Hanklyn Janklyn

Sometimes life just throws up little gems that get more lustrous as time goes on. In this case a gem called Nigel Hankin. Far too much of him to tell in a single blog (I know, some of them are far too long). But here is a taste and I will add some other pieces in later blogs.

A somewhat precious momento of that day is a (signed) book he wrote called Hanklyn Janklyn (after the older Hobson Jobson) which looks at the origins of words, especially those that have come out of the sub continent. You can find it on Amazon.com. Some teasing samples are as follows (with my abbreviated notes):

Gu (n): Hindi. Excrement, but since gu is not used in polite Indian company, “shit”. In English, “goo”.
Yoga (n): Hindi. Interestingly, the English “yoke” is linked to the Sanskrit root word. Self discipline of the mind with the intention of uniting ones soul with the infinite, or the supreme soul. Hence “yoke”.
Pant (n): Hindu word for European type trousers
Verandah (n): Indian origins but no one quite knows from where.
Paisley Pattern (n): named after the Scottish town of Paisley that copied a stylised juniper design which had its origins in Kashmir (which the Scots had copied to cut into the Kashmir shawl trade)
Swastika(n) Hindi. A symbol of good omen and prosperity. And yes, adopted by Hitler’s Germany.
Jungle(n): Hindi
Widow (n) An Indo-European word linked to the Sanskrit widh/vidh, meaning lacking, bereft, alone. In today’s Hindi, a widow is widhwa.
Chit (n) anglicised version of chithi – letter.

You can easily lose yourself for a while in this book. I love it.