India Contributes Bulk of New Words to English

Bangalore: Jugaad is one of the new words, says Joanna Turnbull. However, she says she will revert back if jugaad will make the cut, but for now, she has to “airdash” back to UK. “Jugaad” is one of the new words she heard in Pune during her India trip, and she's been told its English, reports Omkar Sapre for Economic Times.

Joanna is one of the modern day arbitrators of English language— as the managing editor of the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (OALD). It's her job to explore around the world for curious words that have achieved critical mass in English, and cover a few into the Queen's English pantheon.

Turnbull told ET "We added about 2,000 words to the dictionary over the seventh and eighth editions of OALD. More than 200 words are of Indian origin. Many words have got a new meaning from their Indian usage."

The OALD is made for those with English as a second language and is a subset of the exhaustive 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary. Further, India makes up for 20 percent of all sales of Oxford dictionaries.

Joanna on her way back to UK is carrying a bunch of cards full with new words she heard during interactions in India. While, some of them will make it into the next edition of the dictionary two years from now; the eighth edition released some weeks ago.