# Urdu/Hindi: ek dam



## Stranger_

Friends, what does "ek dam ایک دم" mean in these two languages and how is it used? I am asking because in Persian this word has various meanings like: one moment/an instant/ceaseless/constant/non-stop..etc. But in some regional dialects it has the meaning of "completely/totally" and I think this is what it means in spoken Urdu/Hindi too but I am not sure. So, could you please explain its usage?

Regards,


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## marrish

In Urdu we have three variations: یکدم، ایک دم، اِک دم
yak-dam
ek-dam
ik-dam

They have multiple usages and the meanings are as you have summed it up, with "totally, completely" but also "utterly, very, very much, straight away etc.".

ek dam Thiik hae
ek dam first class
ek dam bewuquuf
ek dam qaabuu kho gayaa (totally but can mean suddenly too).

I think I am unfamiliar with the meaning "ceaseless, constant, non-stop".


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## mundiya

The information above in post 2 is also true for Hindi, except "yak-dam" is not used. That is strictly Urdu/Persian.


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## littlepond

I guess Stranger jii means "dam" as in the song "Dam bhar jo udhar muNh phere", where "dam" means (one) breath, the time to take a breath.

However, as marrish jii said, never heard "ek dam" for an instant, etc.


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## Sheikh_14

In urdu ek dam is very common for something that happens all of a sudden so Marrish is very right from his standpoint. However, Marrish jee would you consider ek dam in the other form whereby you are either giving high praises or the very opposite correct usage or slang? In other words are expressions such as "ek dam saHiiH, first class, a'laa" accepted only in speech or in all forms of Urdu?

With regards to yak-dam, I have only come across it in the sense of something to happen all of sudden rather than as a superlative conveying the alacrity of "in a breath." Would you consider the usages of yak/ek-dam to be completely interchangeable or only for something that happens all of a sudden?

*Ek dam qaabuu Kho gayaa* in Urdu would *always *come to be understood as loss of control, all of a sudden, I doubt anyone would understand it as completely. Yak sar would be better in that regard or bilkul


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## Stranger_

Thank you all.

Yes indeed littlepond jii, I had forgotten to mention its literal and original meaning which is "one breath"!


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## Alfaaz

Just in case it might be of interest, the entry in Feroz-ul-lughaat lists a few common idioms as well.

A few more from Urdu Lughat:

ایک ایک دم سو سو رنگ بدلتا ہے (here)
امیر کو جان پیاری فقیر کو ایک دم بھاری (here)


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## littlepond

Sheikh_14 said:


> In urdu ek dam is very common for something that happens all of a sudden so Marrish is very right from his standpoint.



I don't think Marrish jii implied anything of the sort, Sheikh jii: "ek dam" doesn't mean "all of a sudden" by any stretch of imagination! It means "completely, fully, quite": and hence "ek dam sahii" is of course ek dam fine.


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## Alfaaz

littlepond said:
			
		

> ... "ek dam" doesn't mean "all of a sudden" by any stretch of imagination! ...


 In Urdu, _yak dam_ and _ek dam_ can certainly be used for_ all of a sudden/at once/in an instant/suddenly/etc._ as attested by dictionary entries, classic and modern literature, and usage in everyday spoken language! 

Literary Examples

تم اپنی مستی میں آن ٹکرائے مجھ سے یک دم
ادھر سے میں بھی تو بے دھیانی میں جا رہا تھا

ظفر اقبال

وقت کرتا ہے پرورش برسوں
حادثہ ایک دم نہیں ہوتا

قابل اجمیری​


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## littlepond

Actually, my bad, and apologies, Sheikh jii; "ek dam", in particular "ek dam se", is used in Hindi as well for "suddenly".


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## mundiya

"All of a sudden" and similar definitions are some of the common and basic ways "ek dam" is used in Hindi. This is how Platts defines it:

_ek-dam_, _ek-dam-meṅ_, adv. In one breath, in a moment, at once, all at once


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## Stranger_

Interesting. I did not know about the "all of a sudden/suddenly" meaning of it.


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## marrish

This is the basic meaning of 'ek dam', 'yakdam'  'suddenly' in Urdu naturally as well but only when it is treated as an adverb. When it is an adverb, you can say that postposition meN, or even se! has dropped off but is/was understood.
-
The earlier mentioned meaning of 'completely, totally, perfectly' is secondary, as well as colloquial, rather not put on paper, and is also an adverb. Here yakdam is not used, I think.
-
_ek dam_ as a noun means obvoiusly '[the time of] one breath' which means 'an instant', so I couldn't have ever claimed that this sense were not to be there. This is consistent with Persian.
-


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## Sheikh_14

marrish said:


> -
> The earlier mentioned meaning of 'completely, totally, perfectly' is secondary, as well as colloquial, rather not put on paper, and is also an adverb. Here yakdam is not used, I think.
> 
> -



Indeed in fact this is where I was getting at, I am not so sure that ek dam to mean "for sure" is even proper Urdu and is used merely colloquially. I have heard it more often in Hindi than in Urdu but since you have mentioned it in your post above than its use must also be accepted practise amongst Urdu speakers'. Ek-dam meN on the other hand sounds more formal and thus more proper. Ek ek dam, for in every breath and yak au har-dam could be potentially used as a superlative for in one and all breaths. Ek-dam awal darjah/first class in my understanding is merely slang. I may be wrong for that matter but at least that is the impression I have come to gather. "Tumhaarii baat ek dam sachii Hai"- slang Urdu or so I feel, "tumhaarii baat ek dam meN sachii lagtii Hai OR ek dam meN sachii Hai" sounds more formal.

Stranger how is yak-dam used in Persian, only to mean in an instant and thus all of a sudden or does it also have such superlative connotations as it has come to take up in Hindi/Urdu? Whilst for Urdu speakers' my query would be that is yak-dam or dar-yakdam ever used in the superlative format as in yak dam saHiiH, pyaarii, mast, xuub or only for all of a sudden?


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## Stranger_

I have heard only "ek dam" in spoken Urdu/Hindi, never "ek dam meN" but that is due to my limited exposure to this language.



> Stranger how is yak-dam used in Persian, only to mean in an instant and thus all of a sudden or does it also have such superlative connotations as it has come to take up in Hindi/Urdu?


"yek-dam or yak-dam" is used only in fairly formal language. I have never heard it in spoken language except in some regional and rural dialects in the sense of "completely/totally". 

It can NEVER mean "all of a sudden or suddenly" though. Most of the time, it just means "one moment" like in these poetic lines:

نگارا، وقت آن آمد که یکدم ز آن من باشی
دلم بی‌تو به جان آمد، بیا، تا جان من باشی
عراقی

(literal translation):
O darling, time has come that you be mine for a moment
Without you, my heart has reached my soul, come and be my soul

ای دوست بیا تا غم فردا نخوریم
و این یکدم عمر را غنیمت شمریم
خیام

O friend, come so that we enjoy and not worry about tomorrow
And that we make use of this one moment of life

ای دل مباش یک دم خالی ز عشق و مستی
حافظ

O heart, never be empty of love and intoxication, i.e. even for one moment.

In Persian, "damii دمی" can also be used to mean "one moment".


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## littlepond

I have myself never heard "ek dam meN" in Hindi! Does it exist in Urdu?


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## Sheikh_14

_ek-dam_, _ek-dam-meṅ_, adv. In one breath, in a moment, at once, all at once, *courtesy Platts. *Ek-dam to mean completely is very colloquial and veers towards slang, wheras the latter is indeed more proper and bookish. Therefore rarely used.


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