# Hindi: to show off / brag / boast



## albondiga

Hi all,

What words or phrases are used in Hindi to express the concept of "showing off"?  (Or, as the dictionary says, "to seek to gain attention by displaying prominently one's abilities or accomplishments"...)

[The closest I've encountered before is शेखी बघारना , which seems to mean "bragging" or "boasting" with words, but I assume cannot be used for someone "showing off" with their actions, right?  related side question: can बघारना be used with anything besides शेखी?  I've never heard it in other contexts...]

Anyway, I don't have any specific context, but if someone's showing off their athletic skills or musical skills or whatever, how would you say to them  that they are showing off?

Thanks!


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## tamah

Any of the following can be used 
- बड़ाई की बात करना (badai ki baat karnaa)
- डींग मारना / डींग हाँकना (ding maarnaa / ding haaknaa)


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## bakshink

Following and maybe many more words can be used to describe merit, skill, excellence
  गुणवत्ता, कुशलता, कौशल, उत्तमता, निपुणता, प्रवीणता, विद्या,
  उसने नृत्य में अपनी गुणवत्ता का प्रदर्शन दिया।


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## cweeetguy2000

The exact term for showing off is aadambar I can't write that in Devanagiri.


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## cweeetguy2000

Also the answer to your question of बघारना is, yes बघारना is used for something which is being spiced up.


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## cweeetguy2000

The exact term for showing off is 'ostentation = aadambar' I can't write thatt in Devanagiri.

For showing off skills the term is 'Pradarshan'.

apni kala ka pradarshan karna.

To show off one's skills


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## shaloo

Nice efforts by all... Another way, in simple words:

You could just say "dikhaana" which translates to "showing somebody something"
eg:

woh dikhaana chahti hain - she wants to show/ she wants to show off

(Here, the meaning could be plain, as in she wants to show something, in a very natural way... and it could mean she wants to show off something she possesses, in pride or in an unnatural way... it quite depends on the context, intonation and the intention of the speaker... the meaning is understood just by the way you say it!)


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## omlick

albondiga said:


> Hi all,
> 
> What words or phrases are used in Hindi to express the concept of "showing off"? (Or, as the dictionary says, "to seek to gain attention by displaying prominently one's abilities or accomplishments"...)
> 
> [The closest I've encountered before is शेखी बघारना , which seems to mean "bragging" or "boasting" with words, but I assume cannot be used for someone "showing off" with their actions, right? related side question: can बघारना be used with anything besides शेखी? I've never heard it in other contexts...]
> 
> Anyway, I don't have any specific context, but if someone's showing off their athletic skills or musical skills or whatever, how would you say to them that they are showing off?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks!


 
In my database I have this:  अपनी धाक जमाना  

So if someone is showing off in front of you and it is getting obnoxious I guess you can say to them:  apnii dhaak jamaanaa ba.nd karo!



(I collect expressions just for fun, and this is just one that I collected and "to show off" is its translation into English.  )


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## albondiga

Thanks all!

I think _aadambar _sounds like a great fit (that covers the "attention-seeking" aspect), but I will have to listen out for it being used in context by other people before I would be comfortable using it myself.  

Otherwise, I agree with you, shaloo, using an otherwise neutral word like _dikhaanaa _or _pradarshan karnaa_ with the right (sarcastic ) tone is a good idea for now...


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## cweeetguy2000

omlick said:


> In my database I have this:  अपनी धाक जमाना
> 
> So if someone is showing off in front of you and it is getting obnoxious I guess you can say to them:  apnii dhaak jamaanaa ba.nd karo!
> 
> 
> 
> (I collect expressions just for fun, and this is just one that I collected and "to show off" is its translation into English.  )



Actually अपनी धाक जमाना  is used when one is being too dominant on issues or while competing he/she has decimated the opposition.


Regards


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## BP.

I think pradarshan is only appropriate for 'to present', not for 'to show off'.

Could someone please break down the word aadambar for me? What are its roots?

