Reserchers at the Oxford University have come up with a list of 10 most irritating cliches used by the British. Well, that was the inspiration for me to think 10 of my own, however, not about the British but sadde Indian, oye!

Indians have a very complex relationship with the English language. Yep, we know that the British lived in India for over 200 years; they left in 1947 but the English language stayed behind. During the British rule, English speakers were considered part of a different league and the complex still remains.

The fact is that parents and schools lay more stress on English than they do on Hindi for the children. So much so that the Hindi exam is sometimes even refered to as a ‘foreign’ language exam. After all, speaking English makes you look more literate than the Hindi speaker.

Despite such (in)sincere efforts, many Indians have a lot of trouble with English as a language. Like many others who don’t have English as their first language, we mentally translate speech from Hindi to English before speaking it out.

So, I thought it would be interesting to switch on the ‘introspective mode’ and see where we goof-up with English on daily basis.

1. Revert/ Reply back: Somebody please tell the ‘educated’ office folks to pause and think. Both ‘revert’ and ‘reply’ indicate ‘return’ with the meaning. So, what does the ‘back’ do? Redundant, please delete.

2. 1 kilo of milk: From our mothers to aunty jis, we all measure milk in kilos for unfathomable reasons. It is LITRE folks, litre!

3. say me: ‘Tell me’ is very conveniently replaced by ’say me’, even I wonder why!

4. I beg to differ: Office lingo which actually serves no purpose other than be a part of a joke-sharing session.

5. chill babes: A classic way to present yourself as a cool and hip person. And trust me, the actual effect is no where close to the desired one. Totally ‘un-cool’!

Hey, I forgot to mention. I need your help to complete the list. Send me options for five more. Thanks!