We all are Indians (rather proud Indians!) at heart and can go to any length to prove our love for the country in different ways. Some of us do so by becoming doctors, engineers, lawyers, business-men, managers, social workers, officers, professors and so on. However, something that can really spoil the whole impression at the workplace is Indianisms or Indian English which everyone tends to use while speaking or emailing, which is the most popular form of exchanging information whether it's inside the office or outside- with clients, customers, vendors etc. At times, it really leads to a funny situation even when no pun is intended.
Would like to share some of the most common Indianisms which I can recall from my own experience with different people at different places:
One of the most common questions that people ask you in Indore (and in metropolitan cities too) when they meet you for the first time is 'What's your good name?' which is a direct translation of 'Aapka shubh naam kya hae ?' A name is just a name- It's not good or bad. So the right sentence would be 'What's your name?' or 'May/Can I have your name?'
Another turn off is the line - 'Please do the NEEDFUL'. One sounds like a jerk when using this term in emails. It's quite outdated and yet we come across this line in almost every mail. It sounds even worse if your client is US/UK based. Alternatives could be - 'Please take appropriate action or do the necessary or action it accordingly.' I remember the mails from a UK Client in which the standard template had 'Please do the necessary' instead of needful.
'Please revert back' - Avoid using revert in the first place as it denotes a state. If you still happen to use it, at least avoid the word 'back' with it. 'Please reply' is the best.
Similarly,'A few minutes back or sometime back or a week back' is also inappropriate. 'Back' should be replaced with 'ago'.
Using Cousin-brother or Cousin-sister is a big no. Of course, informally you can with your friends while talking in Hinglish, to have fun, but not when you are trying to create an impression or image in front of your boss or colleagues or clientele (especially if they are too meticulous or may be good looking, and you just don't want to take any chances ). Just use Cousin.
Unnecessary use of 'only' in sentences like 'We are based in Bangalore only.' or 'I'm here only.'
Using Mr./Ms. with the first name of someone. It's always 'Mr. Jain' or 'Ms. Jain'.
Darn easy. Isn't it? There are lots of sentences like the above. However, the idea is to discuss the frequently used ones and not impart any 'gyaan'. After all, nothing in this world is perfect and no one has ever attained perfection.
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