[brraverishhh]

Stiglitz, words rankle when they are new. But slowly they get absorbed. Does மாவட்டம் sound odd today? No. When it was introduced as a replacement for ஜில்லா it would have. போலீஸ் இலாகா'ன்னு மக்களுக்கு நல்லா தெரிஞ்சதை ஏன் காவல்துறை'ன்னு மாத்தணும், would have been the question then.

Its because of those pioneers who bore the sleights of the opposition that such words have made it into our diction today. And anyway we are not even talking about introduction of new words and something which arguably takes some institutionalization. The huge problem is the replacement of 'existing' Tamil words with English words.And it is not even happening because of an urge to show off. It is just 'naturally' happening. And one has to make a conscious effort to resist it.

A typical housewife on a cookery show: oru cup-la konjam cashew nuts, half cup sugar eduthukunga. tawa-la ghee heat aanappuram, rendaiyum pOttu nalla stir paNNikittE irukkaNum. cashew nalla golden brown color aara varaikkum fry paNNanum.

I am sure even a decade ago this would have been: oru kiNNathula mundhiryum, innoru kinnathula sakkaraiyum eduthukkunga. vanalila nei suttapuram, rendaiyum pOttu kalakkitte irukkaNum. mundhiri ponniramaa aara varaikkum varukkaNum.

No outlandish 'new' words. Just simple everyday words. And that is dying out.