# Hindi/Urdu: awkward



## flyinfishjoe

One thing that I've noticed is that many languages do not seem have an exact word for the English expression "awkward," as in "awkward moment" or "awkward silence." What is a Hindi or Urdu term that could be used to describe the following situations?

1) Yesterday, a pickup truck cut in front of me while I was driving down the highway, forcing me to slam on my brakes. I passed the vehicle and yelled an obscenity out the window. It turned out that the driver of the pickup truck was my father-in-law, and I could tell that he had recognized me. Well, that was awkward.

2) Many people describe John as socially awkward. He just cannot keep a conversation going.


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## panjabigator

Doesn't 'ajeeb work in some of these contexts?


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## Alfaaz

Great question and also kind of "awkward" and hard!

'ajeeb is used in such situations as PG has mentioned above...

1) bais-e-sharmindagi, parishaan kun (not really...)
2) be saleeqah, be Dhang, naa mauzoN, mutazabzab, naa ma'quul (not really....)


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## panjabigator

Isn't "نا موزوں" really only used for awkward verse and shairi? I like باعث شرمندگی, very literal but works! And when would we use "متذبذب" for something confusing?


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## greatbear

There is no one word for "awkward" in Hindi; one has different words/expressions like "ajeeb", "sharmindaa", "makuul nahiN honaa", "(sahii) nahiN baithnaa", etc., in different contexts.
In both your examples, "ajeeb" would be an awkward choice to make


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## Alfaaz

> Isn't "نا موزوں" really only used for awkward verse and shairi? I like باعث شرمندگی, very literal but works! And when would we use "متذبذب" for something confusing?



Not sure (that is one of the definitions...); Yes, but it is more like "embarrassing"; Yes, but I was thinking of a person who might be a misfit, hesitant, confused, nervous at a party perhaps....(not sure, that's why I put _"(not really)" _next to them!)

The English word has many different usages/connotations/meanings: unwieldy, embarrassing, odd, inept, inelegant, unsophisticated etc....and can't think of the proper Urdu words to describe the situations presented above by flyinfishjoe, except a'jeeb...


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## panjabigator

I'm a fan of the word "vichitr" in Hindi, which is not often heard in day-to-day speech, adding brimfuls of awkwardness to your awkward sentiment. A kind of meta-awkward, if you will.


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## greatbear

panjabigator said:


> I'm a fan of the word "vichitr" in Hindi, which is not often heard in day-to-day speech, adding brimfuls of awkwardness to your awkward sentiment. A kind of meta-awkward, if you will.



Well, _vichitr _is more "bizarre" than "awkward", though of course in a particular context it may fit in as "awkward" (and in some others, as "strange" too).


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## Qureshpor

flyinfishjoe said:


> One thing that I've noticed is that many languages do not seem have an exact word for the English expression "awkward," as in "awkward moment" or "awkward silence." What is a Hindi or Urdu term that could be used to describe the following situations?
> 
> 1) Yesterday, a pickup truck cut in front of me while I was driving down the highway, forcing me to slam on my brakes. I passed the vehicle and yelled an obscenity out the window. It turned out that the driver of the pickup truck was my father-in-law, and I could tell that he had recognized me. Well, that was awkward.
> 
> 2) Many people describe John as socially awkward. He just cannot keep a conversation going.




1) I think a "sense of embarrassment" would be the nearest meaning in the first scenario. 

....yih mere liye ek sharmindagii kaa lamHah thaa.

2) ujaD and akkhaR come to mind.


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## greatbear

QURESHPOR said:


> 2) ujaD and akkhaR come to mind.



Ujad (or ujjad) and akkhar rather mean uncultivated, bumpkin, etc., not someone socially awkward. Many shy people are socially awkward: they are not at all ujad or akkhar.
One would have a completely different phrase in Hindi, rather, like "sharmilaa hai", "samaajik taur-tarikoN meiN apna sthaan nahiN le paataa", and so on: that depends on each individual case. There is no word or concept for "awkward" in such cases in Hindi.


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## flyinfishjoe

Thanks for all the suggestions! I'm going to look through all the material you guys have posted and try to find the best one. So I guess the answer is that the right word depends on the context in which awkward is used, correct?

What would be best for "awkward silence"? Would ajiib work here?


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## greatbear

flyinfishjoe said:


> Thanks for all the suggestions! I'm going to look through all the material you guys have posted and try to find the best one. So I guess the answer is that the right word depends on the context in which awkward is used, correct?
> 
> What would be best for "awkward silence"? Would ajiib work here?



azeeb would work here, but I'd say "azeeb si" would be much better here: "azeeb si khaamoshi/shanti". "Gairmamooli" and "asaadhaaran" would also work here, though they could also be used for a "strange silence", which after all isn't that far from awkward silence.
The word "sunnaa" could also be used here, in itself a silence that is sudden and/or awkward.


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## Qureshpor

greatbear said:


> azeeb would work here, but I'd say "azeeb si" would be much better here: "azeeb si khaamoshi/shanti". "Gairmamooli" and "asaadhaaran" would also work here, though they could also be used for a "strange silence", which after all isn't that far from awkward silence.
> The word "sunnaa" could also be used here, in itself a silence that is sudden and/or awkward.



May I ask what the word "azeeb" is?


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## tonyspeed

May I also suggest sannaaTaa/ सन्नाटा for silence or clam, keeping ajeeb as is. I'm quite fond of that word.


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## Faylasoof

tonyspeed said:


> May I also suggest sannaaTaa/ सन्नाटा for silence or clam, keeping ajeeb as is. I'm quite fond of that word.


 Wow! You read  my mind! The rest follows.

This is indeed an 'awkward' meaning _kaT-hin / mushkil_ query! But here are _some_ suggestions, and I stress some because, as is clear to all, the translation of 'awkward' is very much context dependent and what follows is far from thorough!

Awkward moment =  Inconvenient moment =_ ghair munaasib / ghair-e-shaa’istah waqt / lamHah / mauqa3_
Awkward moment = Difficult moment = _kaThin mauqa3 / lamHah_. You can also use _mushkil_ instead of _kaThin_.
Awkward moment = Embarrassing  moment = <_sharm-naak baat_ شرم ناك بات (fem.)>
 / < _sharm-naak mauqa3_ شرم ناك موقع (masc.)>. Although these themselves are context dependent if one were to back-translate to English!
Awkward silence = strange silence = _3ajab sii  xaamoshii / 3ajab saa sannaaTaa_ – depending on the context and how emphatic you wish to be. You can use _3ajiib_ too, instead of _3ajab_!
Awkward person = _bhonDaa_ (masc.) or _bhonDii_ (fem.) but we also use  _be-dhab_ /_ be-dhang_ / _shaxs / insaan_. … and we do use these, esp. _bhoonDaa / bhonDii _for someone who is socially awkward.

Both _be-dhab_ and _be-dhang_ literally mean awkward just as _bhonDaa_ can! One can also say _akkhaR shaxs / insaan_ meaning uncouth, boorish, awkward, uncivil. In this sense use of _akkhaR_ is perfectly fine.  

There are many other ways for many other awkward moments!


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