If anybody's interested, one corresponding Urdu word for 'showing off' would be _khud numaaii_-خودنمائ.


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## cweeetguy2000

No idea about the roots of आडंबर but the word is in as a whole so can't be broken down either, yes we can use the word pradarshan in a sarcastic manner for showing off.


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## teaboy

I can just hear a friend in Lahore saying derisively, "साला शोखी मर रहा है !"


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## omlick

BelligerentPacifist said:


> I think pradarshan is only appropriate for 'to present', not for 'to show off'.
> 
> Could someone please break down the word aadambar for me? What are its roots?
> 
> If anybody's interested, one corresponding Urdu word for 'showing off' would be _khud numaaii_-خودنمائ.[/QUOTE
> 
> Thank for the Urdu version of the expression.
> आडंबार  is a Sanskrit word.  It means "drum" in Sanskrit, but in Hindi it means "show"  "ostentation" "pretension" which can mean showing off.  But I am not sure if it applies to the cases of showing off intellect, beauty, talent, etc, it is used mostly when someone is showing off wealth I would assume.  At least in English that is the case, but I am not sure if in Hind if it works for everything.


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## cweeetguy2000

teaboy said:


> I can just hear a friend in Lahore saying derisively, "साला शोखी मर रहा है !"




Actually its साला शेखी मार रहा है means bragging on about something.

And for adambar it is used generally in the case where there is amount of lie in a persons behaviour while doing some act.


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## Faylasoof

tamah said:


> ....-





tamah said:


> डींग मारना / डींग हाँकना (ding maarnaa / ding haaknaa)


In Urdu too we use डींग  मारना / डींग  हाँकना , though more usually we us the plural _diinge.n_ ڈینگیں rather than _diing_ ڈینگ
 ڈینگیں مارنا / ہانکنا_ diinge.n maarnaa_ / _haa.nknaa_ 

 


omlick said:


> ...Thank for the Urdu version of the expression..


 … and apart from _xud numaaii_-خودنمائ, in Urdu we also use شیخی_ shaixee_ (as in شیخی بگھارنا_ shaixee bag-haarnaa_  to brag / boast / show off) = डींग_ diing_  = _laaf gazaaf_ لاف و گزاف


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## omlick

cweeetguy2000 said:


> Actually its साला शेखी मार रहा है means bragging on about something.
> 
> And for adambar it is used generally in the case where there is amount of lie in a persons behaviour while doing some act.


 
I think you mean to say the person is doing it to show off something.  It is not "lie" it is just being pretentious.  That is not lying.


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## teaboy

cweeetguy2000 said:


> Actually its साला शेखी मार रहा है means bragging on about something.
> 
> And for adambar it is used generally in the case where there is amount of lie in a persons behaviour while doing some act.



Oh, yes, you're right!  I'm not used to writing in devanagari much anymore.


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## BP.

Thanks omlick and Faylasoof.


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## tamah

teaboy said:


> I can just hear a friend in Lahore saying derisively, "साला शोखी मर रहा है !"


LMAO at this one because slang Hindi from Mumbai/Bombay says - ज्यादा शाना बन रहा है / अकड़ रहा है
LOL


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## cweeetguy2000

tamah said:


> LMAO at this one because slang hindi from Mumbai/Bombay says - ज्यादा शाना बन रहा है / अकड़ रहा है
> LOL




Hey, this reminds me of the another slang from mumbai which goes like

" abey show shining band kar"  अबे! शो-शाईनिंग  बंद कर where show shining equates to showing off your wealth or being flamboyant.


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## tamah

cweeetguy2000 said:


> Hey, this reminds me of the another slang from mumbai which goes like
> 
> " abey show shining band kar" अबे! शो-शाईनिंग बंद कर where show shining equates to showing off your wealth or being flamboyant.


