Diwali: English words from Indian languages

Happy Diwali everyone! I hope you enjoyed the festival of lights, even though I’m a little late in posting about it.

I saw this post over at Wordnik on English words that have their roots in Indian languages and thought it was interesting. I was particularly intrigued to find the word ‘thug’ in their list of 12 words. Here’s their explanation of its origin:

thug
“If a bearded thug who attacked two women is lurking in the dark shafts of an old Overbrook mine, chances are that he will never roam again.”
“Thug Faces Death If He’s in Mine,” The Pittsburgh Press, April 17, 1952
A thug, commonly known as “a cutthroat; a ruffian; a rough,” originally referred to “a member of a confraternity of professional assassins and robbers formerly infesting India, chiefly in the central and northern provinces.” The word comes from the Hindi ṭhag, which may come from the Sanskrit sthagaḥ, a cheat. See also Thuggee and thugocracy.

To read the full post, head over to Wordnik. Then why not try looking at our English classes in Dallas.