My late saintly mother normally an English speaker, would sometimes lapse into a Konkani phrase, since it alone could carry the emphasis she wanted to express.
As an example I remember she would later say “Tajem koddem dombdi passun na” if she found someone throwing an empty boast. Not until now, on reading an FB post did I understand what it meant. The old Indian Currency System: Phootie Cowrie to Cowrie to Dumri to Dhela to Pie to Paisa to Rupya. 256 Dumri to 292 Pie to 128 Dhela to 64 Paisa (old) to 16 Anna to 1 Rupya. So my mother’s 256 “Dombdis” equaled 1 Rupee of those days. https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-18796493?fbclid=IwAR30qmOeJIcPCH9rzm8_R6lVAOi8XYvWSG2KiHneEfHgsis0V_1IgwxTpR4 Roland. Toronto.
