Rekhta Dictionary Blog

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

KHulaasa-e-KHulaasa: Opening the word KHulaasa

KHulaasa actually means the purest part of something. A word that really can help us wrap our heads around it is the Hindi word NichoD, or the essence of a matter; ‘baat kaa nichoD yeh hai kih…’ ...continue reading

The Strange Connection between Dastak and Baalak

Baalak (Baal + Ak), thus, means a little Boy or ChhoTa Bachha and Dastak (Dast + Ak), although it means a knock at the door ...continue reading

Tarjama-e-Tarjama: Translating the word Tarjama

Essentially, Tarjama comes to mean ‘taking conjecture out of the equation (shakk duur karna)’. In Arabic, it originally means ‘a biography, an account of a person’s life and events.’ Tarjama Karna would therefore mean to write a biography, and not tr ...continue reading

Sahi vs Sahih: Do You Know the Difference?

What you see above is actually the Arabic word ‘Sahiih’, that’s gradually metamorphosed into ‘Sahi’. Moreover, the two differ in script as well, the Arabic ‘Sahiih’ is written as ‘صحيح’ whereas its Hindustani twin ‘Sahi’ is scribed as ‘سہ' ...continue reading

The Curious Case of the word Maah

The Persian word ‘Maah’ got its “form” from the Sanskrit ‘Maas’, and its “meaning” (following the logic) from the Arabic ‘Shahr’ ...continue reading