Remember we told you we were saving up a few words for Sri Lankanisms Part Two? We meant it.
Here are the rest we weren’t able to incorporate in our last piece. We had a lot of fun making these, and remain eternally grateful for the existence of Nazly’s pictures.
1. Ela
“”Ela machan, ela.”
2. Adoh/ Adey
“Ado, get over here, now!”
“Adey, inga waa’ dah!
3. Shaa
My mind is blown. What wondrous things are those?
4. Bokkeng
Bokkeng love, machan. Bokkeng love. *thumps heart*
5. Ammatasiri
Ammatasiri, what the heck happened here?
6. Magula
This literally means ‘wedding’ or ‘marriage’, but has nothing to do with either.
7. Kehelmala
Oh, banana blossoms!
8. Amma Gahai
Run, Forrest, run.
9. Chik
Tis the time to shudder.
10. Sirawata
Fo’ Real, Mate.
11. Charter
That’s a really charter movie, man.
12. Ayyo
“”Ayyoooo machan! What the HECK did you just do?””
13. Men
Whaaat men…. No men….
14. Poda
The equivalent to our last post’s palayan bung yanna.
15. Matta
He’s such a matta. We all know it.
16. Full Aathal
Maara aathal. Hena aathal. Lotsa fun.
17. Oi
It’s a good way to substitute someone’s name.
18. Bugger
This is a bit of an oldie. You get old uncles and aunties using this, or reliving memories of having used it in their heyday. It’s usually compounded with ‘bloody’, so it goes along the lines of “”You bloody bugger.”” You’re welcome.
19. Aniwa
“”I’ll be there on time. Aniwa deffa, machan, I’ll be there in five.””
20. Yako
We have a helluva lot of words for when we’re annoyed.
