More than corporal punishment, cursing was the preferred form of punishing in yesteryears. There used to be family-specific patentable curse phrases. Some of them I recall include:
- may the ant bite your wife (uttered to a ten year old boy!) un pondaatiya katterumbu kadikka,
- may it rain heavily on your wedding day (again uttered to a ten year old but usually a girl, especially if she chooses to eat raw uncooked rice)
- An introvert and unsociable character was called musudu. Must be a combination of Ummanamunji and Asadu
- may you be born as a cactus plant, ekkedu kettu erukka mulachuppo
- you are only fit to be a donkeyherd, nee kazhudha meykka thaan layakku
ekkedu kettu erukka mulachuppo - Haha! The cactus bit is new to me.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite cursebites from home:
Brahmahatthi. (colossal sinner - usually used in a "Colossal goofball" context)
Asatthu. (No good)
Chaanasam (very slow, lumbering)
Oh and an old favorite, and a label attached to me for the first 10 years of my life:
SINGINAADHAM (Whiner - complainer)
Narayanan, explanation for the one above?
Pure guess: Whining / making loud fuss as the sound of a conch or making much ado about trivial things; sankin naadham.
ReplyDeleteAre you under the assumption that the label has been removed now?!
I have never heard Chaanasam in my life so far
Singinaatham > singinatham Oh OK.
ReplyDeleteAs for labels, let us just say I don't complain as much (aloud), and they don't call me Singinatham (aloud).
Chaanasam: no? I'm surprised. Folks at home use it routinely, if someone (yours truly) takes an unusually long tome to complete a chore.