# Hindi/Urdu: jugaaR



## Abu Talha

Hello,

I've heard this word "jugaaR" (or something similar) a couple of times in the context of something that could work as a fix or a solution to a problem:

_is kaa jugaaR kyaa hai?_

I can't find it in Platts. Does anyone have any information about this word?

Thanks.


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## BP.

It might be recent or maybe too colloquial to have appeared in Platts. Here we call it bidouillage, maybe an English equivalent of this word exists??.


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## Abu Talha

Many thanks BelligerentPacifist Saahib. Do you know if this word originally referred to a a physical object, or was it always an abstract noun? Also is this spelling correct: جگاڑ or are any of the consonants aspirated?





BelligerentPacifist said:


> Here we call it bidouillage, maybe an English equivalent of this word exists??.


Google translates "bidouillage" as "hack" which can be used to mean a temporary makeshift fix. Other possible words in English are "kludge" and also a verb (now possibly dated): "to Macgyver something" based on the popular TV series.

If you used a pen to plug a leak in a bucket, would you call it a _jugaaR_? Could _jugaaR_ also be used for a proper, permanent fix?


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## greatbear

"jugaaR" is an extremely common Hindi word, and that much a famous characteristic of India that the word appeared as an article in _Courrier International_ around a year back.
The word means an ingenious, devised solution to a problem under constraints that didn't permit to resort to the usual solutions.

The wiki page is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jugaad


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## lcfatima

JugaaR makes me think of an expression in my colloquial register of US English (must be Southern): 'rig' or more commonly in my parts to 'jack-rig,' (or God forbid someone says it, n***** rig, obviously very offensive but reflective of local social ideas and deeply entrenched white Southern racism) which in our local usage means sort of like to fix something cheaply, or without having it fixed properly, you use some short cut solution on a mechanical problem and the fix is unsightly and may have to be repaired again within a short time. Like, "I jack-rigged the transmission," or what have you. I couldn't find any evidence of jack-rig existing except in the online Urban Dictionary, though it would be widely understood in my native speech community.


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## lcfatima

When you have a word like this in Urdu, does this mean that it has always been there and was low frequency but perhaps more frequent in some dialects of Hindi and now through media and other connections, the frequency has raised in Urdu? 

I just tested out jugaaR on my native speaker husband and he understood it without any explanation, seems it is used in Urdu widely enough. He suggested tarkiib as the meaning.


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## greatbear

lcfatima said:


> JugaaR makes me think of an expression in my colloquial register of US English (must be Southern): 'rig' or more commonly in my parts to 'jack-rig,' ... which in our local usage means sort of like to fix something cheaply, or without having it fixed properly, you use some short cut solution on a mechanical problem and the fix is unsightly and may have to be repaired again within a short time.



"JugaaR" is often a very good solution rather than just some temporary fix: it's a creative solution from few resources. "Tarkiib" is not that good a synonym: "tarkiib" means trick or idea, the equivalent of Hindi "yuktii", whereas "jugaaR" is kind of an untranslatable word, which is also the reason behind its immense popularity. "JugaaR" involves a great "tarkiib".

I also think that it's a Hindi word rather than Urdu (the thread title also should be amended to Hindi-Urdu).


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## Abu Talha

Thanks greatbear. That was very informative.





lcfatima said:


> When you have a word like this in Urdu, does this mean that it has always been there and was low frequency but perhaps more frequent in some dialects of Hindi and now through media and other connections, the frequency has raised in Urdu?


I too am curious about this.


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## marrish

This word is sometimes used in Urdu but apparently it is not used so frequently.


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## Cilquiestsuens

*jugaaD / jugaaR* seem to be the same as *jugat*, about which I had started this thread earlier.


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## tonyspeed

oxford says - provision, means of providing for
rajpal says device or arrangement
prahabat says 1a. device 1b. skill,tact, skillfulness 2. temporary arrangement 3. procurement

jugaaR karnaa - manage resources
jugaaR banaanaa - manoevre resouces
jugaaR lagaanaa - muster resources

= jugat 
jugat kii aadmii - ingenious/resourceful man
badii jugat se kaam liyaa - did it with great tact
jugat bhiRaanaa - to manoevre a device


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## tonyspeed

lcfatima said:


> 'rig' or more commonly in my parts to 'jack-rig,' (or God forbid someone says it, n***** rig, obviously very offensive but reflective of local social ideas and deeply entrenched white Southern racism) which in our local usage means sort of like to fix something cheaply, or without having it fixed properly, you use some short cut solution on a mechanical problem and the fix is unsightly and may have to be repaired again within a short time. Like, "I jack-rigged the transmission," or what have you. I couldn't find any evidence of jack-rig existing except in the online Urban Dictionary, though it would be widely understood in my native speech community.



In Standard English it seems to be jerry-rig or formally jury-rig.


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## lcfatima

Tonyspeed: Interesting, thanks.


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## greatbear

Note that "jugat" is not a commonly used word and many Hindi speakers of today will be at a loss to understand what does it mean (even though "yukti", where it stems from, is a commonly understood word): "jugaaR" on the other hand is a phenomenon and a feature characteristic to India. "jugaaR" can also translate to the equally untranslatable-to-English French word "bricolage".



tonyspeed said:


> jugat kii aadmii - ingenious/resourceful man



Ahem  ... has to be "jugat kaa aadmii", since "aadmi" is masculine. Just  thought of correcting for the benefit of any future readers.


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## tonyspeed

greatbear said:


> Note that "jugat" is not a commonly used word and many Hindi speakers of today will be at a loss to understand what does it mean (even though "yukti", where it stems from, is a commonly understood word): "jugaaR" on the other hand is a phenomenon and a feature characteristic to India. "jugaaR" can also translate to the equally untranslatable-to-English French word "bricolage".
> 
> 
> 
> Ahem  ... has to be "jugat kaa aadmii", since "aadmi" is masculine. Just  thought of correcting for the benefit of any future readers.




yep. Thanks for catching that.


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## marrish

Cilquiestsuens said:


> *jugaaD / jugaaR* seem to be the same as *jugat*, about which I had started this thread earlier.



Are the two words interchangeable then?


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## Abu Talha

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I get the impression that jugaaR, though evidently very meaningful, is not (or not yet) Standard Hindi or Urdu, and its status is like that of English words which are used in Urdu/Hindi. Is that so?


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## greatbear

Abu Talha said:


> Thanks for the replies, everyone. I get the impression that jugaaR, though evidently very meaningful, is not (or not yet) Standard Hindi or Urdu, and its status is like that of English words which are used in Urdu/Hindi. Is that so?



No; "jugaaR" is very much Standard Hindi. That might not be the case as far as Urdu is concerned.


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## UrduMedium

^ _jugaaR_ is fairly commonly used and understood word at least in Karachi Urdu. Not sure if it is considered standard language or slang, though. Possibly latter.

Another close equivalent is _khaaNchah,_ as in _khaaNchah fiT karnaa._


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