# Hindi/Urdu: shoehorn



## eskandar

Is there a way to say "shoehorn" in ordinary Hindi/Urdu, or is this just one of those words where the English term would always be used? I was unable to find an equivalent in the dictionaries I consulted.


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## marrish

The way presented here in a column 'Shoe-Horn' by Izhar ul Haq (acclaimed Urdu poet,i.a.), in a nice way, is how I name it:



> کچھ باتیں، کچھ واقعات اور کچھ شخصیات … بچپن کے حوالے سے کبھی نہیں بھلائی جا سکتیں۔ ایک بزرگ آتے تھے انہوں نے پاؤں میں چرمی موزے پہنے ہوتے تھے۔ تہمند، چرمی موزے اور کْھسہ نما جوتے ان کی شخصیت کا لازمی حصہ تھے۔ ایک اور بزرگ تشریف لاتے تو بوٹ پہننے کیلئے جیب سے لوہے کا ایک ہموار چوڑا ٹکڑا نکالتے جسے وہ چمچ کہتے تھے۔ جوتا پہنتے وقت وہ اس چمچ کو جوتے کے پچھلے حصے کی دیوار کے اندر رکھتے تھے۔ ہینڈل انکے ہاتھ میں ہوتا تھا۔ جوتے کے آگے کے حصے میں پاؤں کا پنجہ ڈالتے تو ایڑی چمچ کے ساتھ پھسلتی ہوئی بڑی سہولت کے ساتھ خود بخود اندر چلی جاتی۔استعمال کرنے کے بعد وہ کبھی بھول کر بھی جوتے کے اس چمچ کو باہر نہیں رکھتے تھے اور ہمیشہ جیب میں ڈال لیتے تھے۔
> تقریباً دو سال پہلے مجھے احساس ہوا کہ جوتے پہنتے وقت دقت ہوتی ہے۔ وہ بزرگ یاد آئے۔ مجھے جوتوں والے چمچ کی ضرورت محسوس ہوئی [کیا اس چمچ کا عمر کے ساتھ کوئی ربط ہے  ؟  کچھ نہیں کہا جا سکتا۔ بہرطور میں نے کسی نوجوان یا جوان شخص کو یہ آلہ سہولت استعمال کرتے نہیں دیکھا۔]ایک دکان سے مجھے وہ چمچ مل گیا لیکن  خیال آیا کہ چمچ لمبے سائز کا ہونا چاہئے، یوں کہ جوتے پہنتے وقت جھکنا نہ پڑے۔ تلاش کی کہیں نہ ملا۔ پھر لاہور کراچی جانا ہوا تو وہاں بھی نہ ملا۔ واشنگٹن ڈی سی گیا تو تلاشِ بسیار کے بعد  *ہینڈل والا چمچ* ملا۔ تین ماہ پہلے کینیڈا میں تھا تو دو نئی قسم کے چمچ دیکھے۔


​The link is here, the author uses later also chamchaa and hits a sharp turn.


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## eskandar

Many thanks for this, marrish SaaHib. Learning a word or expression in context is always wonderful, especially in a fun piece like this. So ہینڈل والا چمچ is what you would call it? And do you think most people would understand that name? It seems the writer here ended up using شو ہارن most often.


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## Dib

eskandar said:


> Many thanks for this, marrish SaaHib. Learning a word or expression in context is always wonderful, especially in a fun piece like this. So ہینڈل والا چمچ is what you would call it? And do you think most people would understand that name? It seems the writer here ended up using شو ہارن most often.



I think he was going for "juutoN vaalaa chammach".

Btw. I never saw this implement in India. Nor did I know its name (in any language) till this point.


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## marrish

Thank you, I meant I'd go for juutoN (or juute) waalaa chammach. I bolded the other type "hainDal waalaa chammach" only to indicate the other type, for the "horned" shoehorn i.e. a stick you can find in shoe stores and use them to make trying different shoes on easier.

