Anna, Abba, Achha! 70 Indian words mark their entry in the Oxford dictionary

Over 70 new Indian words from Telugu, Urdu, Tamil, Hindi and Gujarati have made it to the Oxford English dictionary. From endearing words such as Anna to eateries like Gulab Jamun have been added to the dictionary in the latest update that happened in September 2017.

Terms like 'Abba’ find mention in the dictionary as the Urdu word for father. Achha which already existed in the dictionary as ‘okay’ has a new additional meaning as an exclamation used to express an emotion of surprise, doubt and joy.

As per the reports by the Times of India, the existing trend shows most Indian words added to the dictionary revolve around relationships, culture and food.

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According to `Release notes: Indian English' written by Danica Salazar, OED World English Editor, "Seventy words originating from Indian English have been added to the Oxford English Dictionary in this latest update, alongside the 900 or so words already existing in the OED."