Friday 27 February 2015

A Rich Vocabulary

As often happens when reading Poul Anderson's works, I need a dictionary on pp. 2-3 of SM Stirling's The Peshawar Lancers (New York, 2003). Some words are unfamiliar. Others are familiar although their meanings are not always known:

Metford rifles;
jawans;
chakrams;
Baluchis;
Gurkhas;
kukris;
sahib-log;
the Jat-cultivator caste;
Marathas;
Rajputs;
kurta-tunics;
pjamy-trousers;
tulwars;
jezailachi snipers (an echo of Conan Doyle - see also here);
Masuds (?);
Afridis;
huzoor;
Pathan;
fakir (I had not known that they were Muslims).

(I have not turned to p. 4 yet.)

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