Here is some word play in Tulu. We were attending a lunch at my ancestral home, and they had prepared Mango Rasayana (Mango pulp + Coconut milk + sugar). An aunt remarked that the dish was a bit "puli" or sour. My grandmother (the cook), and a bit hard of hearing, shouted back, "How is that possible? I had squeezed all the puli myself. Each one I found". puli - in Tulu also means worms. That new movie starring Vijay (Puli) makes me laugh. In Tulu, pili means tiger. ~ashwin
> Date: Thu, 24 Sep 2015 09:48:27 +0100 > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [silk] Puns in other languages > > And here's some Sanskrit wordplay. > > http://swarajyamag.com/columns/verses-which-produce-magic-when-re-read/ > > I remember also being told of similar wordplay in old Kannada verses. Story > goes that a king wanted to test the mettle of a poetess who arrived in his > court. He gave her two unsavoury lines, and asked her to compose verses > that included them (in ways that wouldn't offend, of course). > > Iliyam muri muridu thinnuthirpar > (They were breaking mice and eating them) > > and > Danavam kaDi kaDidu basadigoyyuthirpar > (They were cutting up the cows and leading them into basadis, in this > context Jain temples) > > And she cleverly ended the lines preceding each of them in such a way that > the Iliyam became Chakk-iliyam (snack similar to murukku, instead of mice) > and Chan-danavam (Sandalwood, instead of cows) > > > > On Thu, Sep 24, 2015 at 9:29 AM, Namitha Jagadeesh <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > Rajesh, I'm married to a non-Kannadiga who can't always master the L, so > > he just refrains from using the word entirely :D > > > > There are plenty of puns within Indian languages too, I'm sure. Na > > Kasturi, who `translated' Alice in Wonderland into Kannada, used all sorts > > of local references and limericks to substitute the English word play. I > > can't remember any from the book off the top of my head, but here's one > > from my childhood. > > > > An old woman was selling lemons to a customer, who had just asked her how > > much each one cost. At the same time, a man ran up to her and asked her if > > she had seen his horse. The clever woman replied to both with just one > > word. Na kaane > > > > Naak aane = 4 annas > > Naa kaane = I haven't seen > > > > On Thu, Sep 24, 2015 at 9:21 AM, Rajesh Mehar <[email protected]> > > wrote: > > > >> In Kannada (and many South Indian languages), there are two possible > >> pronunciations of the sound corresponding to the English letter L. > >> Wikipedia says these are called Retroflex Lateral Approximant and > >> Retroflex > >> Lateral Flap. Usually, while transliterating Kannada, they're written as l > >> (as in shaale or school) and L (as in baaLe or banana). Many people who > >> are > >> unfamiliar with these sounds cannot pronounce the two differently. > >> When you add to this the fact that heLu in Kannada means tell and helu > >> means shit, there is scope for an abundance of beautiful toilet-humor-ey > >> puns. Imagine the wrong pronounciations of "tell me now" or "tell me in my > >> ear" or "tell me right here". > >> > > > >
