# Sitting Indian style



## panjabigator

How do you say "sit indian style" in your language.


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## Jana337

Czech:
Turecký sed - Turkish sitting position

Turks, do you recognize it as your habit? 

Jana


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## Flaminius

*Japanese:*
胡坐 (あぐら; agura)
Literally sitting style of  胡, which in Chinese meant non-Han ethnics in the North and West.  This includes Mongolians, Persians, Turks.  Hmmm, any relation to Eurasian nomadic lifestyle?


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## elroy

Arabic: تربع (tarabba'a)

This word shares its root with the word for "four."


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## alitza

Hi,
 In Romanian we say "sitting Turkish style" ("a şedea turceşte").
I guess us people from Central and Eastern Europe (see Jana's post) have had more contact with the Turks than the Indians, hence the origin of the expression.


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## betulina

Hi!

I've been thinking about it, because I couldn't recall a specific term for that in Catalan. I think that we say simply "seure amb les cames encreuades" (to sit with legs crossed) or also "seure com un indi" (to sit like an Indian).

Cheers!


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## badgrammar

In French it is "en tailleur"...  I have never understood why, though.


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## panjabigator

What does the French one mean, literally?

Also, I had no idea that it is "Turkish" in other languages.  To be frank, I also had no idea if the origin was American Indian or Indic...

But I sit like that ALL the time...I just find it more comfortable!


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## badgrammar

The French literally means "in (the fashion of) a suit/tailor)".  But I suspect the origin of the word goes back to something else, maybe refering to a "tailleur de pierre" (rock carver/cutter)?


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## beclija

In German it's "Türkensitz" or, more commonly I guess, "Schneidersitz", we blame either Turks or taylors...


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## taikuri

I'm not sure of what you mean... Do you mean sittin' on your ass, legs crossed in front of you?


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## Etcetera

Jana337 said:


> Czech:
> Turecký sed - Turkish sitting position
> 
> Turks, do you recognize it as your habit?
> 
> Jana


In Russian, it's absolutely the same!
We say сидеть по-турецки (it's actually a verb, though).


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## Chazzwozzer

panjabigator said:


> How do you say "sit indian style" en your language.



*Bağdaş kurmak* (to sit cross-legged)



Jana337 said:


> Czech:
> Turecký sed - Turkish sitting position
> 
> Turks, do you recognize it as your habit?
> 
> Jana



I, personally, do not. I believe this kind of sitting style must be more common among Kurds who live in eastern part of Turkey. I don't know very much about their culture, though. I'll be surprised to see a Turk, who has an urban life, sit in this position, actually.



Flaminius said:


> *Japanese:*
> 胡坐 (あぐら; agura)
> Literally sitting style of  胡, which in Chinese meant non-Han ethnics in the North and West.  This includes Mongolians, Persians, Turks.  Hmmm, any relation to Eurasian nomadic lifestyle?



Excuse my ignorance, what do you actually mean by non-Han ethnics? Does it have anything to do with Khan?

I know Mongolians and Turks used to spend much time togetherD) and they _were _both nomadic peoples, but I don't get how come Persians are in the same group with Mongolians and Turks. Were their ancestors nomadic too or because they were living under the empire at the time of Cengiz Han along with our ancestors?




alitza said:


> Hi,
> In Romanian we say "sitting Turkish style" ("a şedea turceşte").
> I guess us people from Central and Eastern Europe (see Jana's post) have had more contact with the Turks than the Indians, hence the origin of the expression.



Probably. Well, we all know how Ottomans liked Central and Eastern Europe! 



panjabigator said:


> What does the French one mean, literally?
> 
> Also, I had no idea that it is "Turkish" in other languages.  To be frank, I also had no idea if the origin was American Indian or Indic...
> 
> But I sit like that ALL the time...I just find it more comfortable!



Let me know if this sounds too freaky:
If it's actually American Indians who sit like that, then I can say ancient Turks had the same habbit and it's probably still common among Tuvans.



beclija said:


> In German it's "Türkensitz" or, more commonly I guess, "Schneidersitz", we blame either Turks or taylors...



Do tailors sit like this there? It's something I haven't heard before, actually. 



Etcetera said:


> In Russian, it's absolutely the same!
> We say сидеть по-турецки (it's actually a verb, though).


Hmmm... Now that makes me wonder if those Turkic peoples living in Russian Federation has this style, do they?


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## Whodunit

taikuri said:


> I'm not sure of what you mean... Do you mean sittin' on your ass, legs crossed in front of you?


 
Yes, Panjabigator is referring to this style of sitting.



beclija said:


> In German it's "Türkensitz" or, more commonly I guess, "Schneidersitz", we blame either Turks or taylors...


 
I have never heard about "Türkensitz." Do you use it in Austria?

literally: Schneidersitz = sitting like a taylor


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## beclija

Yes we do, although even in Austria Schneidersitz is more common... more than five times as common, according to google when you search site:.at, which would have been my guess approximately.

And for everyone who wonders: I guess it is a very old term, so noone really implies that the Turks of today sit like that...


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## Maja

Jana337 said:


> Czech:Turecký sed - Turkish sitting position


Same in Serbian: *turski sed* (*турски сед*)


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## badgrammar

And why do we call it Indian style?  Is this after native Americans, or after Indians?  I'd lean towards the latter, but I don't know...


