A Guide to the Street Language of Karachi

. . .and i was looking forward to some real gaalis. i`m disappointed. truly disappointed, saala.

Syed Ali must have left Pakistan a long time ago. “Chariya” is a commonly used Sindhi language word.

Here are a few for chowkies before I left Karachi.

“Toopi phahna doo” Toopi(hat) phahna dee. Made a fool out of some body or tricked some person.

“katto” and “Kitto” are interchangeable. Sometime one would also hear “chhahmak Chhahloo”

“Light maar raha hai” Looking good!

“Kiya Chakar chal raha hai or Kiya Drama hai” Basically what the faak is going on here?

“Lai lee kiya?” Did you sleep with her yet?

“tulla” for police officer.

“Samajhdani barri karo” Try to understand!

Here is one special for

#1 inquilaabi

“abay choot marani kay”


Will add more later.

Thank you HP for the additions and you are right ``Chariya`` is indeed a Sindhi word(So much for my careful research and screening process) Anyways, I look forward to some of the far more eloquent phrases that will populate the interactions on this one.

I missed ``bhinot`` which was popularised by Umar Sharif and really died out by the late 90s. Meaning going mad or the more streetwise ``dimagh/khopri Ghoom jana``

Inquilabi, I pointedly missed the more filthy slang for the obvious reasons. But especially for your sake I will add one more `` Salay kay nakhray hi nahee khatam horahay``

The ones I attributed to Karachi, picked up from seafarers of yore, maybe these were shippie lingo, coastal, not from the city . . .

a) Suleimani keedaa (Suleiman`s insect), usually pertaining to a particular wiggling movement of the posterior, literally as well as figuratively. Also applicable to hardball seniors, when trying to search for reasons for their behaviour if they objected to your sleeping on, say, the table-tennis table (when a game was on).

b) Maamoo would often be a reference to a cop, not thullaa. There again, this could have been part of information exchange.

c) Any reference to Arabs, like ``arab-baap``, pertained to a low intellectual capability. Usually accompanied by a slow horizontal shaking of the head, in regret.

Other than ``Maamoo``, most of these are common to Bombay too.

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Finally, an article on something important! Having had a roommate from Karachi at one time, I was a bit educated on the language of the ahle-zabaan. Have heard most of the ones in the article, and a few new ones. Here are a couple that seemed popular among the Karachiwalas:

1. Saala, goli day raha hai: (``saala`` is optional). Meaning, he is pulling a fast one.
2. Chal bohNsaree kay: means p.o.

Some of these are also used in Lahore. Here is an example of these phrases (``phat gai``) provided in the article being used in a joke:

Man goes shopping in Anarkali, and expresses doubts about the quality of the underwear he wishes to buy. Shopkeeper asks him to put on the underwear and follow him for a quality test. Takes him to lahore fort, climbs to the top floor and asks him to look down at the ground which is of course a long way below. As the man looks, shopkeeper pushes him, so man is dangling from the top floor in complete terror while shopkeeper holds on to him by his underwear only. Holding on to the terrified man, the shopkeeper says: ``Dekhho sahab. Aapki phhat gae laikin underwear salaamat hai.``

Thus far, the best source of Karachi street slang for me has been Sajjad Ali. His album `Chief Saab` was brilliant in that regard.

Veeresh

``Sulaimani Keera`` is indeed something I have overheard but is not longer in active use. Would be interesting to find the sources of that one.
``Arab-Baap`` is something entirely new, are you sure it is not a accented version of ``aray bab ray`` which is used to express regret with a shaking of the head commonly used around India and Pakistan.

Rozaiba

Sajjad Ali was pretty open streetwise and experimented heavily with it in Cheif Saab. It is rumoured in those times that after the release of his song Cheif Saab he was hassled constantly by the MQM Haqiqi as their leader was known as Cheif Saab, It is also rumoured that they caught him and shaved his long hairs off as a jovial punishment. I guess he started making safe music from then on. Some of the terms of that song
``Metre Ghumuna`` are still extensively used by the masses meaning going crazy over an issue.
``Ziyada Baat Nahee`` is a karachi equivalent of the Bombay phrase of ``Ziyati baat nahee Karnay Ka``.

