing in India. These artifacts have remained as part of Indian English, but died as part of British and American English. [1] https://katherinebarber.blogspot.com/2016/09/doing-needful.html https://katherinebarber.blogspot.com/2016/09/doing-needful.h...
- flemhans 5y ago
  And sirs. So many sirs.
  - Teluser2 5y ago
    Another common usage Indian English speakers make is using singular with one of for example saying "one of my friend" instead of saying "one of my friends". Also using only in a way completely different from how a native speaker would use. For example, to a question: Is the answer wrong? They will reply: No, the answer is correct only to mean that the answer was correct. I am a first generation Indian myself.
chris_j 5y ago
If Wikipedia is to be believed [0], India ranks third in the list of countries ranked by number of English speakers and it's only fair to regard Indian English as a form of the language that is at least as valid as those from other countries. Having said that, one of the things that you have to learn when you start speaking with English speakers from around the world is to recognise which of the words in your vocabulary will be understood vs which are particular to your native country. I'd put words like "prepone" and "needful" into this category: you need to find an alternative when talking to people from places where those words aren't understood. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_English-speaking_population https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_English-s...
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- xxpor 5y ago
  The difference is that Indian English exists almost entirely as a 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) language, so it'll never sound as natural. It's not the language of the street or the discourse.
  - qart 5y ago
    > The difference is that Indian English exists almost entirely as a 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) language A huge number of kids in India learn English as their first and only language. Especially kids born in cities, whose parents' linguistic backgrounds differ. > it'll never sound as natural It already sounds perfectly natural to everyone here. > It's not the language of the street or the discourse. Wrong. India is not homogeneous like that. In Bangalore, an Indian walking into a shoe shop on Brigade Road will get addressed by the shopkeeper in English. Or an Indian visiting a pub in Koramangala, also gets addressed by the waiter in English. The consumption numbers of English news channels, English newspapers, etc. should give you an idea of the prevalence of English here.
    - xxpor 5y ago
      >A huge number of kids in India learn English as their first and only language "The 2011 Census showed English is the primary language—mother tongue—of 256,000 people, the second language of 83 million people, and the third language of another 46 million people, making it the second-most widely spoken language after Hindi" https://www.livemint.com/news/india/in-india-who-speaks-in-english-and-where-1557814101428.html https://www.livemint.com/news/india/in-india-who-speaks-in-e... 256K is not a huge amount. Even if that's up to 1.256 million in the last 10 years, that's nothing compared to the size of India. >It already sounds perfectly natural to everyone here It doesn't to anyone outside of the subcontinent. This could also possibly be explained by the complete lack of English language Indian media outside of India, in the US particularly. We get UK, Canadian, and sometimes even Australian and NZ programming in the US. Why no Indian? >Wrong. India is not homogeneous like that. In Bangalore, an Indian walking into a shoe shop on Brigade Road will get addressed by the shopkeeper in English. Or an Indian visiting a pub in Koramangala, also gets addressed by the waiter in English. I'm well aware. However, when a bunch of Kannada speakers are hanging out at a cafe, would they be speaking English? Of course not. English is a lingua franca, not the preferred option if there's a shared mother tongue.
stewx 5y ago
A habit I've noticed among English-speaking Indians is ending chat sentences with "...!!!" For example: "Good morning, Bob...!!!" I would really like to know where it comes from. In my experience, they don't realize that "..." comes across as dramatic or passive-aggressive. The "!!!" part I assume is just meant to convey enthusiasm, but it comes across as very aggressive.

brk 5y ago

There is such a thing as Indian English If there is one phrase that, to me, defines Indian English, I think it would be "do the needful". For American English speakers, I think the first time you hear/see that, it is totally confusing and jarring in an odd way.

