Dutch Man Shares "New English Phrases" He Learned From His Indian Wife, Internet In Splits

NDTV

25-04-2025

English in India has evolved far beyond its colonial beginnings, taking on a dynamic life of its own. Over time, it has grown into a rich and expressive form of communication which incorporates unique words and phrases, many of which may not be found in traditional English dictionaries but resonate deeply with us and feel entirely natural in everyday conversation. Now, a Dutch man's post about English phrases he learned from his Indian wife has gone viral and left social media users chuckling.
In an X post, Sacha Arbonel, who lives in Amsterdam, shared a list of "new English phrases" he learned from his Indian wife. The list comprises offbeat English words and phrases used in India like "It's normal only", "I'm not mad okay", "Salt is less", "Do one thing" and "He is my real brother". Mr Arbonel also shared his "most favourite" phrase: "I can get this in India for 100 rupees".
Take a look at the post below:
New English phrases I learned from my Indian wife:
"It's normal only"
"I'm not mad okay"
"Salt is less"
"Do one thing"
"He is my REAL brother"
And my most favorite
"I can get this in India for 100 rupees" https://t.co/cpb5kIREgc
— Sacha Arbonel (@sachaarbonel) April 20, 2025
Since being shared, Mr Arbonel's post has accumulated more than 277,000 views, over 3,000 likes and several comments. It has set off a flurry of posts praising words created by Indians. Some users were also delighted by the Dutch man learning the Indian way of speaking English.
"Well, Indians aren't native English speakers, they think in their mother tongue and then translate it to english all at the same time. That's why there are so many grammatically incomplete sentences that only make sense in Indian English," explained one user.
"Your learning is incomplete if you don't know 'nothing doing'," jokingly wrote another. "Wait, how is 'Do one thing' not a common sentence in the English speaking world?! That 3-word sentence is so logical. You just understand that whatever follows after that sentence is the only thing you got to do," commented a third user.
"You've picked up more Indian English than you realised- most favourite?!! As opposed to just favourite?" wrote another. "When I was in India, an admin lady asked me "please do the needful". I was confused and I asked her "why would I do the needless?" We were both confused until my ROFL Indian American coworker explained," commented one user.