[Mpower]

Hey Sam if you and Jenny visited Chennai, you will have to introduce her as your "would be", as in.. Hi, meet Jenny she is my would be.

I have no idea how this term originated but it means fiancee.

[Sam Kapasi]

Originally Posted by Mpower

Hey Sam if you and Jenny visited Chennai, you will have to introduce her as your "would be", as in.. Hi, meet Jenny she is my would be.

I have no idea how this term originated but it means fiancee.

Oh I've heard this too. It makes some sense, lol.

As such, the introduction of one's woman can be an important thing. It defines the way people treat your partner and how they perceive you.


It's a lot easier when you're married. This is my wife. Plain and wonderfully simple.
I find This is my fiancee a bit boring. Sometimes I say better half and depending on my mood, I simply say This is my woman, depending on my mood.
The latter introduction is a tricky one with feminists as it can imply belonging, if not said in the right tone and/or at the right time.

Me, I don't think so. I'd be quite happy if Jenny introduced me as her man.

Though I'm not sure what she introduces me as...

HEY, maybe she doesn't introduce me to anyone at all!

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Scuba! I never knew that was an acronym!...

How about : pixel or jeep !!


Q on what might be another "indianism" :

Anyways, i have to go now.

vs

Anyway, i have to go now.

- Is the first example completely incorrect?

cya
R

[Sam Kapasi]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Q on what might be another "indianism" :

Anyways, i have to go now.

vs

Anyway, i have to go now.

- Is the first example completely incorrect?

cya
R

I do not think anyways is an Indianism. Anyways is said in many countires and while I think it isn't entirely classic or correct, it's not entirely wrong either.

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by Mpower

Hey Sam if you and Jenny visited Chennai, you will have to introduce her as your "would be", as in.. Hi, meet Jenny she is my would be.

I have no idea how this term originated but it means fiancee.

'would be' simply means, 'she would be my wife someday'. But it is very old fashioned, hence i suspect it has its roots in the Englishmen who lived (& loved) here.

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

'would be' simply means, 'she would be my wife someday'. But it is very old fashioned, hence i suspect it has its roots in the Englishmen who lived (& loved) here.

So, lot of people could be lying by not saying 'could be' or 'maybe'

[Sam Kapasi]

Originally Posted by srishiva

So, lot of people could be lying by not saying 'could be' or 'maybe'

Sir, I suspect you are not married.

And if you introduce your woman to someone as this is my could-be wife, I suspect you never will be.

[bblost]

Originally Posted by srishiva

So, lot of people could be lying by not saying 'could be' or 'maybe'

before I got married, I usually used to look at most girls and feel, this could be my wife.

I still do that when I see them and feel this could have been my wife.

I see my wife and say, "Thank God, this is my wife".

To my wife, Happy Valentines Day, everyday.

(We need a heart icon in the smilies)

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

Sir, I suspect you are not married.

And if you introduce your woman to someone as this is my could-be wife, I suspect you never will be.

Some bollywood news I saw at that moment made me think in that direction and how they cannot use that 'would be' thing.

[SS-Traveller]

This is an amazingly informative thread. I am now getting my daughter to read through some of the posts. English "as she is spoke" by Englishmen has become AWOL from most schools in Delhi, and I find the language used atrociously even by teachers of the subject. English became "Hinglish" ever since Indians have been "going to abroad". Wren and Martin verily deserve the knighthood, as mentioned earlier! As one good Indian replied to a Britisher boasting that they raped our motherland for 300 years, "Baat uwee uweel rape iour maathar-taang phor ebhaar."

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

English "as she is spoke" by Englishmen has become AWOL from most schools in Delhi,

And thereby hangs the tale of 'English as she was spoke'!!

The worrying part is yet to come. Being a language that is alive and evolving/mutating, we might well need to go back to school at such venerable age!
The English we speak might become passé and unacceptable in the near future.

[Thad E Ginathom]

English teeching has gone AWOL in schools in England! I think grammar has long since been thrown out the door!

if you introduce your woman to someone as this is my could-be wife, I suspect you never will be.

This is the woman upon whom I am holding an option?

Anyways I think we covered in the thread earlier, didn't we? Not gramatical English, no, but it is common in regional dialect.

Pixel... jeep... Now I'm buried in a heap of Acronyms I didn't know before!

Seriously...

There are some "rules" for which I have never had any respect, a classic example is the banned split infinitive.

To boldly go --- wrong by that rule

To go boldly --- "correct".

It is completely artificial, and has been imposed by "scholars" who say that, as the infinitive is one word in Latin and Greek, it should not be divided in English. Not even an "English" rule!

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

'would be' simply means, 'she would be my wife someday'. But it is very old fashioned, hence i suspect it has its roots in the Englishmen who lived (& loved) here.

'would be' has almost become a Tamil word. I suspect its because there is no appropriate word for fiancee in Tamil. Interestingly I haven't heard this phrase being used in other states.

[Technocrat]

M, off late I hear this term being frequently used in MP & Maharashtra too

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by Mpower

'would be' has almost become a Tamil word. I suspect its because there is no appropriate work for fiancee in Tamil.

While Tamil surely has its shortcomings like any other language, this (not having a word for something) is not what you can fault this language for.

These guys are ingenious at finding Tamil equivalents for anything and everything under the sun. For eg, while Malayalam would happily use the commonly used term (in whatever language) for something that does not have a Malayalam equivalent, in Tamil you WILL have an equivalent. Ofcourse it is a different thing that no one would actually use it in normal conversation, which IMO is kind of pointless.

Eg. While Mallus will happily say "Power Steering", in Tamil it is "Visai Thiruppaan". Same goes for Computers (kanipori), chair (naar kaali) etc etc. The list is long.

Ofcourse, for the word in question, all I can come up for now is "Varumkaala manaivi" which means "future wife". I won't be surprised if there is a more apt term for this in Tamil.