As an English speaker, I say Uncle. It never occurred to me that there could be anything more than one kind of Uncle. But if you think about it, there are actually FOUR different types of Uncles. In Pakistan, people differentiate between these types of uncles, and there's a different word for each of them. The four different types (and their Urdu equivalent) of uncles are:
Your father's brother (Chacha)
Your mother's brother (Mama)
Your mother's sister's husband (Khaloo)
Your father's sister's husband (Poopha)
I remember when I was telling one of M's friends about my Uncle and he asked me "Which uncle? On your mother's side or your father's side?" I answered him - it was on my mother's side - but I also secretly wondered why the heck he needed that information. What does it matter? An uncle's an uncle.
Why is this topic in my mind today, you ask? Well, we have a new character to introduce to you fine readers here at The Gori Wife Life. M's brother, who you might recall was recently accepted into a Ph.D program at an University very close to our school, is called Chachoo by my son - it is his father's brother after all. And I decided that could be a good pseudonym for him on this website!
And the reason why THAT is in my mind today is because tonight, M, the baby, and I stood in the international arrivals area of our local airport for three hours until Chachoo walked through those doors and into our life. We then brought him back to our house which is now his house too, and showed him to his new room. (Well, "his" room until my parents or grandparents come to visit, then he gets kicked out to sleep on an air mattress in the laundry room.)
He starts school in a week and tomorrow I'm driving him all around town to get his last minute affairs in order. Then, later in the week we'll start the tour of close-by family members' homes/cities. I'm assuming there will be interesting stories as a result of this new development. Which means we better finish up those posts about traveling in Pakistan so we can move on to this juicy topic!
19 comments:
so crying uncle....meaning what? Me not get it!~
you forgot to add "Taya" who is elder brother of your father in law. so your husband would be calling him "Taya".
you forgot to add that.
Hahaha, very cool Sis! I don't have any siblings, but my cousins both in America, India and Pakistan (yes I've got family on both sides of the border), since we are close as brother-brother and brother-sister, raise their kids to call me chachu, mama and I have mostly tayas (as previous poster pointed out), as my father was the youngest of the boys. I have one khaloo and one Mama or Mamu in the States, and some late Khaloos in England and Pakistan. Anyways, it was funny to hear that you were puzzled at the "which uncle!" Same thing, somewhat, with grandparents - I like how in Hindi/Urdu we have words that refer to the specific side without having to add anything, such as "paternal." I am guessing you already know these, but in case other readers don't:
Nana = mother's father
Dada = father's father
Nani= mother's mother
Dadi = father's mother
Ma'salaam!
Yes, sooo many terms to remember. In my ILs family they don't like to say the hierarchal status of paternal uncles and aunts so everyone is chacha/chachee. But my SIL (jaithani and not from the same family) finds this very weird that she didn't get to be called Tayi and her husband Taya. Among peers, hey also disparage calling each other bhabhi and so forth and just use first names, but all the men are bhai. I wonder if it is common to not use those terms. It is like they do it on purpose to show tha everyone is equal and no one has higher status. I guess the languages that do these distinctions make it easier to describe stuff though. Like in English: my mother's older sister is just one word in Urdu.
Somebody please tell me why the chachoo is being called crying uncle???!!!!!!
OH i think i understand. The title to this post...'crying' because it can be used instead of the word 'yelling' or simply meaning 'saying'...so since there are so many meanings to uncle you are '(saying)CRYING (out) UNCLE".............
LOLLLL i hope i'm not totally off.
anyway its a good idea to just call him chachoo or w.e. it will keep us from getting confused.
Some of these terms are similar in Nepali... mama is the same and Phupa is Phupu :)
crying uncle...like "crying wolf?" ...i don't get it either, but this ALWAYS confuses me with my boyfriend's Turkish family too!
So glad his visa papers finally came through (this is the one you were waiting on, right?!)
Salaam alaikum sister :),
im getting married inshallah soon to my pakistani husband to be who ive known for 6 years now, but so happy i found someone in the same situation im so nervous meeting his parents and family being a white girl :) i know abit of punjabi and about how the wedding goes and the different casts gosh hehe but his mum dont speak great english so just needed some help :)
http://muslimbychoiceandhappy.blogspot.com/
Crying uncle is an American Idiom
cry/say uncle Informal
To indicate a willingness to give up a fight or surrender: tickled my brother until he cried uncle.
So GW is making a pun on the term, to give it a double meaning.
OK, these comments made me laugh so hard I almost woke my baby. Shame on you guys for not keeping up with your American idioms! ;-)
GW, I just want to let you know that I think you're a really amazing woman. I hope that M (and from what you've written in your blog, I am sure he will) always appreciates how much you cherish and respect his family. He is a lucky man to have you, and you are a good soul for doing what is right, but not necessarily easy.
InshAllah, may you, M, little one and Chachoo enjoy all the laughter, love and richness of family togetherness in the coming years. Ameen.
and you forgot to mention the chowkidar (watchman) uncle, the doctor uncle, the darzi(tailor) uncle and whatnot! we Pakistani's like to have a lot more uncles than God actually intended us to have! :)
It's so funny reading a gori's insights about aspects of Pakistani life. Will be sure to keep on coming back for more.
To clarify more some times we have ,barey mamoon ( elder uncle), chotey mamoon ( yongest uncle) and manjhley mamoon ( the one in the middle), and so on.
@Faiqa - I was aware of what the term meant :-) I am American, but just didn't bother to comment on it :-P. Anyways, yeah lots of funny comments!
@Southern Masala: thanks for the clarification. My americanisms are still a work-in-progress.
:D
So, for my flashcards (I have to make my own) four different types of Uncles and Aunts, also? What about cousins? And, sister-in-law and brother-in-law? I mean: If a woman is married to my brother, is that a different from my husband's sister.... ... or the wife of my husband's brother?? Hey, mother-in-law, father-in-law? I am making my own flashcards and have a long way to go to learn Urdu.
a new addition eh? nice... me too, never understood why you need the distinction.. and uncle is an uncle, no matter how hes related to you. How about those people they call uncle for respect? is there a separate word for them??
sis.. u on twitter? or facebook? i wanted to add u
Genial dispatch and this fill someone in on helped me alot in my college assignement. Thanks you seeking your information.
Brim over I to but I dream the list inform should secure more info then it has.
Post a Comment