Sea of Poppies (86 page)

+punkah-wallah/-wala
: ‘The
mystery
of the fan.'

purwan (*Roebuck)
: Yard (spar from which sail is set); here Neel has underlined carefully his tutor's footnote:
‘Purwan
, I think, is compounded of
Pur
, a wing, or feather, and
Wan
, a ship, which last word is much used by the lascars from Durat (properly Soorut) etc., so that
Purwan
, the yards of the ship, might also be translated as the wings upon which the ship flies'.

+pyjama/pajama
: ‘There must surely be some significance to the fact that the Hind. for leg (
pao
) has received a much warmer welcome into the English language than the word for head (
sir
). While variants of
pao
figure in many compounds, including
char+poy, tea+poy
, and
py+jama
,
sir
has to its credit only
turban
(
sirbandh
) and
seersucker
(
sirsukh
).'

+quod/qaid
: See
chokey
.

+rankin/rinkin (*The Barney-Book)
: ‘A fine piece of English gypsy-slang, from our own
rangin
– colourful.'

+rawnee/rani
: ‘Although this Hind. word did indeed mean “queen”, in English usage it had another connotation, for which see
bayadère
.'

+roti/rooty/rootie
: ‘It is my suspicion that the
Oracle
will absorb this as the Hind.
roti
, but it could just as well, as the
Barneymen
rightly observe, make its travels in the latter two forms, taken from the Bengali – these are, after all, the words that English soldiers commonly use in describing the bread that is served in their
chownees
.' It is no mystery that the English soldier does not trouble to distinguish between leavened and unleavened bread since the latter is a quantity unknown to his tongue: thus, what a
rootie
is to him would be to a
sepoy
a
pao-roti
. I am told that it is not merely the presence of yeast, but also of this prefix,
pao
, that prevents many
sepoys
from eating English bread: they believe that yeasted dough is kneaded with the feet (
pao
) and is therefore unclean. If only it were to be explained to them that the
pao
of
pao-roti
is merely a Hind. adaptation of
pão
, the Portuguese for bread! Imagine, if on some arduous march a starving soldier were to deny himself succour due to a grievous misconception: a simple word of explanation would spare him his cries of
bachaw
!
bachaw
! This, if anything, is a perfect illustration of why etymology is essential to man's survival.'

+ruffugar / ruffoogar / rafugar (*The Glossary)
: ‘In philological circles a cautionary tale is told of a
griffin
who, having been set upon by a scruffy
budmash
, berated his assailant with the cry: “Unhand me, vile
ruffoogar
!” The speaker was mistaken in believing this to be Hind. for “ruffian”, for a
ruffoogar
is merely a clothes-repairer.'

Rum-Johnny (*The Barney-Book)
: ‘Taken from Hind.
Ramjani
, this word had a wholly different connotation in English, for which see
bayadère
.'

+rye/rai (*The Barney-Book)
: Neel was right in predicting that this common Hind. word for ‘gentleman' would appear in the
Oracle
in its English-gypsy variant
rye
, rather than in the usual Indian form.

sabar (*Roebuck)
: topgallant or t'gallant; see
dol
.

+sahib
: This word was a source of bafflement to Neel: ‘How did it happen that the Arabic for “friend” became, in Hind. and English, a word meaning “master”?' The question was answered by a grandson who had visited the Soviet Union; on the margins of Neel's note he scribbled: ‘“Sahib” was to the Raj what “comrade” is to Communists – a mask for mastery.' See also
Beebee
.

+salwar/shalwar/shulwaur:
See
kameez
.

+sammy (*The Barney-Book)
: ‘The
anglice
of Hind.
swami
, from which
sammy-house
to mean “mandir”: whether this is preferable to “pagoda” is a matter of debate.'

sammy-house
: See above.

sawai (*Roebuck)
: staysail; see
dol
.

+seacunny/seaconny
: On this word, meaning ‘helmsman', Neel penned a note that covers the verso of the four of hearts: ‘It is not uncommon to hear it said that the term
seacunny/seaconny
is derived from an old English word meaning “rabbit” – to wit: “cony” or “coney” (
sea-cunny
thus being interpreted to mean “sea-rabbit”). Beware anyone who tells you this, for he is having a quiet laugh at your expense: he probably knows full well that “coney” has a secret, but far more common, use (as when a London
buy-em-dear
says to a prospective customer, “No money, no coney”). This is why the more
pucka ma'amsahibs
will not allow the word
seacunny
to pass their lips, preferring to use the absurd expression
sea-bunny
. (“Well then, madam,” I was once tempted to say, “if we are thus to describe a helmsman, should we not also speak of the Great
Sea-bunny
in the Sky?”) If only one could find the words to explain to these ladies that no rabbit need fear the conning of
seacunnies
: the term is utterly harmless and derives merely from the Arabic
sukkán
, meaning “rudder”, from which we get
sukkáni
and thus
seacunny
.' See also
lascar
.

+seersucker
: Neel objected vehemently to the notion that the name of this cotton material was derived (as the
Oracle
was later to contend) from the Persian
shir-o-shakkar
, or ‘milk and sugar'. ‘By what stretch of the imagination could anyone imagine that a sweet, milky syrup would be pleasant to wear on the skin?' Instead, following Sir Henry, he derived the word from
sir-sukh
, ‘joy of/to the head', on the analogy of
turban
(which he thought to be derived from Hind.
sir-bandh
– ‘head-band'). He took the view that the terms were aptly paired since the latter was sometimes made of the former. As supplemental evidence he cited a maxim which he claimed to be common among lascars:
sirbandh me sirsukh
– ‘a turban is happiness for the head'.

