Sri Lankan English - Updates and Corrections

This section contains updates to the dictionary, based partly on comments from readers. The pages are ordered alphabetically, and each page is divided into 2 parts: New Entries, and Comments and Corrections. Click on the initial letter to view each set of entries.

These pages are updated regularly; please contact me if you have any suggestions or feedback which can be included.

Scroll down for a list of books from which quotes have been taken.

Latest update: December 2011. New additions are in red.

NEW ENTRIES:

A	accident ward, adhi poya, Adivasi, Ahikuntika, airlift, amuredi, ... and give, annexed, arahat, arrack cocktail, arrack tavern, auspicious time, auto
B	babul, backhoe, bank holiday, bare-bodied, Basnayake Nilame, bat, batana, bhakthi gee, bhootaya, birth anniversary, biscuit packet, blue magpie, bodhisattva, body wash, boru show, bothal karaya, the boys, break (a house), break (cobwebs), buckled, buddy, budu amme!, budu ge, bystander
C	cal, call sb to their house, can manage, car wash, cast (a horoscope), casual leave, cat, cent, Ceylonese, chakgudu, chapter, chikungunya, chimney lamp, chusfy, Cinnamon Gardens, coat and tie, coconut flower, coconut husker, coconut shell, coconut shell spoon, coconut water, conductor, cooling glasses, cowpea, CR book, cross cousin, cut sb off, cut-out
D	deffa, del chips, depot, dessert, deva, deviyane!, dhammapada, dhamma school, dhobi mark, dhobi woman, district, doctor Sunny, domiciled, I doubt, dress (a sari), drivers' quarters, dukkha
E	early evening, eating-drinking, Eelamist, eerashtaka, EGB, elephant corridor, encomium, end of the day, end up (with), engagement ceremony, English day, English-speaking, enlarge, estate Tamil
F	favouration, fine one, fine thing, fish bun, fit-on room, footboard traveller, for an example, foreigner, foreign liquor, fruits/foods, fujigraph, full option
G	gal siyambala, game over, garment factory, gas bottle, Gate Mudaliyar, gem pit, give to see, go down, go from here!, good self, GOSL, graduate teacher, grease yaka, grinding stone
H	hadu, half, hammer, har' par' six fellow, I hate, heli, hell of a thing!, here and there, Hikka, hill capital, homecoming sari, Hony., hopper mixture, hopper pan, housecoat, human-elephant conflict
I	icing cake, idda, ilapotha, INGO, intermission, interval, invitation card, is it?, isn't it?, isso vadai
J	jam bottle, jam (fruit) tree, jaramara, jingbang, junthu, just go!
K	kachchaal, kade paan, kadu faculty, kahata, Kaffir, kaffringna, kambi, kankun, karachchal, kasippu den, katta, kavi, keep, kehel kana, kekka, kerosene oil, kidney patient, kids, Kili, knock off, konde kurulla, kudda, kutti
L	Landmaster, land phone, lanket/lunket, learners, like, I like, lobaya, long beans, loose, love match
M	machchaal, maendiya, Mahavamsa, mala batha, malkoha, masala vadai, matchbox, match over, mid-country, milk bread, milk wine, mother tongue, mouth, muhurath, mulgedera, Muslim law, muster shed, Mw
N	nadaswaran, nail, Necto, nephew/niece, NGO sector, nice, nil manel, Nittaewo, non-a/c, no use of doing sth
O	ohe, old crock, olu, Orange Barley, oruwa, our boys, our one, overlook
P	paappa, pada show, paddy lands, palayakat sarong, pallang, palmyrah fence, palmyrah flour, palmyrah grove, panchayudha, pani valalu, parallel cousin, parana coat man, parinirvana, passion fruit cordial, patana, PC, pen drive, perethaya, photo catcher, pilimage, pin, pirith mandapa, polkatu handa, polos mallung, poriyal, potta shot, pound (rice), pre-poya, principal, province, public holiday, punt, put a change, put on, put to fall
R	Rajarata, rasavalli pudding, ratnamalu, rehabilitee, reload, rice pounder, ring cut, roll, roofing sheets, Ruhunu
S	samsara, sapodilla, sardine, sari pleats, sasana, satakaya, sauce, school-going, scraper, see will you!, semi-luxury bus, servants' toilet, shot (of arrack), show, sick note campaign, sil maeni, Sinhala-speaking, Sinhalisation, sis, soap piece, solid, song and dance type, sort, South, spare wheel, sports meet, stainy, stringhopper mould, sugar bun, surrendee, sutra
T	tak tik tuk, talipot palm, tea garden, tea kiosk, tea planter, telephone shower, thada, that one, three-wheeler driver, thundering slap, thuththiri, to, tommy rot, tooth relic, trained teacher, treacle, tri-services, T-shirt, tuition class, tuk-tuk
U	unknown, upcountry Tamil, uplift
V	vannam, vernacular school, vinaya, vulcanising
W	wala, wanting, wathu sudu, Wayamba, well sweep, what for..., wheel cup, who all, whole day, wounded, write
Y	yakkini, younger to, yuga

These pages include quotes taken from the following books:

All is Burning, by Jean Arasanayagam (Penguin 1995)
Fifteen, by Ameena Hussein (ICES 1999)
The Flower Boy, by Karen Roberts (Phoenix 1999)
Shrapnel, by Neil Fernandopulle (Sarasavi 2000)
Sam’s Story, by Elmo Jayawardena (Vijitha Yapa 2001)
Distant Warriors, by Channa Wickremesekera (Perera Hussein 2005)
The Good Little Ceylonese Girl, by Ashok Ferrey (author publication 2006)
The Banana Tree Crisis, by Isankya Kodithuwakku (Vijitha Yapa 2006)
The Sweet and Simple Kind, by Yasmine Gooneratne (Perera Hussein 2006)
Can You Hear me Running, by Lal Medawattegedara (Zeus 2007)
Rainbows in Braille, by Elmo Jayawardena (author publication 2007)
The(ir) (Au)topsy, by Vihanga Perera (author publication 2007)
The Mango Tree, by Anthea Senaratna (author publication 2008)
Learning to Fly, by Shehani Gomes (Perera Hussein 2008)
Stable Horses, by Vihanga Perera (author publication 2008)
The Moon in the Water, by Ameena Hussein (Perera Hussein 2009)
Theravada Man, by Manuka Wijesinghe (Bay Owl 2009)
Serendipity, by Ashok Ferrey (author publication 2009)
Mythil’s Secret, by Prashani Rambukwella (Perera Hussein 2009)
Arathi, by Nihal de Silva (Vijitha Yapa 2010)
Unplugged Quarter, by Vihanga Perera (author publication 2010)
Chucking the Dragon, by Mark Wilde (Sri Serendipity 2010)
The Lament of the Dhobi Woman, by Karen Roberts (Perera Hussein 2010)
The Mirror of Paradise, by Asgar Hussein (Vijitha Yapa 2010)
The Whirlwind, by Ayathurai Santhan (VUS Pathippagam, India 2010)
Homesick, by Roshi Fernando (Impress Books 2010)