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## Josh_

Concerning the origin of the term I found this that might be of some interest:

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/wftwarch.pl?090606


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## Flaminius

Chazzwozzer said:


> Excuse my ignorance, what do you actually mean by non-Han ethnics?  [. . .]
> I know Mongolians and Turks used to spend much time togetherD) and they _were _both nomadic peoples, but I don't get how come Persians are in the same group with Mongolians and Turks. Were their ancestors nomadic too or because they were living under the empire at the time of Cengiz Han along with our ancestors?



Han: 漢 is the indigenous name for the dominant ethnic of China.

While Persians merit the name 胡, maybe a more appropriate name to list here would be Indo-Iranians, which includes various normadic peoples such as Parthians and Sogdians.


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## Frank06

Hi,


badgrammar said:


> The French literally means "in (the fashion of) a suit/tailor)".  But I suspect the origin of the word goes back to something else, maybe refering to a "tailleur de pierre" (rock carver/cutter)?



Also in *Dutch *it is called 'kleermakerszit', lit. sitting like a tailor (tailleur) (at work).
I added an old picture of a tailor at work.

Groetjes,

Frank


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## ireney

In Greek it's οκλαδόν (oklathon) or _very_ colloquially ανακούρκουδα (anakourkoutha) (th in both cases like in the).


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## Etcetera

Chazzwozzer said:


> Hmmm... Now that makes me wonder if those Turkic peoples living in Russian Federation has this style, do they?


Frankly, I don't know. And I even have nobody to ask on the matter. 
But I think it must be a very old idiom, since it exists in many, if not all,  Slavic languages.


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## taikuri

Okay, in Finnish it's 
*istua risti-istunnassa *(sitting "crossed")


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## janek

*Polish*:

Siedzieć po turecku (to sit Turkish style)
Siad po turecku (sitting Turkish style)


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## MarX

Hi!

In Indonesian it's called *bersila*.
I'm used to say *bersilang* though. *Silang* means _cross_.

Salam,


MarX


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## mataripis

Tagalog: Upung Guro


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## ctiona

Flaminius said:


> *Japanese:*
> 胡坐 (あぐら; agura)
> Literally sitting style of  胡, which in Chinese meant non-Han ethnics in the North and West.  This includes Mongolians, Persians, Turks.  Hmmm, any relation to Eurasian nomadic lifestyle?



In Chinese, it's also 胡坐 (hú 					 					zuò). Note that the Japanese pronunciation is not based on the Chinese, but is a native Japanese pronunciation.


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## aruniyan

In Tamil the posture is  called as "Attaanikaal"  "locked legs"


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## tFighterPilot

In Hebrew: ישיבה מזרחית Yeshiva Mizraḥit - Oriental\Eastern sitting.


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## ancalimon

It's "bağdaş kurmak" in Turkish.


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## AutumnOwl

_*Swedish:* att sitta i skräddarställning_ - to sit like a tailor, as in this photo: http://www.familypix.se/kgwidberg_1.jpg

There is also _att sitta i lotusställning_ with the feet on the tights, for examle for meditation: http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotusställning


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## apmoy70

ireney said:


> In Greek it's οκλαδόν (oklathon) or _very_ colloquially ανακούρκουδα (anakourkoutha) (th in both cases like in the).


Also in Koine Greek, «κλωκυδὰ» (adv. klōkū'dă).
Both «ὀκλαδόν» & «κλωκυδὰ» derive from PIE base *qel- (2), _to bow, incline_.
«Ἀνακούρκουδα» is (probably) the Byzantine colloquial version of the adv. «ἀνακλωκυδὰ»; preposition & prefix «ἀνὰ» (ā'nă)--> _up, on, upon, throughout, again_ (PIE base *ano-, _on, upon, above_) + adverb «κλωκυδὰ» > «κλουκουδὰ» > «κούκουδα» > «κούρκουδα»


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## Encolpius

here are some other examples


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## ctiona

ctiona said:


> In Chinese, it's also 胡坐 (hú                                          zuò). Note that the Japanese pronunciation is not based on the Chinese, but is a native Japanese pronunciation.


According to the dynastic history, Emperor Ling (r. 168–189) of the Han dynasty liked foreign things, including 胡坐, so it is a fairly ancient expression. However the expression 胡坐 is not very common in modern Chinese. Now 盤坐 (pán ​zuò; lit. "basin sitting") is more common. It is also used to refer to the lotus position as well as Indian style.


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## ancalimon

"In 1820s some Ottoman riders were recorded by some Italian visitors that they had been been riding horses sitting on them like this. So this could be the reason why it's known as "sitting Turkish style".

Also, during the times Huns invaded Europe trousers entered Europe and I think they were looked down upon as "barbaric" although it became stylish soon among Europeans (especially Romans) replacing the toga over time. Maybe tailors emerged from some of those Huns (to take advantage of this new investment  ) and this could be why it was also related with "tailor stiing". Back in the they Huns were regarded as Turks by Europeans.

I guess it was normal for semi-nomadic & immigrant people that were used to living in nature to sit like that.


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