Reflections: Let's hear it for Australia's word of the year, say Kwaussie
‘Well, slithy means lithe and slimy and mimsy is flimsy and miserable. You see it’s like a portmanteau — there are two meanings packed up into one word’. Humpty Dumpty in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass.
Those of you who are etymologically inclined will be pleased as punch to learn that the Australians have chosen Kwaussie, as their word of the year. Don’t take my word for it, it was in all the newspapers. Well, good on you mate, as they love saying Down Under. Now what exactly is Kwaussie, or to be more pedantic, what exactly is a Kwaussie? Let me put you out of your misery. A Kwaussie is a portmanteau term that refers to a person who is both an Australian and a New Zealander. Presumably in this case, the word is born out of a combination of Kiwi, New Zealand’s national bird and Aussie, to give us Kwaussie. I daresay Humpty Dumpty would have approved.
To cite two famous Kwaussie examples, Oscar winning actor Russell Crowe is one, as is the Australian deputy Prime Minister, Barnaby Joyce. In fact the latter’s dual citizenship almost brought the Australian government down, owing to an ancient regulation that forbids a person from being a citizen of both the Antipodean countries, at the same time holding public office. As an aside of particular interest to cricket lovers, Russell Crowe is also a cousin of the legendary cricketing Crowe brothers from New Zealand, Jeff and Martin, of whom the peerless Martin Crowe tragically lost his life prematurely to cancer a few years ago.
To most Indians who are cricket mad, Australia and New Zealand are identified as cricket playing nations. The former, Baggy Greens, being the nasty and boorish Aussies who are accustomed to winning at all costs. The nicer Kiwis, Black Caps, who speak with the same unique accent as the Aussies, are far more gentle as a people, and don’t always win cricket matches, but are not sore losers either. Awfully good at rugby though, the Kiwi All Blacks. In sum, the two neighbouring countries, while not at war all the time, exhibit a healthy needle in their sporting rivalry. Unlike our warring sub-continental neighbours, who also wear green caps, with whom India is perennially poised for battle. With guns, tanks, nukes, bayonets – the works. Kwaussie is thus a word that denotes an enduring symbol of oneness between two independent and rival nations.
There are many portmanteau words and expressions that have become well established over time, and others that keep getting invented with each passing day. Hinglish is a good example in India, where a local patois has evolved involving a hybrid mixing of Hindi and English in conversations. For example the English never actually say, ‘What is your good name, please?’, whereas Indians say it all the time, because the polite query is a direct transliteration of the Hindi, ‘Kripaya aap ka shub naam kya hai?’ Likewise, you also come across the term Tanglish or Tamlish, which is a pidgin combo of Tamil and English. The early Anglo-Indian settlers may have contributed partly to the development of this unique and quite hilarious lingo. A great example can be found in this Tanglish colloquialism, ‘Don’t play in the veyil man, come and play in the puliyamarathu neyil’. Veyil referring to the harsh sunlight and puliyamarathu neyil being the cool shade of the tamarind tree.
In modern day parlance, there are many words that are employed by the media and in regular conversation, which qualify to be termed portmanteau words, as per the classical definition. Here’s a fairly wide sampler: podcast, webcast, advertorial, infotainment, faction, emoticon, docudrama, glitterati, Oxbridge, sexercise, Obamacare, Reaganomics, Manmohanomics, Modinomics, Demonomics and many, many more. As this piece is being written, the news channels are abuzz with excitement over the Virushka wedding slated for mid-December, in sunny and romantic Tuscany. I hear you ask quizzically, Virushka? Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma, dummy! The Indian equivalent of Brangelina – the Brad Pitt / Angelina Jolie combo.
On the sporting field, the recently concluded Delhi Test Match between India and Sri Lanka created history with fog, smog and foul emissions bringing play to a temporary halt, the Lankans wearing face masks, and players from both sides freely retching and throwing up on the field of play –not a pretty sight. A unique and dubious first in cricketing history. All this leading one to give our capital the unsavoury moniker of ‘TOXICITY’.
As we look ahead to the frenetic and overheated political scenario in our volatile country, what more interesting portmanteau combinations can we look forward to? Doubtless the print and audio visual media will come up with their own pun-filled coinages, but here are a few suggestions from my side that may help our media whiz-kids during the coming months.
In West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress rules supreme and Mamata Banerjee’s political foes would dearly love to wish the iron lady ‘Mamata-ta-bye-bye’ next time round, but they may have a long wait to contend with. Meanwhile, in strife torn Tamil Nadu, EPS and OPS have formed an uneasy alliance to thwart the surreptitious designs of Sasikala and Dinakaran, to say nothing of keeping the crafty Karunanidhi clan at bay. The whole political drama beginning to look more and more like something out of Aesop’s fables, with unaffordable (E)SOPS being promised on a daily basis. Geddit?
Getting back to Kwaussie, which was the primary inspiration for this piece, can we conjure up some interesting portmanteau combinations with India’s neighbours, friendly or otherwise?
Meaning people who identify culturally with some of the nations with whom we share a common border, or are only divided by narrow ocean straits? How about Pakindian? Or Lankastani? Nah! Don’t think it works. Too overwrought. I think we’re better off being at loggerheads with each other.
