ریختہ ڈکشنری بلاگ

کٹھ حجتی ہو یا کٹ حجتی، ہیں دونوں بُری

’’ہم ’کٹ حجتی‘ لکھتے اور بولتے رہے ہیں۔ ریختہ میں بھی ہم نے دیکھا تو کٹ حجتی ہی ہے۔ ’’کٹ حجتی‘‘ کے معنی ہیں: ’’خواہ مخواہ کی بحث، بحث برائے بحث،اپنی بات پر اڑنا، ضد سے کام لینا، بے جا حجت‘‘۔ لیکن جناب ابونثر نے ’’کٹھ حجتی‘‘ لکھا ہے، آیا یہ زیادہ فصی ...continue reading

From Script Sounds to Sound Script: A Fresh Take on Learning Urdu

This verse above by Faiz Sahab is inarguably among the most adored couplets of Urdu language. But besides its evocative imagery and nostalgic vibe, do you know what’s the secret behind Ghazal-lovers reciting it over and over, like a cryptic Mantra ...continue reading

Stories behind Sayings: Brave Enough to Brag

How funny it is that the moment we hear someone go on a rant about their guts and grits, we know it's an act of bravado and almost instantly blurt out, ‘BaDe Tees Maar Khan Ho!’. But do you know how this backhanded compliment-cum-saying came about ...continue reading

5 Contronyms of Urdu that you barely knew existed!

Just like humans, words, too, can sometimes behave contradictorily. Thankfully, we have a term for those words that have this strange linguistic condition – Contronyms, or Janus words. In Roman mythology, Janus is considered the God of duality, and ...continue reading

5 Urdu words and how they are Really Pronounced!

A word’s actual utterance getting vulgarized in our everyday speech, is just Uber-common. Let’s take the word pronunciation itself, how often do we hear it as Pro-noun-ci-ation ...continue reading

5 other ways to say Mubarak-Bad in Urdu

Whether it’s Eid or Diwali; the daughter graduating or the son grabbing his first job; bringing home your first pet dog or that dog giving birth to a pup, however modest or momentous the occasion is, our expression is almost always the same, ‘Mubarak ...continue reading

Stories behind Sayings: Camel (f)or Cat?

Sayings are where the constraints of grammar fall flat. Sayings are where the limits of our language are pushed. Sayings are where everyday speakers insert their ‘Private Meanings’, (hello, Wittgenstein lovers) ...continue reading

Banaaiye Bhi, Pakaaiye Bhi, magar, zaraa dekh kar!

‘To do, or to cook?’ shed some light on two of our most common verbs that we often use interchangeably. These are ‘Banaanaa’, to make, prepare; to contrive (slang), and ‘Pakaanaa’, to cook; to bore (slang) ...continue reading

Rihaaish: The Word we’ve All Got Completely Wrong!!

‘Rihaaish’, a word that’s nowhere to be found in our classical poetry, but features a lot after its wane, means a stay, dwelling, residence, and also a delay (spatial) ...continue reading

All that you don’t know about the word Ustad, is keeping you from becoming one!

Ustad, originally came from the Zend language, even appearing in the Zoroastrian religious text ‘Avesta’, meaning a knower of Avesta ...continue reading