# Urdu-Hindi: nosy



## lcfatima

Is there a common/colloquial term that means nosy? If not a single term, then what idioms mean nosy?


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## Qureshpor

The obvious verb for "to be nosy" that comes to mind is "TaaNg aRaanaa". I wonder if "TaaNg-aRaa'uu" is a possibility for the noun?


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## BP.

Maybe not idiomatic but بے جا مخل ھونا may serve the purpose in the absence of anything else.


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## Qureshpor

On second thoughts "TaaNg aRaanaa" could also imply "to interfere". I think it's back to the drawing board!


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## tonyspeed

One dictionary suggests taak-jhaaNk karnewaalaa. jhaaNk is spying or peeping or a peep according to Platts.


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## Faylasoof

We call such a person _k-hojii / khojii_ and it is with an aspirated ‘k’, - _not_ fricative! Thought I’d mention this in case someone overcompensates this _khojii_ to _xojii_! 

(BTW, _xojii_ is a character in Ratan Nath Sarshar’s famous work _fasaana-e-aazaad_! Nothing to do with being nosy!)


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## tonyspeed

Faylasoof said:


> We call such a person _k-hojii _



I'm guessing this is from the noun: khoj.

H کهوجي खोजी _khojī_  = H کهوجيا खोजिया _khojiyā_ [_khoj_, q.v. + Prk. इओ=S. इकः (इन्+कः)], adj. 

   & s.m. Searching, seeking, inquiring;—inquisitive person;—tracker, detective (syn. _surāg̠ī_).


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## Faylasoof

tonyspeed said:


> I'm guessing this is from the noun: khoj.
> 
> H کهوجي खोजी _khojī_ = H کهوجيا खोजिया _khojiyā_ [_khoj_, q.v. + Prk. इओ=S. इकः (इन्+कः)], adj.
> 
> & s.m. Searching, seeking, inquiring;—inquisitive person;—tracker, detective (syn. _surāg̠ī_).


 Precisely, tonyspeed SaaHib!


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## tonyspeed

Platts contained some other words. Of course, I have no idea on the currency of any of them. Many seem to be Sanskrit in origin:

S کتوهلی कुतूहली _kutūhalī_, adj. & s.m. (f. -_inī_), Sportive, fond of sport or festivity,  highly interested in (any extraordinary matter), curious, inquisitive; eager, impatient, vehement, impetuous;—a curious or inquisitive person, &c.
H جگناسو जिज्ञासु _jignāsu_ (S. _jijnāsu_), adj. Desirous of  knowing, inquiring, inquisitive, curious;—s.m. An inquirer, &c.
S پرچهك पृच्छक _pr̤iććhak_, adj. & s.m. Inquiring; one  who asks or inquires after; inquirer, querist, investigator; inquisitive person.
S انويشی अन्वेषी _anveshī_, adj. Investigating; searching;—s.m. Inquirer; investigator; inquisitive person.
A مستفسر _mustafsir_ (act. part. of استفسر 'to ask (one) to explain, or expound, or interpret' (a thing), x of فسر 'to explain,' &c.), part. adj. Asking for explanation or interpretation; questioning; inquisitive;—in  need of explanation, &c.


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## lcfatima

Would khoji just be a seeker, or would it carry the negative implications of nosiness?


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## Faylasoof

lcfatima said:


> Would khoji just be a seeker, or would it carry the negative implications of nosiness?


 _Very_ negative for us! Which is why we use it for a nosy person!


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## Qureshpor

I personally am not sure that "khojii" is a suitable word to express the meaning inherent in "nosy". For me "khojii" is "khoj-lagaane vaalaa", in other words "a tracker", as one finds in some Cowboy films. From my childhood I remember farmers employing the services of a "khojii" to track down a thief/thieves who had stolen their livestock (an expensive mare or a female buffalo). Let's say, I would n't feel comfortable using this word in Urdu to describe someone who was a nosy-parker.