rocknor 5y ago
Then you need to learn more about it, Indian English is more than just that one phrase. That's like saying, "if there is one phrase that, to me, defines American English, I think it would be "Howdy".
- MispelledToyota 5y ago
  that would be a fine thing to say. Seems like everything is fine.
  - rocknor 5y ago
    No it's not. My point is that "do the needful" is not a proper representation of Indian English, as the parent comment implied. There are a lot more pecularities that makes the dialect what it is, but people are just not aware of them (yet). A quick google search will tell you that.
    - MispelledToyota 5y ago
      "Howdy" seems like a successful synechdoche for American dialect to me. Seems like what makes something a proper representation is somewhat personal.
      - andrewzah 5y ago
        Not to derail the conversation more, but "howdy" is more of a southern American thing than just American. I never used that in the midwest/north until I moved to the south.
        MispelledToyota 5y ago
        Yeah, I'm from the midwest and only would use it somewhat tongue in cheek or to mix things up. But most short-hands for American culture internationally seem to be focused on Southern/Western.
    - darkhorse13 5y ago
      Yes it is. To the point where there is actually a meme about it: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/do-the-needful https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/do-the-needful I'm South Asian by the way, so this meme is also associated with my own culture.
anotherhue 5y ago
Heard this phrase growing up in Ireland also so I think you may be over generalising. A quick search shows Irish origins actually.
- sumedh 5y ago
  > A quick search shows Irish origins actually. I thought the British gave that phrase during colonial times.
- brk 5y ago
  Very interesting, thanks. I have some Irish friends and we've both commented to each other that it seemed to be somewhat unique to Indian English speakers, makes me wonder more about it. And in a sense, yes, I was intending to over-generalize a bit, I think that for various languages that used broadly in different geographies, certain words and phrases tend to pop up locally that are often not widely used outside of that region. This is just from observations I have made traveling globally and working with global teams for 20+ years. I mentioned "do the needful" as it popped into my head from the parent comment about Indian English.
eralps 5y ago
I am a non-native English speaker. “Even I” would come to my mind first and then that. For some reason it means “I also” in Indian English and it sounds weird to non Indian dialect. Like “Even I don’t understand this” sounds obnoxious to me because in my mind it means “Even I, an almighty being, don’t understand this, who are you to think you can understand it” but it means “I also don’t understand” in Indian English. According to google “Even” as adverb: used to emphasize something surprising or extreme. So I assume what I think at first is what native English speakers also think. I hear this daily and I know what it meant to mean now, I had a friend who did not know this and thought her Indian colleague was talking down to her.
- qw3rty01 5y ago
  "Even I" is pretty common for native speakers, although it's normally used to break an assumption rather than being a full replacement for "I also". For example: you are in a class and someone asked a question about a topic. The person next to you turns and says "I can't believe they don't understand this topic." Your neighbor is making the assumption that you also understand it. So if you didn't understand the topic, a response could be "Nah, even I had some questions about it." Although someone could definitely use it to be condescending, or just trying to be cheeky.
twic 5y ago
That phrase is so well known, i think some Indian speakers now avoid it when speaking to British or American speakers! The one that sticks in my mind is "club" as a verb meaning "group". "We will club these events together into one message for efficiency".
908B64B197 5y ago
I've heard "do the needful" used by non-Indians in tech, thanks to Indian expats in tech using it. I hope it goes mainstream some day, at least in tech.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
Diederich 5y ago
That's funny, because as a half a century long US native speaker, I started using that phrase a couple of years ago because I thought it sounded neat and everyone understands what it means.
jkingsbery 5y ago
The first time I heard/read "prepone" and "do the needful," it was maybe jarring because I had never heard either of those before, but in both cases it was pretty obvious what they meant.
screye 5y ago
Funnily enough, "do the needful" is proper English. It is too proper. It comes from mid-19th century British English, which was used to design templates for formal letter writing in India. These artifacts have remained as part of Indian English, but died as part of British and American English. [1] https://katherinebarber.blogspot.com/2016/09/doing-needful.html https://katherinebarber.blogspot.com/2016/09/doing-needful.h...
flemhans 5y ago
And sirs. So many sirs.
- Teluser2 5y ago
  Another common usage Indian English speakers make is using singular with one of for example saying "one of my friend" instead of saying "one of my friends". Also using only in a way completely different from how a native speaker would use. For example, to a question: Is the answer wrong? They will reply: No, the answer is correct only to mean that the answer was correct. I am a first generation Indian myself.

chris_j 5y ago

If Wikipedia is to be believed [0], India ranks third in the list of countries ranked by number of English speakers and it's only fair to regard Indian English as a form of the language that is at least as valid as those from other countries. Having said that, one of the things that you have to learn when you start speaking with English speakers from around the world is to recognise which of the words in your vocabulary will be understood vs which are particular to your native country. I'd put words like "prepone" and "needful" into this category: you need to find an alternative when talking to people from places where those words aren't understood. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_English-speaking_population https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_English-s...

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
xxpor 5y ago
The difference is that Indian English exists almost entirely as a 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) language, so it'll never sound as natural. It's not the language of the street or the discourse.
- qart 5y ago
  > The difference is that Indian English exists almost entirely as a 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) language A huge number of kids in India learn English as their first and only language. Especially kids born in cities, whose parents' linguistic backgrounds differ. > it'll never sound as natural It already sounds perfectly natural to everyone here. > It's not the language of the street or the discourse. Wrong. India is not homogeneous like that. In Bangalore, an Indian walking into a shoe shop on Brigade Road will get addressed by the shopkeeper in English. Or an Indian visiting a pub in Koramangala, also gets addressed by the waiter in English. The consumption numbers of English news channels, English newspapers, etc. should give you an idea of the prevalence of English here.
  - xxpor 5y ago
    >A huge number of kids in India learn English as their first and only language "The 2011 Census showed English is the primary language—mother tongue—of 256,000 people, the second language of 83 million people, and the third language of another 46 million people, making it the second-most widely spoken language after Hindi" https://www.livemint.com/news/india/in-india-who-speaks-in-english-and-where-1557814101428.html https://www.livemint.com/news/india/in-india-who-speaks-in-e... 256K is not a huge amount. Even if that's up to 1.256 million in the last 10 years, that's nothing compared to the size of India. >It already sounds perfectly natural to everyone here It doesn't to anyone outside of the subcontinent. This could also possibly be explained by the complete lack of English language Indian media outside of India, in the US particularly. We get UK, Canadian, and sometimes even Australian and NZ programming in the US. Why no Indian? >Wrong. India is not homogeneous like that. In Bangalore, an Indian walking into a shoe shop on Brigade Road will get addressed by the shopkeeper in English. Or an Indian visiting a pub in Koramangala, also gets addressed by the waiter in English. I'm well aware. However, when a bunch of Kannada speakers are hanging out at a cafe, would they be speaking English? Of course not. English is a lingua franca, not the preferred option if there's a shared mother tongue.

stewx 5y ago

A habit I've noticed among English-speaking Indians is ending chat sentences with "...!!!" For example: "Good morning, Bob...!!!" I would really like to know where it comes from. In my experience, they don't realize that "..." comes across as dramatic or passive-aggressive. The "!!!" part I assume is just meant to convey enthusiasm, but it comes across as very aggressive.