Babu
Somebody a while back related an interesting anecdote about the coinage of babu, a widely used term in the subcontinent. In Punjab people say baoo, a regional variation of the same word. As everybody knows it is not an English word, and it is not from any of the regional languages. So has anyone ever wondered where it comes from?
It is today used for somebody(male) who is well dressed. In the colonial times, it was specially used for men who dressed in western attire, mostly government employees, and the educated elite. It is almost a title representing respect and high stature. The working classes addressed the educated as babu saab(sahib.) Many people nickname their sons babu.
Now how did it get coined? According to the narrator, this symbol of esteem and veneration is somewhat disguised form of baboon. The English Officers working in India found the locals dressed in western clothes amusing or ridiculous and called them baboon, perhaps not too well pronounced for them to take as an insult. Try saying babu, in English accent with emphasis on the last syllable, "baboo." "Come baboo!" By just dropping the "n" baboon becomes babu. "Serves them right for aping us," they would have discreetly laughed. Someone must have called his clerk baboo(n) and others would have followed. Till it became a norm and the naive locals took it as being addressed with respect.
I do not know about the authenticity of this story, but it makes a lot of sense to me. What do you think?
