Scribe of wisdom

English words having origin in Indian Sub Continent – 2


Juggernaut
from Jagannath The English world Juggernaut means a huge, powerful, and overwhelming force. It is derived from Lord Jagannath (Lord of World, Vishnu as per Hindu Religion). History says, a missionary brought the pictuture of an enormous carriage that carried an image of the Hindu god Vishnu in the Indian City of Puri and given pictursque description of the procession.  This tale caught the imagination of English listeners, and by the 19th century, they were using juggernaut to refer to any massive vehicle (such as a steam locomotive) or to any other enormous entity with powerful crushing capabilities.

Loot This noun means stolen money or valuables, and as a verb acts as a synonym for steal, comes from the similar-sounding Hindi word loot which, as we know, means to rob. Similarlly, dacoit is also derived from Hindi word dakaitee which means robbery (Armed robber in Hindi is daku)

Fruit Punch – Well, we are only talking about the punch here. When ever this stylish drink is presented in modern outlets, have you ever imagined punch is panch in Sanskrit / Hindi which means five? Fruit punch was introduced from India to the United Kingdom and the drink was originally made with five ingredients alcohol, sugar, lemon, water, and tea or spices. Well, with time number of additions increased / decreased and it became part of world cuisine but punch / paanch remains 🙂

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