World Hindi Day 2023: Goblin mode, gaslighting — what are the most popular English words called in Hindi?

Goblin mode – गोबलिन मोड

This word was selected as the Oxford English Dictionary’s (OED) word of the year for 2022.

The OED defines these words as “a type of behaviour which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations”. In Hindi, this words translates to ‘अपनी दुनिया में मस्त’.

Example: लोटरी जीतने के बाद वह अपनी दुनिया मे मस्त हो गया

Gaslighting – गैसलाइटिंग 

Merriam-Webster dictionary chose ‘gaslighting’ as one of the most popular words of the year, after a 1,740 per cent rise in searches for the term this year.

The OED defines this word as “manipulating (a person) by psychological means into questioning his or her own sanity”. In Hindi, the word is translated to “अपने फायदे के लिए दूसरे को भरमाना. ये एक व्यवहार का एक बेहद बारीक मनोवैज्ञानिक मिसयूज़ है”.

Permacrisis – पर्माक्रिसिस

From Covid pandemic to Ukrain-Russia war — with the way global events developed in the last two-three years, Permacrisis became a very common word.

Collins Dictionary describes the noun ‘permacrisis’ as “an extended period of instability and insecurity”. In Hindi, this word can be explained as ‘असुरक्षा और चीजों के स्थायी न होने का समय बढ़ जाना’.

Inflation – मंहगाई

Inflation was a word that has been popularly used by people across the world, in several ways. From the prediction of US inflation to effects being felt around the world due to Russia-Ukraine war, Covid, IT layoffs, Brexit, decrease in overall salaries and more.

In English, the word is defined as ‘a general rise in prices; the rate of increase in prices over a given period of time’. In Hindi, inflation can be translated to ‘मंहगाई’ or ‘ मुद्रास्फीति’. The word can be explained as ‘ जितनी पहले की तुलना में आज वस्तु का भाव है उसी भाव के अंतर के वार्षिक औसत को इन्फ्लेशन की दर कहते है’.

Quiet Quitting – चुपचाप छोड़ना

As the Covid pandemic started taking a backseat around the globe, several employers asked their employees to resume work from office. In these years of Covid, some employers started fearing that their employees started participating in the ‘quiet quitting’ trend.

‘Quiet Quitting’ is defined as an informal term for the practice of (secretly) reducing the amount of effort one devotes to their job. in Hindi, the term can be described as  the behaviour where ‘कर्मचारी सिर्फ वही काम कर रहे हैं, जो उनकी नौकरी के विवरण के तहत है’.

Now, let’s check some Hindi translations of the commonly-used English words:

Engineer – अभियांत्रिकी

India has one of the highest number of engineers in the world, yet a lot of Indians may not know the Hindi word for ‘Engineer’. The Hindi word for this profession is ‘अभियांत्रिकी’.

Mobile Phone – चल दूरभाष

From a small child to an old person, everyone uses a mobile phone in some capacity. However, do we know the Hindi word for this communication device? In Hindi, a mobile phone is known as ‘चल दूरभाष’.

Internet – अंतरजाल

From reading this article to searching a normal route, internet has become an integral part of our daily lives now. Even then, not many of us would have tried to find the Hindi word for it, as we tend to use the word ‘internet’, even when conversing in Hindi. Internet is known as ‘अंतरजाल’ in Hindi.

Computer – संगणक 

Computer is yet another word that is commonly used in our conversations but people tend to use the English word, instead of its Hindi translation. So much so, that even those who do not know the English language fluently, would know the word ‘computer’. In Hindi, computer is known ‘संगणक’.

There are several other such words such as train (which is known as ‘लौह पथ गामिनी’), refrigerator (which is known as ‘शीतक यंत्र’), microwave (known as ‘सूक्ष्मतरंग’) and many more.

(With inputs from Duolingo)