As the appliance is not widely known (and I didn't know the English name, either, before), the column being titled "shoe-horn" in English, not surprising "shuu-haaran" is being used on... but I wouldn't have understood it, and I've used "chammach" to refer to a shoehorn in the past so I guess would go down much better when the context is clear.


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## Sheikh_14

Marrish saaHib is quite right, in that chammach oriented terms are the go-to answer. My father uses Juute/juutaa-chammach which essentially would be noted down as Juutaa or JuutoN kaa or waale chammach but there isn't much wrong with the hyphenated variant which acts as a shorthand. What do you use in Persian eskander, we for some reason have taken the spoon route?


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## eskandar

Thanks for clearing this up, everyone. Sheikh SaaHib, in Persian we call it پاشنه کش _paashne kesh _, with _paashne_ meaning 'heel'.


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## Sheikh_14

So heel-puller, interesting take.


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## Sheikh_14

If I were to forge a term from scratch in this regard I too would think that heel was the way to start off with. However, instead of puller, I would go for slider. I would than translate heel-slider by breaking the word into its two components AeRii and any one of phisal/phislaataa/phisalwaataa/phislaa'e. That would merely be my suggestion. But chammach too makes sense and so does paashne-kesh/kash. We could amalgamate the two schools of thought by on the one hand sticking to chammach but on the other focusing on the heel rather than the shoe so aeRii-chammach which could only mean one thing is a potential alternative.
In any case it was a good question to begin with.


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## faridul Alam

Dear sir, I am in some confusion now ..... I know the word "shoe-horn" is worldwidely well-knowned and accepted. but, in my family ( my family is an Urdu-spoken family from Dhaka [located at Bangladesh]) this item was called as "kotus" or "cotus". Please let me know does the word "kotus" or "cotus" resembles any meaning in Urdu or somehow these words related to Urdu language? Thanks a lot.


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## PersoLatin

eskandar said:


> in Persian we call it پاشنه کش _paashne kesh _, with _paashne_ meaning 'heel'.


Little more info, پاشنه here refers to 'heel' of a shoe and کش refers to the function of a leather tab that is 'pulled' to help put shoes on, some shoes still have them. These days پاشنه کش refers a device that's replaced the original function of that leather tab.


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## iskander e azam

PersoLatin said:


> Little more info, پاشنه here refers to 'heel' of a shoe and کش refers to the function of a leather tab that is 'pulled' to help put shoes on, some shoes still have them. These days پاشنه کش refers a device that's replaced the original function of that leather tab.



PersoLatin,

These tabs are found on the heel of some shoes and boots that are sold in England. Also, generally, when you look at the construction of shoes from the East (sandals and those delicately embroidered slippers) it is not surprising that there is no standardized term for a shoe horn.

Best wishes,

Alexander


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## PersoLatin

iskander e azam said:


> Also, generally, when you look at the construction of shoes from the East (sandals and those delicately embroidered slippers) it is not surprising that there is no standardized term for a shoe horn.


I am sure you are not saying that people from the East wore slippers/sandals only, of course that may be the perception of people in the West but that's not fact. Leather boots were worn in the East (wherever that is), so were slippers as leisure-wear, but slippers are no good for the infantry or soldiers on horseback in stirrups, therefore the need for leather boots with a tab at the back called 'heel puller/پاشنه کش' (incidentally more descriptive than shoe horn)


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## iskander e azam

PersoLatin said:


> I am sure you are not saying that people from the East wore slippers/sandals only....




PersoLatin, 

Of course not but the sandal form does seem to be the most prevalent and that clearly would not need a shoe-horn.

Best wishes,

Alex


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## Gope

Sheikh_14 said:


> If I were to forge a term from scratch in this regard I too would think that heel was the way to start off with. However, instead of puller, I would go for slider. I would than translate heel-slider by breaking the word into its two components AeRii and any one of phisal/phislaataa/phisalwaataa/phislaa'e. That would merely be my suggestion.



A very logical way to coin terms in our language from another language.


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## Gope

Dib said:


> Btw. I never saw this implement in India. Nor did I know its name (in any language) till this point.


Surprisng!
But it is true that Tamil does not have a term for shoehorn.


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