+sepoy/seapoy
: ‘The variant spelling,
sea-poy
, has caused much confusion over the ages (see
charpoy
). One ill-informed wordy-
pundit
has even espoused the theory that this term is a mispronunciation of “sea-boy” and was thus originally a synonym for
lascar
. This is, of course, an elementary misunderstanding and could be easily corrected if the English spelling of
sepoy
were to be altered to
sepohy
. This would have the dual advantage of advertising this word's descent from the Persian/Turkish
sipáhi
, while also making evident its kinship to the French
spahi
, which refers similarly to a certain kind of colonial mercenary.'

+serang:
See
lascar
.

serh (*Roebuck)
: See
dol
.

+seth:
See
beparee
. Neel was aware of the raging controversy that surrounds the question of whether the term
seth
is related to such words as
chetty
,
chettiar
and
shetty
. But lacking any expertise in the languages of southern India, he was unable to reach any conclusion on the subject.

+shabash/shahbash
: ‘“Bravo!” to Sir Henry.'

+shampoo
: ‘Is it not a commentary on the relationship of England and India that most of the Hind. candidates for the Peerage of the English Verb pertain to grappling, grasping, binding, tying and whipping? Yet, of all the pretenders who have had their start in this domain –
puckrow
,
bundo, lagow, chawbuck
etc. – only one has risen to the rank of a true grandee of the Upper House; only one has claimed a dukedom for itself. This is, strangely enough, that humblest of terms
chãpo/chãpna
, in its corrupted form,
shampoo
. The reason for this, surely, is that the notion of
chãpo
-ing embodies some of the more pleasureable aspects of grappling, grasping and so on – that is to say of kneading, pressing, touching, massaging. Those who would seek to reduce this word to the rank of noun would do well to note that it will not meekly relinquish its active form, clinging to its animate energies even when forced into the Lower House (a case in point being the French
le shampooing
).'

+shamshoo/samschoo: ‘The Admiral
, who seems never to have tasted any
shrob
not made in Europe, described this Chinese wine as “fiery, fetid and very injurious to European health”. But this was true only of the varieties sold on Hog Lane; elsewhere there were many very fine bottlings, no less precious than the finest French
sharaabs
.'

+shikar
: See below.

+shikaree
: ‘The
mystery
of the hunt (
shikar
)'.

shoe-goose (*The Barney-Book)
: ‘Not being a bird at all, but rather a kind of cat [in fact a lynx], this word is unlikely to enter the annals of ornithology.' In the margins, a note: ‘From Persian
syagosh
'.

shoke/shauq (*The Glossary)
: ‘In its English incarnation this Arabic word came to mean “whim”, “hobby” or “penchant”. In Hind. the existence of a
shoke
is often indicated by the addition of the suffix
báz
(sometimes Anglicized to
buzz
). The proper English translation of Hind.
addá-báz
is therefore
buck-buzz
. (The term
launder-
or
laund'ry-buzz
is a cant exception and does not always refer to the whims of
dhobis
). When misused, this particle can cause some curious misunderstandings. Thus, for instance, a self-styled
pundit
was once heard to speculate that
buzz
when added to
bawhawder
was a reference to a well-known
shoke
of Alexander the Great's (sometimes described as his taste for youthful
bawhawdery
). So wedded was the
pundit
to this view, that I was hard put to persuade him that he had got the matter completely
oolter-poolter: Buzz Bawhawder
was a medieval king of Malwa, famous for his
shoke
for the beautiful
Rawnee
, Roopmuttee. As for the matter he was speaking of, the correct
zubben
expression is of course
udlee-budlee
.'

+shrob/shrab/shrub/sorbet/sorbetto/ sherbert/syrup/sirop/xarave/sharaab
: Neel loved to collect derivatives of the Arabic root for ‘drink',
sh-r-b
.

+shroff
: ‘The
mystery
of money-changing', from which
shroffage
, which the
Oracle
defines as a commission charged for
shroffing
, or the examining of coin.

+sicca rupee
: ‘In my childhood, as I remember, this was already an antique kind of coinage.' The
Oracle
confirms this, adding that these coins were issued in 1793.

+silahdar/silladar
: ‘This word, lit. “arms-bearer”, was one of many applied to mercenaries and soldiers of fortune'. See
burkandaz
.

silboot (*The Glossary)
: ‘Like
sirdrar
, which is but the Hind. corruption of the undergarment known as a “short drawer”, this word for “slipper” has reentered English usage in an altered form.'

silmagoor
: From the
Jack-Chits
: ‘Could this be a lascar's way of saying “sail-maker”?' A marginal note, written long afterwards, confirms his guess with a triumphant‘!': ‘Roebuck leaves no doubt of it.'

sirdrar (*The Glossary)
: See
silboot
.

soor (*The Barney-Book)
: ‘Pig, hence
soor-ka-butcha
, son of a pig'.

tabar (*Roebuck)
: ‘Royal' as applied to a ship's rigging; see
dol
.

+tael
: ‘Another name for a Chinese liang or ounce,' but a note in the margins specifies: ‘According to the
Oracle
, this weight equals 1⅓ oz. avoirdupois.'

+talipot
: Neel was mistaken in thinking this to be the English word for ‘toddy-palm'. The
Oracle
pronounces
it to be a ‘South Indian fan palm,
Corypha umbraculifera
.'