Pukka

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Palewriter
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Pukka

Postby Palewriter » Wed Jul 26, 2006 12:24 am

pukka (adj.)

Definition: Genuine, real, first-class.

In play: "His new car had pukka leather seats."

From Hindi pakka and Sanskrit pakva. Indo-European root *pek is cited.


This lovely expression is one of those Hindi words sucked back to the home country through the colorful vocabularies of the civil servants and soldiers of British India. My father (served in India/Burma during WW2) used this word a lot. Certainly, I don't hear it much nowadays. Perhaps it was just a "visitor" into English, now quietly packing its bags and moving back to the subcontinent.
"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention to arrive safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: Wow!!! What a ride!"

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gailr
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Postby gailr » Wed Jul 26, 2006 12:35 am

I've generally seen it in this combination: "pukka sahib".

-gailr

skinem
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Postby skinem » Wed Jul 26, 2006 10:13 am

Ah, yes, the pukka shell necklace of 1970s popularity...

My last boss still wears one! It's really cool on a 55 year old!

Palewriter
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Postby Palewriter » Wed Jul 26, 2006 12:45 pm

Ah, yes, the pukka shell necklace of 1970s popularity...

My last boss still wears one! It's really cool on a 55 year old!
Does he also drive an old TR4 and worry about hair loss? I think I worked for him, too.

-- PW
"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention to arrive safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: Wow!!! What a ride!"

skinem
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Postby skinem » Wed Jul 26, 2006 12:56 pm

Does he also drive an old TR4 and worry about hair loss? I think I worked for him, too.
No, a Beemer and he worries about his tan and golf game. I think they must have been related!

Huny
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Postby Huny » Wed Jul 26, 2006 1:52 pm

skinem, your new tag line goes perfect with Bailey's new avatar. :shock:
"What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compaired to what lies inside us." R.W.E.

skinem
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Postby skinem » Wed Jul 26, 2006 2:24 pm

Ha! I hadn't thought about that!
I've never felt like I was mugged by him!

Huny
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Postby Huny » Wed Jul 26, 2006 2:47 pm

Ha! I hadn't thought about that!
I've never felt like I was mugged by him!
One should always have a sense of needing to watch their necks, for the night is still young! :wink:
"What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compaired to what lies inside us." R.W.E.

Bailey
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Postby Bailey » Wed Jul 26, 2006 2:49 pm

Mugger? no only half

mark
I just couldn't come up with the right tagline until Huny's last message.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life, Make the most of it...
kb









Huny
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Postby Huny » Wed Jul 26, 2006 3:28 pm

Mugger? no only half

mark
I just couldn't come up with the right tagline until Huny's last message.
At your service...well, kinda... :wink:

BTW: Ya' like my tagline? A little edgy, kinda' like me. Makes me think about the family tree not forking. :twisted:
"What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compaired to what lies inside us." R.W.E.

sluggo
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Postby sluggo » Wed Jul 26, 2006 4:27 pm

BTW: Ya' like my tagline? A little edgy, kinda' like me. Makes me think about the family tree not forking. :twisted:
Ah, but which tree? Somebody come from the shallow end of the gene puddle?*

(*blatantly stolen from Ron Thomason)
Stop! Murder us not, tonsured rumpots! Knife no one, fink!

Stargzer
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Postby Stargzer » Wed Jul 26, 2006 10:14 pm

Whenever I see this word I keep confusing it with Pookah (or Púca), from the movie Harvey.
Regards//Larry

"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee

Perry
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Postby Perry » Thu Jul 27, 2006 10:03 am

Mugger? no only half

mark
I just couldn't come up with the right tagline until Huny's last message.
Mugger? I hardly know her! :roll:
Last edited by Perry on Thu Jul 27, 2006 12:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Time is nature's way of keeping everything from happening all at once. Lately it hasn't been working."
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Bailey
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Postby Bailey » Thu Jul 27, 2006 10:23 am

Mugger? no only half
too obscure, eh?

mark

Today is the first day of the rest of your life, Make the most of it...
kb










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