Sri Lankan English - Updates D

This page contains updates to the dictionary beginning with the letter D. It is divided into 2 parts: New Entries, and Comments and Corrections. Click here to return to the main updates page, or on the links on the left side of the page to go to another letter.

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

Latest update: July 2010. New additions are in red.

NEW ENTRIES:

defa, deffa: (coll.) definitely
> Thanks to Thinushka Gunasekera for pointing out a number of similar examples of contemporary youth slang, as illustrated in the following quotes from the internet:
He will defa help you out.
dudes...we can all defa chip in a bit and raise 300000 bucks...
there’s deffa a chance of retrieving stuff ...
we’ll deffa be there!

del chips (= breadfruit chips): chips made of deep-fried breadfruit pieces
In her hand was a plate, on which, in a green banana leaf wrapping, were dhel chips in palm honey, a delicacy Latha remembered eating as a child in her grandmother’s house in her ancestral village. (The Sweet and Simple Kind, by Yasmine Gooneratne, page 238)

dessert: sweet, pudding (less common in BSE)
> Pronunciation: In BSE this word is pronounced “dizert”, with the stress on the second syllable; in SLE it is pronounced “dezert”, with the stress on the first syllable, making it a homophone of the noun “desert”.

deva: deity (Sanskrit)
The astrologer silently thanked the devas for enabling him to comprehend the planets, … (Theravada Man, by Manuka Wijesinghe, page 85)

deviyane!: oh my God! (Sinhala exclamation)
“Deyyanai, was it a sin in a past life that gave me a weakling for a son?” (The Banana Tree Crisis, by Isankya Kodithuwakku, page 131)
“Deviyane don’t let it be too late,” … (Theravada Man, by Manuka Wijesinghe, page 306)

dhammapada: Buddhist verses (Sinhala)
He died as he had lived. Devoted to the wisdom of the Buddha and the Dhammapada resting upon his lap. (Theravada Man, by Manuka Wijesinghe, page 342)

district: an administrative area (> province)
> Most provinces are divided into 3 districts, e.g. the Southern Province consists of Galle District, Matara District and Hambantota District.

doctor Sunny: a Nissan Sunny car (FB-13 model, year of manufacture 1991)
> This particular model became associated with doctors after 1000 cars were imported and offered to doctors duty free.

domiciled: resident, living (formal in BSE)
a Sri Lankan domiciled in the US

doubt: I doubt: (coll.) I doubt it (> like)
I wondered if I fell ill and came to doctor Wijewardena whether he would treat me the same … I doubt. (Sam’s Story, by Elmo Jayawardena, page 76)

drivers’ quarters: a room or rooms where drivers are provided accommodation (> servants’ quarters)
“I stay in the drivers’ quarters at the hotel.” (A Cause Untrue, by David Blacker, page 55)
“He’ll be in the drivers’ quarters.” (Serendipity, by Ashok Ferrey, page 152)

dukkha: (in Buddhism) suffering (Sanskrit)
Yes, a feeling of dukkha overwhelmed me. (All is Burning, by Jean Arasanayagam, page 365)
In Theravadaism, birth was sorrow, life was sorrow, death was sorrow and rebirth was sorrow. Dukkha. All aspects of existence were saturated by this dukkha. (Theravada Man, by Manuka Wijesinghe, page 272)
Life is dukka the Buddha said. (The Moon in the Water, by Ameena Hussein, page 138)


COMMENTS AND CORRECTIONS:


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