This is not an attempt to fix all the grammatical expressions in common Indian English. These samples are just to illustrate our typical style of English conversations. Let us try to correct them atleast now.
‘Years back’ is one among them. ‘Years back’ expression is used to mean that 'a thing that happened years ago'. If it happened in the past, it happened years ago, not "years back." Given how common this phrase is, may be the first person who switched "ago" for "back" probably did it years back. Got it?
‘Passing Out’ is another hilarious Indian English phrase used by Indians. People use it in the sense that a person has completed the studies from an educational institution. We can say one graduated from the institute. When you complete your studies at an educational institution, you graduate from that institution. To “pass out’ refers to losing consciousness, like after you get too drunk!
‘Discuss about’, another great mistake committed by us. You don't "discuss about" something; you just discuss things. The word "discuss" means to "talk about". There is no reason to insert the word "about" after "discuss."
'Kindly revert' is also a mistake usually committed to mean reply or respond. But the actual meaning of revert means that “to return to the former condition or practice”. Thinking of the actual meaning we can find that what a blunder is to say things like, “Please revert at the latest.”
‘Doing the needful’ is a style that has become outdated decades ago, the time the British left. “Do the needful" is an archaic expression that is used humorously which denotes that to 'do things which is necessary'.
‘Do one thing’ is also an expression which doesn’t make any sense. When someone approaches you with a query, and your reply begins with the phrase "do one thing," you're doing it wrong. This Indianism is not at all a proper English word and hence it is better to avoid while speaking. There are better ways to begin a reply. And worst of all, any person who starts a sentence with "do one thing" invariably ends up giving you at least five things to do.
Sample - “ My computer keeps getting hung.”
“Do one thing. Clear your history. Delete your cookies. Run a virus check. Restart your computer... .”
'Out of station', another funny expression used by Indians to say that “I’m away from home.” Another blast from the past, this one, and also, extremely outdated. What's wrong with "out of town" or "not in Mumbai" or "I'm not here"?
'Order for’ is an Indian phrasal usage extremely wrong in proper English. We usually say, “Let’s order for a tea.” The best thing one can do is that when one needs something, “order” it, try not to “order for” it.
‘Prepone’ is used by Indians in the sense that to advance something. It might be used in an assumption that the opposite of postpone is prepone. We say, “Let’s prepone the discussion from 1pm to 11pm.” We can actually say “Could we bring the meeting forward."
The big sleep
"I’m going to bed now, sleep is coming." This is really taking things a bit too far…! Don’t you think?
Taking things
"I will call you back later as I am taking my lunch right now."
Taking it where? To the pool for a swim?
Just like "take rest."
Really. "Take rest." Instead of just "rest." Why?
It seems that we just love to take things. Where do we put them?
Putting this and that
"Put on the switch", "Put this yellow dress."
We just love using the word "put." It’s a great so-called filler verb to shorten sentences.
"Switch on/turn on the light" or "wear/put on this yellow dress” are all correct.
No idea how "put" came into the picture.
Cheers!
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