 
LOL one more...
शान पट्टी नही! क्या?  as in ... dont think you are oversmart hehehe  It is said once your patience level is over with a person who is bragging  But its a street slang of mumbai. SO DONT USE IT ANYWHERE


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## First Academy

Like some one earlier pointed out, the easest one would be dikhaana. So if someone is showing off, you could say

dikhaawa bahut kar rahaa hai (he is showing off a lot)


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## nishabda

tamah said:


> LMAO at this one because slang hindi from Mumbai/Bombay says - ज्यादा शाना बन रहा है / अकड़ रहा है
> LOL



Tamah, 

Is this translatable for Anglophones?


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## tamah

nishabda said:


> Tamah,
> 
> Is this translatable for Anglophones?


 
Well its a slang but anyway I will try...

ज्यादा शाना बन रहा है - he is behaving as if he is a savvy person. 
I dont know actual translation for अकड़ but the nearest possible word i can think of is 'airs and graces' 
अकड़ रहा है could be 'he is full of airs and graces' 

I hope it helps


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## nishabda

Thanks, Tamah, and could you transliterate too?


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## panjabigator

How about the word <itarānā>?  Could that work in this context?


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## Faylasoof

Yes it can be!

 اترانا इतराना _itr__aanaa_ : to strut, swagger, show off, boast ; to have airs, act affectedly or coquettishly; to behave with pride, be arrogant / self-conceited / insolent.


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## tamah

nishabda said:


> Thanks, Tamah, and could you transliterate too?


maybe
अकड़ रहा है - akad rahaa hain. 
ज्यादा शाना बन रहा है - jyaadaa shaanaa ban rahaa hain. 

The second line specially is a typical Mumbai slang so use it with those with whom you are at a good comfort level or else you could be lebelled as 'impolite'


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## lcfatima

Can someone tell me more about the word "shosha"? I found it in Platts and it has the meaning of a fiction or a false report. I always took it to mean showing off with pretension. Can someone tell me more about this word? Also, what is the difference between shosha and shoshaagiri?

We have the word dikhaawadikhaawaT, but is there any such word dikhauri?


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## greatbear

I don't think it is a Hindi word, lcfatima, so you may have to start a new thread for your enquiry.

Meanwhile, to go back to post 25 of this old thread, the literal meaning of "akaR" is "stiff".


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## UrduMedium

I'm familiar with shosha in the context of shosha chhoRnaa. It could mean to start a rumor, or to start something that distracts from the main topic.


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## Qureshpor

lcfatima said:


> Can someone tell me more about the word "shosha"? I found it in Platts and it has the meaning of a fiction or a false report. I always took it to mean showing off with pretension. Can someone tell me more about this word? Also, what is the difference between shosha and shoshaagiri?
> 
> We have the word dikhaawadikhaawaT, but is there any such word dikhauri?


It is possible that you may have heard the English word "show" used in the sense of showing off in the form of "show-shaa" (sho-shaa). Just a guess.


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## lcfatima

Ah, so it is not from Persian shosha, but from English show, perhaps like the "show shining" mentioned further up in the thread? I know for sure I have heard shosha/show-shaa and the word combined with -girii. I have observed this usage in both Urdu and Punjabi, I am really surprised that this isn't used by Hindi speakers because I feel I have heard it before in Hindi speaking contexts as well. What is the -shaa suffix? If anyone recognizes this word, please also explain the difference between showshaa and showshaagiri.


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## greatbear

lcfatima said:


> What is the -shaa suffix? If anyone recognizes this word, please also explain the difference between showshaa and showshaagiri.



-shaa is meaningless in itself, like "shuv" in "luv-shuv". It's a tendency among Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi speakers (esp. among the latter) to couple words in pairs with something that goes with it, regardless of whether that pairing word exists or not. Now that "-shaa" has been linked with "show", I think I have heard it one or two times, but it might be much more common among Punjabis than any other Hindi or Urdu speakers.

Adding "-girii" means "a tendency to indulge in": thus just "showshaa" would mean "ostentation" whereas "showshaagirii" would mean the act, the tendency, the phenomenon of doing so.


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## Faylasoof

*Moderator note:

** This thread has become multi-topic and is being temporarily closed for moderation!*


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