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## Faylasoof

QURESHPOR said:


> I personally am not sure that "khojii" is a suitable word to express the meaning inherent in "nosy". For me "khojii" is "khoj-lagaane vaalaa", in other words "a tracker", as one finds in some Cowboy films. From my childhood I remember farmers employing the services of a "khojii" to track down a thief/thieves who had stolen their livestock (an expensive mare or a female buffalo). Let's say, I would n't feel comfortable using this word in Urdu to describe someone who was a nosy-parker.


 QP SaaHib, I don't think it is a question of suitability, at least as far as we are concerned. This is how we use it!


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## Qureshpor

Faylasoof said:


> QP SaaHib, I don't think it is a question of suitability, at least as far as we are concerned. This is how we use it!



There is no dispute in this Faylasoof SaaHib. In the few dictionaries that I have referred to (farhang-i-aasifiyyah, nuur-ul-luGhaat, kitaabistaan's 20th Century Urdu-English dictionary, Urdu luGhat), none of them give the meaning "nosy". The nearest one gets to "nosy" is in Platts, when he gives one of the meanings as "inquisitive person", which I believe is not the same as "a nosy person".


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## marrish

Faylasoof said:


> QP SaaHib, I don't think it is a question of suitability, at least as far as we are concerned. This is how we use it!


Very nice to learn something new. I don't use this word and I'm still trying to figure out how one would say it naturally but nothing is coming to my mind! Long are the days gone when one used Urdu everyday!


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## Qureshpor

In Faylasoof SaaHib's "roz-marrah" language "khojii" obviously means "nosy". I have been reliably informed that in colloquial Urdu "Bii-Jamaalo", used for both females and males (!) means someone who is a "nosy parker".


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## Faylasoof

marrish said:


> Originally Posted by *Faylasoof*
> QP SaaHib, I don't think it is a question of suitability, at least as far as we are concerned. This is how we use it!
> 
> 
> 
> Very nice to learn something new. I don't use this word and I'm still trying to figure out how one would say it naturally but nothing is coming to my mind! Long are the days gone when one used Urdu everyday!
Click to expand...

 Allow me to give an example:

_That man is really nosy! He is always trying to find out about private matters / affairs of others_

_woh shaxs baRaa khojii hai! har waqt / hameshah woh duusroN ke Zaatii mu3aamalaat kii daryaaft meN laga rahtaa hai._

Here is another way:

_us shaxs meN baRii chul hai! har waqt / hameshah woh duusroN ke Zaatii mu3aamalaat kii daryaaft meN laga rahtaa hai.
_

H *چل चुल ćul *[S. चुड्डा, rt. चुड्ड or चुल्ला, rt. चुल्ल्; see ćulćulānā], s.f. Longing, craving, prurience, itching, *itchiness* (fig. &…

People who are nosy are also icthy and itching to find out things. We _chul_ this way a lot but the word has other meanings too! Platts covers them as well.


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## Sheikh_14

Qureshpor said:


> In Faylasoof SaaHib's "roz-marrah" language "khojii" obviously means "nosy". I have been reliably informed that in colloquial Urdu "Bii-Jamaalo", used for both females and males (!) means someone who is a "nosy parker".



Khojii for me has little to none negative connotations but than again I am not a Lakhnavi. Khojii to me would only mean one who  hunts or seeks something intently. For instance theres apparently a Hindi show that approximates to talent kii khoj i.e. "The hunt for talent". Thus a khojii would be the one who hunts for talent in this instance. Similarly, the verb khojna means to seek something intently. 
Bii jamalo is a phrase I have heard continously to mean just as qp Saahib has stated.
 Though what I am not sure about is, is Bii jamaalo a Ptv character or something, where has she gained such notoriety from that both males and females alike are designated the term?

Bearing in mind that this is a quentessentially nosy kind of folk that we are speaking off, surely after a 2 year hiatus other alternatives have sprung to mind amongst our panel. Even provincial variants are most welcome be it a dialect or regional language i.e. Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto etc. So using both your audial and mental powers do tell what you believe would be a good alternative using either linguistic guile (be it local or from far and wide) or allegorical references.

Lets get a debate running again.!


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