Wednesday, March 24, 2010

BUS FUN - PART 1: LINGO

Being a frequent BMTC (public transport bus service in Bangalore) commuter, I am compiling this lingo list for newbies. Thank me later.

1.Holdeen
Pronunciation: whole-dean. preferably whole-deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen
Meaning: Beseechment to the driver to halt the bus.
Origin: Old English hold on
Usage: Typically screamed by a commuter or conductor to the bus driver, when a commuter has failed to get in to or get out of the bus.

2.Strite
Pronunciation: strite (rhymes with write)
Meaning: Extending continuously in the same direction without curving.
Origin: Old English straight
Usage: Question "What route does this bus follow to JP Nagar?"; Answer "Strite"

3.Tigit
Pronunciation: tig-eat, ti-yet
Meaning: Request to the commuter to buy the slip that entitles him the trip.
Origin: Old English ticket
Usage: Usually uttered quickly and repeatedly, until the commuter can no longer pretend not to have heard the conductor - Tigeet-tigeet-tigeet, Tiyet-tiyet-tiyet-tiyet

4.Pass
Pronunciation: pass
Meaning: Declaration of possession of a card that entitles the commuter to travel in the bus.
Usage: Spoken by the commuter to the conductor when their eyes meet.

Typical Scene:
Conductor looks at commuters in bus, one by one.
Person 1: "Pass" (conductor moves to next person..)
Person 2: "Pass" (conductor moves to next person..)
Person 3: "Pass" (conductor moves to next person..)
Person 4: "Railway Station" (hands ten-rupee note to conductor)
For some reason, this always reminds me of a quiz competition.

5.Levot
Pronunciation: lay-vote
Meaning: A planned area in the city
Origin: Old English layout
Usage: Mico Levot, Arakere Levot

6.Maystick
Pronunciation: meigh (to rhyme with 'weigh') stick
Meaning: Kempegowda Bus Stand (KBS)
Origin: Old English majestic
Usage: Though buses still display KBS in writing, no one refers to it by that name. Maystick it is.

7.Dorro Punmaadi
Pronunciation: door open maadi. (Stress on the 'r' real hard. Like 'rrrr')
Meaning: Beseechment to bus driver to allow commuter to exit the bus.
Origin: Old English door, open; New Kannada maadi

23 comments:

Pointblank said...

ha ha ha... thats a good and creative one!

Devil's Advocate said...

i know, i've had the experience myself many times. you can't stop laughing. these are only a few, i've some more, couldn't comprehend what they meant but they were funny nonetheless, especially when you actually see them with their gestures and face expressions! :D

ऋआ said...

You know you can actually cure depression. You simply MUST start writing professionally. For the greater good. I insist!

Marc said...

Hello there! I am back to blogging now...hope to hear from you soon..

Umsy said...

brought a smile to me face.....

Narendra shenoy said...

Gahaha! Enjoyed this!
"For some reason, this always reminds me of a quiz competition." Priceless! Would make a neat short skit

Preeti Shenoy said...

heeeheheeeheeeee
Oh yes!!Having lived in Bangalore for many years, I could find myself nodding at all! Have heard these and you captured them and presented them so well! :)

Cheers
preeti

Nona said...

:) Nice one!

Unknown said...

This is Kanglish...but some of them are so common that for a Kannadiga it does not sound odd at all. For example, "Door open maadi" is a commom phrase, when you say it fast it sounds like that, come on..

Avisha said...

Hilarious! Being a kannadiga myself can agree totally to this. But I always thought, it was Holdeet - Hold It!! :)

Jeevan said...

Funny language buddy! This sense me as a distance language, and this post remind me those forgotten words spoken in a bus, since it’s out of my memories when did I traveled in a bus at last.

Nice post! Hope u r doing great vinesh, all the best :)

Unknown said...

haha! Funny!

skar said...

LOL. Funny! And the comparison to a quiz was terrific!

Vinesh said...

@Pointblank: thanks, Pointblank! :-)

@Devil's Advocate: hehe, if you have any that you can list here, maybe we'll all try deciphering those :-)

@Rhea: Glad I could be of cheer, Rhea!

Vinesh said...

@Marc: Hi Marc, thanks for stopping by!

@Umsy: Good to hear, Umsy! :-)

@narendra shenoy: it sure would. i'll use it for a movie i will make someday :-)

@Preeti Shenoy: thanks for stopping by, Preeti. Feel free to add to the lingo list! :-)

Vinesh said...

@Nona: thanks, Nona!

@Prathima: Exaggeration is the spice of life. Come on, Prathima :-)

@Avisha: maybe you're right, Avisha. i first thought it was "holding", then "holdy", finally zeroed in on "holdeen". "hold it" makes sense too! :-)

Vinesh said...

@Jeevan: buddy Jeevan. so good to see you after so long! good to see you here! :-)

@maha: :-)

@Karthik Sivaramakrishnan: And one could actually wonder why they'd need to buy a ticket when so many others are saying "pass" to it :-)

subbulakshmistoned said...

This is the most brilliant post I have read in a long long time. I love travelling by BMTC, never short of entertainment :)

Vinesh said...

@subbulakshmistoned: glad you like and relate, subbulakshmistoned! :-)

Bhargav said...

I know there are lot more, but my cousin who is from Bangalore remembers "righhh" - the signal given by the conductor to the driver that its alright to start driving again...

pavithra lakshmanan said...

aaah.. that post was like u tellin "Hey am back!!!" ... fun read.. u make me wonder if i made a mistake by buyin a gaadi instead of stickin to plain ol bmtc :-P.. keep goin!!!

Vinesh said...

@Bhargav: Surely you mean "righ righ" :-) Surprisingly I don't seem to hear that very often these days. Must be the Volvo generation problem :-)

@pavithra lakshmanan: thanks pavithra :-)

Namratha said...

Loved it..! Actually loved all the version of the BUS FUN. :)