"Chai Shai" and the Delightful Double Words of Urdu

Some gupshup about the nitty gritty of everyday wordplay.

“What’s ‘books wooks’?” I asked my husband out of the blue one morning. I had heard it in a language video and the phrase sounded adorable! There was a translation--(some) books--but then why wouldn’t you use “kuch books” (“some books”)?

“Books wooks?” He looked confused for a moment, and rightly so. I had given him no context whatsoever. But then again, he often gives me none either.

A scuffle ensued while I tried to explain the situation and he looked at me like I was crazy. I guess some double words (or “reduplication” as it’s officially called) are less universal than others. 

Finally: “That’s just a nonsense word. There’s no direct translation. Like ‘chai shai.’ I guess it can mean ‘and stuff’.”

I was immediately charmed. Chai and stuff. And that “stuff” would inevitably be something to go with chai, like biscuits, cake, or maybe pakoray. Yum!

He gave me some more examples:

• Kaprey shaprey (clothes and stuff)

• Khanna shanna (food and stuff)

And then I started to hear it all the time:

• Lekin vakin (and stuff)

• Choti moti (little bitty)

• Kabhi kabhi (sometimes)

I love these rhyming words in particular because (1) it has a familiar feel--we have similar expressions in English!--and (2) it’s something you can say fast and maybe sound like a native. Of course, trying to sound like a native has its own drawbacks. Someone might think you actually know the language (ha!) and then you’re stuck in a sort of fake conversation, where only one person knows what’s being said and all you can do is nod and smile. (I’ve had many of these…) 

I think of the Yiddish-inspired slang that Americans use all the time. Like “fancy schmancy,” “Joe schmo,” or the yet more complicated “homework schmomework!”--the latter often followed by throwing said homework papers over your shoulder in a dismissive manner. This is a little different from “chai shai,” because the “schm--” is used to express cheeky derision. 

In a more scholarly article, the linguist Chi Luu points out that this reduplication actually happens in many, many languages (look! I did it there). And it happens in English more than you’d think--nitty gritty, wishy washy, chit-chat are some examples she gives. There are even times when we say a word twice, either for emphasis, or to question the degree: “Do you just like him, or do you like-like him?” 

While we sometimes dismiss this type of speech as a bit childish, grown-ups certainly use it too. Luu gives an example of someone asking if a store was “closed? Or closed-closed?” And I’ve often said, “I need to wake up early-early.” Really early! You can say the same in Urdu as well--“subah subah.”

Fun to say (in any language), and a much needed break from slogging through grammar rules. There was an excellent article about “chai shai” and other reduplications written by Farah Nazir (that I can’t find online anymore). But you can also read a similar article here, where she talks about the multilingual word play of the British South Asian diaspora.

Language continually evolves and changes. There’s slang, references, dialects, regional differences. There is no ultimate proficiency that you can really “obtain.” It’s a lifelong process, and that’s why you need to make it fun! Even in your native language, you’re learning new words and phrases all the time. Either to wade through all the new slang from the next generation—“vibe,” “dank,” “GOAT” (just found out that last one is an acronym, did anyone ELSE get confused?)—or to learn corporate jargon to keep up with your co-workers: “comms,” “bandwidth,” “synergy.” And if you’re trying to guess the meaning just from context, you have to be careful. Otherwise, you may see the phrase “dank memes” and think to yourself, “Gosh, I guess that meme is pretty terrible,” because you’re thinking of “dank” as “disagreeably damp and musty.” Based on a true story…