6 ms·

> A reminder that pretty much no lorry driver in india knows English. They live in India -- why would they need to know English exactly?

paulgb 5y ago
They don't, but it seems like relevant context on an article about an English phrase that's ubiquitous there.
emteycz 5y ago
English is one of only two recognized official languages (in addition to Hindi) of the Republic of India [the federation]. It is widely used when native languages can't bridge the gap between two Indians. edit: s/Indian state/Republic of India
- WeekSpeller 5y ago
  By Indian state you mean the federal govt. States have their own official languages. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_with_official_status_in_India https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_with_official_status...
  - School-Cotton 5y ago
    They meant “state” in the general sense, not the particular sense of the federated entities of India, USA, Australia etc.
- School-Cotton 5y ago
  Also there are some Indians with English as one of their native languages. Not sure how common that is, but enough that I know multiple of them despite not being from India myself.
DonHopkins 5y ago
To read the phrase "Horn OK Please" perhaps?
JulianMorrison 5y ago
IIRC English - Indian English, not British or American - is the second language of the most people in India. Otherwise, they have so many local languages they would be mutually incomprehensible. But everyone learns English, and so they can talk and do business.
- orblivion 5y ago
  And IIRC Hindi is supposed to do that but it doesn't always work out in the south (local nationalism among other things?).
  - bettysdiagnose 5y ago
    Well Hindi is just as alien linguistically to the south as English is. English and Hindi have more in common with each other. I guess English is a neutral second langauge.
    - Arnavion 5y ago
      It's not even a North vs South thing. The so-called Hindi belt is a tiny part of North India, and even then plenty of people that live in it don't speak it.
- mindcrime 5y ago
  I had two Indian co-workers once, and we got into talking about languages. I was a bit surprised at the time to find out that the only language they shared in common was English. One spoke English, Tamil, and a regional dialect, and the other spoke English, Hindi, and a (different) regional dialect. I later came to find that this is actually quite common in India. And I understand English is still widely taught there, as a legacy of British colonialism, and so many (most?) Indian people - especially in urban areas - do speak English to some extent.
  - Aloha 5y ago
    English is the lingua franca in India for a reason, one of the things I found interesting about the British Raj, is, the english sowed the seeds of tools of their own exit - Railways, English and Civil Society (specifically the Indian Civil Service and some vague ideals of Democracy). Those three things took the area that comprised British India, from a bunch of loosely connected nation-states, each with their own cultures, languages, and religions - while still having much in common, but not something that was easily unifiable, to something much more cohesive, to something that could be united. Then leaders came along who were educated in Britain, filled with British democratic ideals who learned how to subvert to colonial system from within. Who then did so, they wrestled what was considered the crown jewel of the empire from the British, with the tools the British gave them. It's still a brilliant feat, because it used colonialism to subvert and ultimately defeat colonialism. None of this should be construed as a defense of the Raj, or to imply that India could not have unified itself without those tools, but it turned an impossibly gargantuan task into a merely very hard one, because those tools allowed (at least temporarily) for people to overcome sectarian differences, and work together as one people towards a common goal with a common understanding. I wish people knew more about partition however, partition is the greatest humanitarian crisis the world knows nearly nothing about, it rivals even the holocaust in size, and it didn't have to happen, but for a lack of trust between the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League. I believe that India, Pakistan and Bangladesh would be stronger today if it was one nation rather than three.
manojlds 5y ago
"Horn Ok Please" is Hindi, right?
sumedh 5y ago
> why would they need to know English exactly? because if they know English, they can get higher paying jobs
orblivion 5y ago
Among the other answers don't forget the British Empire.

paulgb 5y ago

They don't, but it seems like relevant context on an article about an English phrase that's ubiquitous there.

emteycz 5y ago

English is one of only two recognized official languages (in addition to Hindi) of the Republic of India [the federation]. It is widely used when native languages can't bridge the gap between two Indians. edit: s/Indian state/Republic of India

WeekSpeller 5y ago
By Indian state you mean the federal govt. States have their own official languages. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_with_official_status_in_India https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_with_official_status...
- School-Cotton 5y ago
  They meant “state” in the general sense, not the particular sense of the federated entities of India, USA, Australia etc.
School-Cotton 5y ago
Also there are some Indians with English as one of their native languages. Not sure how common that is, but enough that I know multiple of them despite not being from India myself.

DonHopkins 5y ago

To read the phrase "Horn OK Please" perhaps?

JulianMorrison 5y ago

IIRC English - Indian English, not British or American - is the second language of the most people in India. Otherwise, they have so many local languages they would be mutually incomprehensible. But everyone learns English, and so they can talk and do business.

orblivion 5y ago
And IIRC Hindi is supposed to do that but it doesn't always work out in the south (local nationalism among other things?).
- bettysdiagnose 5y ago
  Well Hindi is just as alien linguistically to the south as English is. English and Hindi have more in common with each other. I guess English is a neutral second langauge.
  - Arnavion 5y ago
    It's not even a North vs South thing. The so-called Hindi belt is a tiny part of North India, and even then plenty of people that live in it don't speak it.
mindcrime 5y ago
I had two Indian co-workers once, and we got into talking about languages. I was a bit surprised at the time to find out that the only language they shared in common was English. One spoke English, Tamil, and a regional dialect, and the other spoke English, Hindi, and a (different) regional dialect. I later came to find that this is actually quite common in India. And I understand English is still widely taught there, as a legacy of British colonialism, and so many (most?) Indian people - especially in urban areas - do speak English to some extent.
- Aloha 5y ago
  English is the lingua franca in India for a reason, one of the things I found interesting about the British Raj, is, the english sowed the seeds of tools of their own exit - Railways, English and Civil Society (specifically the Indian Civil Service and some vague ideals of Democracy). Those three things took the area that comprised British India, from a bunch of loosely connected nation-states, each with their own cultures, languages, and religions - while still having much in common, but not something that was easily unifiable, to something much more cohesive, to something that could be united. Then leaders came along who were educated in Britain, filled with British democratic ideals who learned how to subvert to colonial system from within. Who then did so, they wrestled what was considered the crown jewel of the empire from the British, with the tools the British gave them. It's still a brilliant feat, because it used colonialism to subvert and ultimately defeat colonialism. None of this should be construed as a defense of the Raj, or to imply that India could not have unified itself without those tools, but it turned an impossibly gargantuan task into a merely very hard one, because those tools allowed (at least temporarily) for people to overcome sectarian differences, and work together as one people towards a common goal with a common understanding. I wish people knew more about partition however, partition is the greatest humanitarian crisis the world knows nearly nothing about, it rivals even the holocaust in size, and it didn't have to happen, but for a lack of trust between the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League. I believe that India, Pakistan and Bangladesh would be stronger today if it was one nation rather than three.

manojlds 5y ago

"Horn Ok Please" is Hindi, right?

sumedh 5y ago

> why would they need to know English exactly? because if they know English, they can get higher paying jobs

orblivion 5y ago

Among the other answers don't forget the British Empire.