Join the masses who listen to A Way With Words, the call-in radio show and podcast about words and language.
Catchword for “chamcha”
Catchword: chamcha
Filed Under: , , ,
Part of Speech: n.
The part of speech reflects that used in the full entry, and not necessarily the part of speech as it is used in the quotation below.
Quotation: Akbar has been called a chamcha (which means spoon in the Hindi language and has become a slang word for sycophant) to the Gandhi family, and some of that slavish devotion shows up in his uncritical acceptance of Nehru’s government-dominated economic program and the erosion of the country’s grass roots political structure as a result of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.
Article or Document Title:
“Nehru and His Nation”
Author:
Stuart Auerbach
Article, Document, Publication, Web Site:
Washington Post
Date of Publication:
Mar. 26, 1989
This cite belongs to a full entry for chamcha.
Posted 23 Sep 04 | Permalink | Tell a Friend

Leave a comment, which must be approved by the moderator before it will appear. Courtesy matters!

Keep in mind that we're interested in terms that are not well-covered in mainstream dictionaries, or not covered at all. A mass of unexamined Google hits counts for nothing, but an early use of the term you've found in a book or periodical is very useful. A term does not have to be new to be recorded here, it merely needs to be worthy of more attention.
Name (mandatory):

Email (mandatory):

Location (optional):

Your Web Site (optional):

Remember my personal information

Notify me, by email, of follow-up comments.

Recent Catchwords
white water n. (8/20)
gunning for the stops n. (8/20)
post-shellular adj. (8/20)
high water mark n. (8/20)
waz adj. (8/20)
time bomb n. (8/19)
bedder n. (8/19)
gasoline siding n. (8/19)
night lunch n. (8/18)
mudjacking n. (8/17)
skeet-shooting n. (8/17)
permabear n. (8/17)
DFD-er n. (8/15)
dropout factory n. (8/15)
slotting n. (8/15)
hydromowing n. (8/15)
suicide gown n. (8/15)
block booking n. (8/14)
turfcrete n. (8/14)
knocking box n. (8/14)
 More catchwords...
Lexicographer's Rules
A thesaurus can be harmful (8/6)
Can bad language punditry be stopped? Can false attributions for classic quotes be fixed? (7/27)
There’s one in every country (7/23)
Scottish Language Dictionaries fundraiser (7/12)
SouthWest Writers (7/10)
Disfluencies: What do they mean by “I mean”? (7/9)
A hearty endorsement of shout quotes: scare quotes used for emphasis (5/14)
How to buy a dictionary (4/29)
Jinx and padiddle: games we play (4/16)
Saying it wrong on purpose (4/1)
 More blog entries...
Find A Word  »
 A   B   C   D   E 
 F   G   H   I   J 
 K   L   M   N   O 
 P   Q   R   S   T 
 U   V   W   X   Y 
 Z   0-9 
Search
Search Site

Google Site Search
Recent searches: lawyer… warm shell… fly specking…
New Comments
Ali van Wyk commented on bakkie (8/19)
Charles Miller commented on robotripping (8/18)
Kathe Chandler commented on mouth-breather (8/18)
Catherine commented on mouth-breather (8/18)
hollie commented on guap (8/18)
Matt Ryan commented on robotripping (8/18)
Cris Whetton commented on bathtub effect (8/18)
Cris Whetton commented on silent key (8/18)
Charles L. Asplin commented on mudjacking (8/18)
Steven Gallanter commented on chicken cutlet (8/18)
c. harry commented on Mortarville (8/17)
Buddy commented on smitty (8/17)
Rickys Mom commented on Romeo and Juliet law (8/14)
Carla commented on moded (8/14)
Ben Zimmer commented on unconference (8/14)
Subscribe to the RSS feed. • Subscribe to the mailing list. • Browse the archive. • Add to Technorati Favorites. • © 1999-2008 by Grant Barrett, Double-Tongued Dictionary, New York City.