4 ms·

I'm in India, and the recruiters are trying to make me apply. Even I was interested before, but after reading this https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27569594

I'm in India, and the recruiters are trying to make me apply. Even I was interested before, but after reading this https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27569594 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27569594. no thank you.

silicon2401 5y ago
As somebody who works with many Indian coworkers in tech, out of curiosity, could you explain if "even" is commonly used in India in that way? > Even I was interested before To me as an American, often hearing "even" used this way by Indian coworkers, it's confusing. To me the sentence reads like this: > Even I, who you would expected not to be interested, was interested Something like it's an unexpected claim. This is confusing to me because there's no reason for me to expect that you, specifically, aren't interested. But in contexts like your sentence and talking with coworkers, it seems like the intended meaning is something like the following: > I, too, was interested Please don't take this the wrong way; this is just a question from somebody who's a fan of linguistics. I've encountered so many constructions in English from Indian speakers at work that I've never seen from other speakers (like the way "itself" is used [1]) that it makes me wonder where it's coming from. Based on my research so far, some things come from trying to carry over words/grammar from Indian languages, and some come from British English as used during colonization. 1: I often hear sentences like "today itself" to mean something like "today [emphasizing today]" which is not said in standard American English, in my experience
- bluedino 5y ago
  Also, you would never say 'a recruiter is trying to make me apply'. 'trying to get me to apply' would be the right thing to say. A recruiter can't make you do anything. Your parents or spouse on the other hand...
- one24 5y ago
  Most often these are cases of a word to word translation from India languages. Also, a lot of Indian English grammar rules are leftovers from Victorian England. For example, rarely would you see an Indian speaker use the word "too" after a verb for emphasis. But I see most of my American colleagues use that word way "too" much. Your example of "Today itself", probably has roots in Hindi where "Aaj hi" is a commonly used term.
  - silicon2401 5y ago
    thanks for the input > Also, a lot of Indian English grammar rules are leftovers from Victorian England This is about what I gathered from looking into the topic online. It's a fascinating thing to think about and makes total sense. Similar to how Korean and Japanese are influenced by Chinese, but the Chinese of centuries ago, not today. Is "aaj hi" "today itself" or "itself"?
    - one24 5y ago
      "aaj" -> Today "Hi"(pronunciation he) -> Itself
  - softveda 5y ago
    I am of Indian heritage, I would say "Just today"
    - one24 5y ago
      But in a different context, say when you want someone to submit an assignment by today, a common phrase is, "Please get it done, today itself"
- kevans91 5y ago
  I interpreted it as a missing 'if'... > Even [if] I was interested before, ... after reading this?
- gowthamgts12 5y ago
  sorry, missed this. yes, like other replies to this comment, most of the weirdness you see are coming from indian languages.

silicon2401 5y ago

As somebody who works with many Indian coworkers in tech, out of curiosity, could you explain if "even" is commonly used in India in that way? > Even I was interested before To me as an American, often hearing "even" used this way by Indian coworkers, it's confusing. To me the sentence reads like this: > Even I, who you would expected not to be interested, was interested Something like it's an unexpected claim. This is confusing to me because there's no reason for me to expect that you, specifically, aren't interested. But in contexts like your sentence and talking with coworkers, it seems like the intended meaning is something like the following: > I, too, was interested Please don't take this the wrong way; this is just a question from somebody who's a fan of linguistics. I've encountered so many constructions in English from Indian speakers at work that I've never seen from other speakers (like the way "itself" is used [1]) that it makes me wonder where it's coming from. Based on my research so far, some things come from trying to carry over words/grammar from Indian languages, and some come from British English as used during colonization. 1: I often hear sentences like "today itself" to mean something like "today [emphasizing today]" which is not said in standard American English, in my experience

bluedino 5y ago
Also, you would never say 'a recruiter is trying to make me apply'. 'trying to get me to apply' would be the right thing to say. A recruiter can't make you do anything. Your parents or spouse on the other hand...
one24 5y ago
Most often these are cases of a word to word translation from India languages. Also, a lot of Indian English grammar rules are leftovers from Victorian England. For example, rarely would you see an Indian speaker use the word "too" after a verb for emphasis. But I see most of my American colleagues use that word way "too" much. Your example of "Today itself", probably has roots in Hindi where "Aaj hi" is a commonly used term.
- silicon2401 5y ago
  thanks for the input > Also, a lot of Indian English grammar rules are leftovers from Victorian England This is about what I gathered from looking into the topic online. It's a fascinating thing to think about and makes total sense. Similar to how Korean and Japanese are influenced by Chinese, but the Chinese of centuries ago, not today. Is "aaj hi" "today itself" or "itself"?
  - one24 5y ago
    "aaj" -> Today "Hi"(pronunciation he) -> Itself
- softveda 5y ago
  I am of Indian heritage, I would say "Just today"
  - one24 5y ago
    But in a different context, say when you want someone to submit an assignment by today, a common phrase is, "Please get it done, today itself"
kevans91 5y ago
I interpreted it as a missing 'if'... > Even [if] I was interested before, ... after reading this?
gowthamgts12 5y ago
sorry, missed this. yes, like other replies to this comment, most of the weirdness you see are coming from indian languages.