'Arre Yaar' in the Oxford Dictionary

'Arre Yaar' is one of my favorites. It just has this casual but warm,  friendly, natural bonding feel to it. When I heard it made it to the Oxford, my first reaction was a smile...like  another level of acknowledgement to a nice phrase. Then there was the surprise, as I couldn't see how such a nuanced word or phrase could weave itself into English, if you know what I mean.

But that's the beauty of the English Language, right? It just keeps absorbing, growing, evolving.......it doesn't allow those subtleties or nuances of other languages or words stop it.

No constraints...just do it.

I simply love the language, and yes, while I keep getting accused of getting caught up in words, I do think words are beautiful, and I simply love the English Language. (could be because I know no other as well as this...... but so what..... I still love it)

                                       

Two anecdotes or memories come to mind around this:

Nammu, ( a born and brought up in the US cousin), a long long while ago, asked me......'what does 'ya' mean'?. And I said, it means 'yes'.  And she's like...'no, you use it all the time.... not just when you're saying yes......like even when you're saying No'. I couldn't get what she was saying then. Later she caught me saying 'Nahi yaar' to someone, and pounced on me with a 'that's the one'. It was the yaar....often shortened into ya. In fact, it's only then that I realized how much we use it.

And then there's Dhoni at the wickets. This is also an oldish memory, and I don't know if he still does it, as it's been a few years since I've watched cricket. But in his earlier days, he would say it to almost every ball, and because he was keeping (mike on the wickets) we'd hear it so clearly....... 'Arrre Yaarrr"!  And I found that so appealing and cute, that it made every ball that extra bit worth watching, just to hear him say it. He'd put so much expectation, energy and desire into it....like it so clearly expressed how he thought each of those balls could have been a catch.

If I always loved the phrase, he made me love it even more :)