# Hindi (/Urdu?): maamuu in slang



## littlepond

I was wondering about the source from where "maamuu", otherwise the affectionate term for maternal uncle in Hindi, could also mean in modern slang things like a fool, screwed-up, etc. Making a fool of someone means "maamuu banaanaa" in this slang: what's the origin or first attested use, if anything recorded exists? There are also sentences like "E, maamuu samajh rakhaa hai kyaa?" ("Have you taken me for a fool?")

Also, is the word in such usage familiar to Urdu speakers?

Thanks in advance!


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## hindiurdu

I am not familiar with this usage at all. Which region is it from?


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## nizamuddin

yes.... in india and pakistan one meaning of "maamuu" in slang is fool, senseless person etc


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## littlepond

I hear it a lot, hindiurdu jii, everywhere in urban areas: maybe, Bollywood influence? I think that it was used in this sense quite heavily in some of the Munnabhai films (I haven't seen them, so I am not sure).


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## hindiurdu

Oh yes, you are right, I did see this in Munnabhai MBBS. But it was novel to most people from there, I believe, at least in my circle. People jokingly used it for a bit but then it died out. It didn't really take root. However, cops are sometimes called maamuu, which is seems to also be Bombay usage (Thullaa/Delhi, Thull/DelhiIndianEnglish or Puliisiyaa/H-U or Pulsyaa/EastPunjabi or Vardii (Uniform)/OlderPeople is much more common slang afaik - these are all pejorative for police). Could that have somehow spread? I know that people have used 'sasuraal' for 'jail' for a long time


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## littlepond

Well, the word was quite prevalent in the circles I was frequenting, hindiurdu jii, even before the Munnabhai series: I guess, its popularity increased even more after that! I did not know about cops being called "maamuu" or "Thull(aa)", though: that's interesting. (Where does "Thull" derive from?)

Yeah, "sasuraal" for "jail" is quite well known: after all, one gets the same _aav-bhagat_ in a jail as in one's _sasuraal_


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## marrish

Normally this sense of _maamuu(N) banaanaa_ is not there in Urdu slang (even not listed in Dr. Rauf Parekh's awwaliin Urduu slaiNg luGhat اولین اُردُو سلینگ لُغت) but it must have been spread by the movies and in case of India, Hindi influence on Urdu as well.

Interesting that there is chachaa banaanaa like in the Farhang-e-Aasafiyyah:

چچا بنا کے ۔ یا کر کے چھوڑنا ۔ہ۔ فِعلِ مُتَعَدّی ۔ معقُول سزا دے کے چھوڑنا ۔ خُوب بدلا لے کے اور ٹھِیک بنا کے دم لینا
chachaa banaa ke, yaa banaa kar chhoRnaa (Ind.)  vt. ma3quul sazaa de ke chhoRnaa , xuub badlaa le ke aur Thiik banaa ke dam lenaa

غمِ معشُوق سے کہتے ہیں گروہِ عُشّاق
Gham-e-ma3shuuq se kahte haiN giroh-e-3ushshaaq
عوض اس کے کہ دیا کوئی گھڑی درد و الم
3iwaz is ke kih diyaa ko'ii ghaRii dard-o-aman
آپ کے ?مستہ? کو چٹ نوچ جبیں سے لیں گے
aap ke ?mastah? ko chaT noch jabiiN se leN ge
(ہم چچا کر کے تمہیں چھوڑیں گے یا حضرتِ غم (قطعۂ انشا
ham chachaa kar ke tumheN chhoReN ge  yaa Hazarat-e-Gham (qita3ah-e-Inshaa)


چچا بنانا ۔ ہع ۔ ٹھِیک بنانا ۔ درست کرنا ۔ بدلا لینا ۔ معقُول سزا دینا.
chachaa banaanaa: Thiik banaanaa, durust karnaa , badlaa lena, ma3quul sazaa denaa.​chachaa is often called 'maamuuN'. maamaa in slang and maamuuN also in normal language are terms of address. maamii is the word used to call a household help or a servant too. Now I have no idea if the fact of maamii being the wife of maamuu/N/aa makes him a rather not high social status makes it an undesirable person to be accused of impersonation.


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## Englishmypassion

And in addition to meaning a policeman or the police, I think it used to mean a don in the past before being replaced by "bhai". 

 : I read that in an article on the misuse of some Hindi relation terms, but I am no fan of my memory any longer.


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## littlepond

Thanks a lot, marrish jii, for such a detailed and informative post. I did not know of the usage of "chachaa" in such a sense: though I was a bit confused by the last portion of your reply. You said that "chachaa is often called maamuuN": so is "maamuuN" used in Urdu in the sense of "chachaa" as you described it? I thought from the first part of your reply that it is not. Also, is "chachaa" the same as "chaachaa" (father's younger brother)?

Emp jii, I have never heard of "maamuu" being used for "don". Maybe, the article was confused because Munnabhai is a don and the word is used a lot in that series of films?


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## Englishmypassion

That's why I put a warning there as I haven't heard it either. But then how are we supposed to hear it if it has been long replaced by 'bhai'? Are you that old? I am not.


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## mundiya

littlepond said:


> Also, is "chachaa" the same as "chaachaa" (father's younger brother)?



Yes, "chachaa" is the same as "chaachaa".  There is usage information here that I wasn't aware of.


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## littlepond

Thanks, mundiya jii!

Emp jii, I am not that old, but I do talk to many very old people. I am not saying that maamuu for don was or was not there; I am just saying that it suprises me and that I would double-check the source information.


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## marrish

littlepond said:


> Thanks a lot, marrish jii, for such a detailed and informative post. I did not know of the usage of "chachaa" in such a sense: though I was a bit confused by the last portion of your reply. You said that "chachaa is often called maamuuN": so is "maamuuN" used in Urdu in the sense of "chachaa" as you described it? I thought from the first part of your reply that it is not. Also, is "chachaa" the same as "chaachaa" (father's younger brother)?


Your welcome. My apologies for not having been clear enough in my post. No, there is no maamaa/-uuN (banaanaa) in Urdu with one caveat (Hindi influence).

There is chachaa banaanaa and the meanings don't lean much towards 'fool, make a fool'. Probably they are in no connection to each other and the only curiosity is that equal terms of kinship are used with the same verb. 

The rest what I wrote is loose information. An uncle from the father's side, chachaa, is sometimes called maamuuN. This fact neither confirms a connection with the expression 'maamaa/-uu banaanaa' nor it claims it, but is still an example of mixing of these two. The elder brother a father has is also called chachaa.

All this stands loose of the last part (description of slang and normal usage of maamuuN/-aa and -ii). This is so because it doesn't share this sub-meaning with Hindi (a fool). The Urdu meanings point to a kind of profession and social position so it is difficult to imagine that social condition could be linked to 'foolishness". So chachaa is not replaced by maamuuN in Urdu for a slangish 'make a fool'. maamuuN is neither used instead of chachaa banaanaa (which means something else than H. maamaa (banaanaa).


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## nawaab

I also haven't heard of "fool" as a meaning for maamuuN in Urdu. Is the correct word maamuuN or maamuu?


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## marrish

^ مامُوں  is the most used and indeed typical for Urdu, part of the culture and literature too. So I find it is correct in Standard Urdu however it's possible some people might say مامُو. Perhaps it is correct, too but not used in the mainstream communication language.


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## littlepond

Thanks a lot, marrish jii, for your clarifications!


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