Arbit:

Abbreviation for arbitrary, flexible word with unlimited usage, as in: kya arbit baat kar raha hai yaar

Avoid:

Besides it’s dictionary meaning, this word is used to snub someone: if someone is watching a “educational program” on TV, and a guy turns on the radio, then the comment is “Avoid, boss!”

Bumps:

Corporal punishment meted out to someone on their birthday, job, schol, etc. Four guys lift up the lucky dude and n-people kick him in all the delicate places.

Cack:

Learned people discussing abstruse subjects of great depth and import. Normally a feast of reason and flow of soul! Thought to originate from “cacophony”, but no semantic connection has been uncovered.

A cack session is a single, uninterrupted period of cacking.

And Cack-o-cack is a particularly intense cack session.

Chamkaa:

Indicates an understanding of something that has been just described to you, as in the light bulb going on in your mind.

Chavi:

A way of manipulating someone to do or say something they ordinarily wouldn’t – most often via transparent flattery.

Chand Shah:

A place of peace, tranquility, and meditation beyond the pipeline and behind Hostel 4

Dayaa:

Meaning “pity”, as in: He is a dayaa Prof!

Despo:

Desperate, as in: That despo thinks about nothing but girls

Dhakkan:

Stupid person, as in: Abe dhakkan, chamka nahin kya!

Dum de re:

Pronounced dum they ray. Give me a drag.

Fart:

Big-time bullshitting, or something that is bad

Fatru:

Anyone focused full-time on extra-curricular, non-sports, non-cultural, or leisure activities. This slang disappeared after the 80s, even though fatru numbers remained undiminished.

Fundoo:

Excellent, brilliant, enjoyable. This word creeps into almost every sentence by an IITian, as in: uske babe fundoo hai yaar

Ghanti:

Stranger, as in: Yeh Ghanti kaun?

Grub:

Mess food: which usually was messy and awful!

Hajaar:

Lots. From the Hindi for 1,000, used to denote “a lot of something”

Hug/Hugoo:

Awful performance in something

Izzat Ka Falooda:

Devastation of one’s ego, probably as a result of some deadly repartee from someone

Junta:

Common people, us included.

Keeda:

Person causing disruption/irritation

Lech:

Activity at which all IITians excel: which is the act of leering at any good-looking female that passes by

Nabard/Nbd:

Originated from “nervous breakdown”, commonly referred to people who are in a perpetual state of nabard regardless of any nabard triggering factors

Neta:

General volunteer

Obscene:

Positively and negatively used adjective to express large amount/intensity of anything, as in: obscenely good grades

Peace:

Exactly as it sounds, gesture of relief, peace is when an IITian clears a course in which he/she was caught using proxy attendance

Pondy:

We can’t define it, but we know it when we see it. Life “education” that was disseminated to the disciples via videos, CDs, and print. Pondy lectures used to be conducted Friday evenings with cooperation from our “scrooty” (to be introduced later). If you didn’t see one, you learned it the hard way.

Pseud:

Anyone who pretends to be highly westernized, pseudo-intellectual windbag

RG/Rg-giri:

Derived from relative grading, used for people who try to get ahead of others in a mean way

Rastaa:

Complete demolition, as in: How was the test? “Total rastaa yaar”

Ratna, RLC:

Ratna liquor store at Y-point. Usage seemed to increase the closer it got to Friday evenings

Sakhu:

General term for any of the breathtakingly beautiful laborer woman who worked occasionally on construction projects on campus

Scrooty:

Security officer, as in: F*** scrooty is here! Act normal!

Shady:

Not likeable, as in: Kya shady Prof hai yaar!

Suck:

An inevitable part of the apping process, which involves sending emails to Profs in US and raving that “Quantum Physics” is in his blood and he was born to work under his guidance

TB:

Tamanna bai, cultural festival that was held outside IIT (at the backyard of H6, close to NITIE) in December, and attracted large number of IITians despite the end-sems, to watch classical dance & festivities. Used to cost around Rs.5/show (during 2000-2001) and ended up turning many IITians broke by the end of the festival

TMTYMT:

Tu Moron Tha Yeh Maloom Tha - used a lot in the late 1970s