Slangs may be more tolerable and less sober. With sufficient amount of faithfulness, sincerity and honesty, they convey the intended message in perfect tone and tenor. This undoubtedly makes the conversation more enjoyable.
Hindustani slangs’ list may be exhaustive, but let us have a look at some of these colloquial expressions. Consider Tana-tunn first. Enquire about someone’s health and he may quip, “Tana-tunn!”

Now there are a thousand meanings that can be attributed to this argot. Tana-tunn may connote a “condition”, “position” and so on. Generally, it is an overstatement made when (and mostly) it comes to one’s potency or inadequacy, or both.

Mall does not refer to Mall Road or Shopping Malls only. The slang means everything, ranging from merchandise to even someone you may have a crush on. More so when it comes to the supply of betel leaf, footwear, cosmetics, fabric, medicine, machinery, screws, anything or everything on earth, including “kidneys”, the dispenser may say, “Mall hi nahin aaya!”

Take for example our own indigenous jugar. It means an alternative, when the actual is unavailable. Jugar encompasses “virtually” everything that “works”; be it a government, a machine, a system or even an improvisation. In the Indian context, jugar may be a stop-gap arrangement, which can be “dragged” on without inviting frowns, and with impunity.

Phoonk remains my personal choice ever since I became conscious of my ego. You assume airs and inhale enough phoonk. Others also make you inflate with phoonk. In case of a failure, they always refer to some kind of a deflation of phoonk only; but then they will say, “Sahib ki phoonk sarak gayeei” I don’t know if it is a pointed adaptation to “taking wind out of the sails!”

Sho-sha is again exhibitionist in character. It is a gimmick. A prank. A trick to lure. Blandishments. All combined to make one indulge in an impulsive ostentation, or showing off. Sho-sha entails expenditure, and is considered dispensable for the critics, who call it extravaganza. Sho-sha is feed for some, and food for many.

Fukrapan relates to one’s style. Of dressing. Of talking. Of ones conducting oneself, in a maner generally perceived to be a fetish, fixation, mania or obsession. Fukrapan also takes its toll on the practitioner’s expenses.

In a Rajesh Khanna movie of the seventies, I was shocked (then) to hear him call his soul-mate a Kutti Cheeze—a hurricane, or a bewitching beauty! These days they use callings which in due course have become “acceptable”. They may relate to “wear” and “tear” — no pun intended, please.Kutti may be a bitch, and cheeze (also vastu) may mean more than that cheesy white stuff.

Bindaas is someone who is bold, from out of the world, adventurous, overbearing, go-getter, and what not. The late Devi, a woman journalist who used to write gossip columns, coined this expression which may, no doubt, one day find place in Oxford and Macmillan dictionaries. Other slangs from Bollywodd include Mamu, Beedu, Dhakkan, etc.

Last but not the least to mention is tahsan. Finer and even bolder nuances of this slang connote something done as a precursor to another thing which has the force of a firm belief, be it religious, personal or societal. For example, if someone distracts at that very moment when the die is to be cast, then they say the tashan is lost.

Remember the successful gimmick of “Yaaran da tashan” in an Amir Khan advertisement of a popular brand of cold drink! What? Did you really comment on my pen? Well, it is tana-tunn! No pun intended please.