Prudish dictionaries « Meena Kandasamy

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Prudish dictionaries

February 23, 2008 by Meena Kandasamy

As a translator, whenever I work with fiction/poetry, I run into trouble with words of abuse. (One, it isn’t so nice to call the author and ask what they meant. It could be damaging if the word turns out to mean something like son-of-a-guest).

And all Tamil dictionaries are so prudish, and so orthodox, I can imagine just madisaar clad women working on them. Not a single dirty word finds its way inside. Forget the curiousity of knowing the four-letter words of your very colourful language, but you should at least know what are the words for idiot, stupid, worthless….

Right now, I am a loss to know what Sangamangi means. From the internet I can just gather that it is a cuss word in Pondicherry Tamil. But WTF does it mean?

Posted in Tamil, translation | Tagged dictionaries, four-letter words, prudishness | 6 Comments

6 Responses

on March 1, 2008 at 10:50 pm | Reply nandhu

i guess u shuld call some one in Pondy. and hilarious, but true.
on March 10, 2008 at 8:11 am | Reply sunny bono

hey dalit,

am addressing you such because i read a review in the hindu in which you were introduced as a “dalit poet”……………wonder what the *&%$ that means!

why bring in “madissar clad women” here? does your mom or female relatives, who i am sure do not wear madisaar, mouth thamizh expletives freely? hope you get my point.

cheers
on March 10, 2008 at 8:19 am | Reply Meena Kandasamy

nandhu, good idea…

sunny, not a problem with the way you address me. as far as i m concerned, it *is* a label of pride (irrespective of how you meant it)…

madisaar clad women were brought in, because, they symbolically represent the height of orthodoxy (much like our dictionaries)… i have no malice towards them, by the way.

and you are right that my mom doesn’t wear a madisaar, nor do my female relatives, but i do have a lot of friends who had to wear it just during their marriages (and who now look back at it and laugh it away)…

but yes, my relatives, (as well as me), do mouth tamizh expletives quite freely. it’s some kind of a freedom of expression, and some times, fun too…
on March 10, 2008 at 9:26 am | Reply sunny bono

hmmmm, interesting………….i thought only men were uncouth!
and don’t you think its you who is discriminating yourself (by calling yourself dalit and appreciating being termed one in reviews) and then blaming the world for it?
on March 10, 2008 at 9:49 am | Reply sunny bono

and orthodoxy is not evil or wrong, please………..i just felt odd when i read that line in an otherwise ok article.
fyi, madisaar is not an everyday costume but is worn for traditional functions / rituals / ceremonies. my wife has still not laughed it away
on March 10, 2008 at 10:05 am | Reply Meena Kandasamy

no.. i m blaming the world for unnecessary caste-discrimination.. and not for the dalit label..

yes, madisaar is not an everyday costume… but a dictionary is meant for everyday use: which is why we need a dictionary that provides meanings of local slangs/curses/abuses, and what not! after all, a dictionary should be true to its language…

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Meena Kandasamy

A blog by a 24-year-old tamil woman obsessed with dr.ambedkar’s dream of caste annihilation.

Prudish dictionaries

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