Chumma

Chumma

I take up on my shoulders, the burden to educate the masses about this one word which means two separate things in two languages (Hindi and Tamil) and has caused me lot of trouble.

“It is good to have understood than not understand at all, but It’s better to not understand at all than to misunderstand”

With the globalization, its not just the businesses that went global but individuals and languages too.

Nowadays there are no stereotypical individuals, everyone is a mix of lot of things. Similarly, the way languages are spoken, they have lost their true words and led to emergence of “sidetrack”:)languages like “Tanglish”(Tamil and English), “Hinglish” (Hindi and English) and many more.

Since I happen to be a victim of “Dad-in-bank/army syndrome” , we had to shift bases often and I was in south India(till 5th grade) as well as north India. So I know Hindi, Tamil and English (side effects of Hollywood, novels and English medium education). And this one word has caused lotsa confusions.

The culprit (word) is (drum-roll) “Chumma”.

I use the word “chumma”(Tamil meaning) a lot. Try saying it, it feels good. It’s even better than saying “genre”, cos the former cannot be mispronounced! :)

Chumma in Tamil means “just like that” or “casually”. Usage: I chumma called up.

Chumma in Hindi means “Kiss”(noun). Grammatically its usage mite not fit the sentence but people still get a shock! :)

I like saying it so much that even when I’m speaking with a northie friend I put this word in the sentence.

Now you know my plight! Next time kindly adjust. :)

Dad-in-bank/army syndrome: The kids whose dads are in banks / army get transferred a lot and do not belong to any one place. They do get to know different cultures but lack a sense of belonging to any one place.

Sam Jayanth

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  • ashika

    educate masses? or the couple of ppl who visit ur blogsite?

  • Sam

    @ashika A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.. :)

  • ashika

    :P

  • Ani

    Hahahahaha..! im in splits here at your friends comment about your blog..!

  • Anonymous

    Reminds me of my PG day’s in pondy …Actaully even i was shocked when i heard chumma from a tamil guy for the first time hahahaha Its a very funny story :P

  • Shyam Bhawsar

    It happened with me also when my female colleague continuously using word 'Chumma' in our conversation.

  • Anonymous

    OMG! same thing happened to me!
    I said chumma! and this hindi frnd of mine got totally freaked out!LOL
    and then i had to explain to him!LOL

  • Anonymous

    he he :) superb … same case here .. i left this word .. n my friend got freaked :)
    its good to take care of words …

  • Anonymous

    Am from south india , even i do use "chumma" a lot in my sentences. My northe friend was surprised when i used that word to him .

  • Anonymous

    My hindi speaking friend got so weirded out, I had to search this blog and show him :P

  • Joe Sam

    haha.. I'm glad you found this useful! keep visiting! :)

    cheers

  • Anonymous

    Chumma means casual not just in Tamizh but even in Malayalam.