Tahmed

HAHAHAHA That was an apt joke and cudnt have summarised the narrative better.
``Bhonsiri kay`` and ``Bhootini Kay`` came about in the street narrative together. Dont exactly know what Bhonsari means.

MBZ Isphahani

Sir I understand your sentiments if not your chain of thoughts. I am still looking for the Chowk Guidelines on the forbidden. The unpardonable as you suggest is employed by the majority of the population of these boys, girls, ministers etc on a regular basis without the least amount of introspection. If you want a debate about the decadence of the society`s linguistic taste, I will respond and on the shrink business, i think chowk is therapy enough ;)

#4 veeresh,
`Other than ``Maamoo``, most of these are common to Bombay too`
well after watching munna bhai MBBS, i think they use it there too.

and then there was this other one i heard over in karachi:
``dimagh ka dahi bana daala``

from the reference to context, it seemed to mean ``you`re so annoying (or stupid) you`re driving me mad``

I`ll add a bit here.

Another good explanation of ``phat gayee`` was there in the movie Kaante. Sanjay Dutt pulls off the wick of a grenade and put it over Mahesh Manjarekar`s head and says,`` Pehle kya phatega??bomb ya tera sar?``. Obviously the other chap is quite flustered and starts babbling ``sar bhi phat sakta... bomb bhi phat sakta hai...blah blah``. And then Sanjay says, ``Nahi... pehle teri phategi``.
haha...

Most of these are gaalis are used in India also, but I`d never heard tafreeh lagana and katto.

Important additions to this list would be...
Gandu
Gola sot hona
Kela hua

And of course one can`t forget the ones listed by Tahmed and HP.

More later....

Mr. Syed Ali,

You don`t know what you are talking about.

*sigh*.

one more:

kaatna:
to avoid..(a person).

some more additions:

tight=set=lash pash=fit:
used same to describe `hot` ppl from either gender. also used to describe situations/places/feelings/anything thats great.

hatana/hatt gayi:
hatana as in `to tease,irritate`.
hatt gayi being when the person jiski hata rahe thay, one succeeded in it and now he`s pissed off.
lagana and lag gayi also used for same purpose.

phattu:
jiski `phati hui` hai...one who`s afraid. lol and yeah, the Kaante joke was hilarious.all of us friends were asking the same question from each other the next day after watching the film...`bomb pehlay phatay ga ya tera sar?`

ha*ami = illegitimate person= basta*d:
according to my knowledge.dunno abt the burger etc thingy.

online/SMS short forms:

ckbn:
took me a long time to know its meaning...finally was enlightened buy some friends.just used to insult someone.

LPC:
to say like `go to hell`.

there are many more. so many that a dictionary needs to be written for them! but these are the ones i cud recall at the moment.

and yes the author is right that these profanities are used without twitch of an eye, and without any gender restrictions...even those mother and sister abuses have turned into father and brother ones.. i being a girl, have got this habit of using abuses in conversations with my male and female friends too...but its all in good humor, with no hard feelings in the end.

abt the above article: set likha hai re mamoo!

P.S. listen to Ali Hamza`s (of the band Noori) song `BC`...it was on everybody`s tongue during college! and numerous such abusive songs have also been made. like from this band of Javed Jaffery `Bombay Boys`...the song being `Mumbhai`, etc etc.

How they get their Tea?

Air Force Wallas say : Chai lay aao.

Army Wallas say: Break lay aao.

Navy wallas say: Stand Easy lay aao.

Rashmmieka #10

What is Gola Sot Hona? (seems your exams are over)


(Where is the Chowk staff & their language limitations?)

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here is another one: tool, which is what the chai wallah says when he means stool. And here is another one (For those offended by crude jokes please dont read further): Gentleman goes to a tea stall, asks for a cup of tea, and politely asks the chaiwallah if there is a place he can sit on while having tea. In response, the chai wallah yells to his assistant ``tool layaa oye, tool layaa. Baoo teray lan tey bai gaa?`` (get the stool. you expect the gentleman to sit on you dick?``

And thus we have an entire set of Lahore terminology centred around the male organ in addition to the above.

First time I heard this one in Lahore was ``tohhaday land noo thandd`` (may your dick remain cool, which simply means to remain cool) that was said in all politeness by a fellow student.