Friday, July 31, 2009

To whomsoever it may concern

Its not Vada, its Vadai.
Its not Dosa, its Dosai. The 'D' really pronounced as in 'D' of "Dhun".

What are people eating these i's for?

Its not macha, its machan. Pronouncing the 'n' with the subtlety it requires is an art form, learn it.


8 comments:

  1. And to all those who can roll their "r"s like they do in the US of A, but cant say vazhapazham.. these kicks are for you..

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  2. haha well said!

    I have no idea how macha became popular. I think machi is an okay alternative. But,from observation, I think macha is used more often by the ladeej?!

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  3. Adithya:
    You are right, but I think I will take a Tam gal's macha(they still have some slight n there) over the plain macha.
    Machi is authentic:)

    Saya:
    some tams cant say zha, I think. i can say zha cant roll my r's:)

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  4. I can roll my Rs and I can say zha, but I always feel weird pronouncing the french Rs. Its a bit too much like clearing my throat. Saying "Sartre" is the worst because I always feel like i'm one R removed from throwing up.

    Also, D in dosai like dhun? MADRASI alert! Hee hee!
    D in dosai like dono. (Or donon where the n is pronounced like the n in machan - a more irritating word I don't know).

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  5. Amrita: I wasn't really donning the pronunciation Nazi cap, I am the last person who can don that hat anyway. French could as well set a fatwa against me for all I know, the way I butcher few of their names.

    It is just that people don't even realize that they are pronouncing wrong, like I don't pronounce Para(n)thas the right way, but at least I know I don't, you know.

    The true Madras Gal I am, I can take 'dh' or 'd', doesnt make a difference to me:)

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  6. i will say dosa and i will say vada, the mallu way, there's no way i am adding an 'i' at the end of it, that i leave to you tam folks :) but i think i understand what you are getting at - the way i see it, as long as the recipient can understand the meaning, why not?

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  7. oops, this is a true bulb moment. I thought all the south indians called them as vadai and dosai, no?
    I take back that part of the post, then. The comment about macha stays:)

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  8. actually i think we use both macha and machan in mallu :) not exactly sure..., but nope, we dont add those i for vada -

    vadaye vadai aakkiyaal pinne ente karyam pokka, kuttiye

    if i make vada, vadai, then that would be my end, girly

    UL

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