Learn common Urdu idioms
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Dana: Hi everyone, and welcome back to UrduPod101.com This is Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 14 - Have You Heard These Urdu Rumors? Dana Here. |
| Hamza: السلام علیکم (Assalam u alaikum) I'm Hamza. |
| Dana: In this lesson, you’ll learn common Urdu idioms. The conversation takes place in a cafe. |
| Hamza: It's between Shazia and Ali. |
| Dana: The speakers are friends; therefore, they will speak informal Urdu. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| شازیہ: علی، فلائی اوور کے معاملے پر آپ کی کیا رائے ہے؟ آخر کار، آپ اس علاقے میں رہتے ہیں، اور ہم دونوں کے مقابلے میں آپ کا اس مسئلے سے براہ راست تعلق ہو گا. |
| علی: ہاں واقعی، اس موضوع پر اب تک بہت زیادہ بحث ہو چکی ہے لیکن کوئی پیش رفت کے بغیر. |
| علی: فلائی اوور سے سب کو فائدہ ہونا چاہئے، لیکن جیسا کہ آپ نے کہا، بہت سے لوگ شور کے بارے میں فکر مند ہیں. اور کچھ یہ بھی کہہ رہے ہیں کہ یہ قریبی کچی آبادی کو صاف کرنے کا بہانہ ہے. |
| علی: میں نہیں سمجھ پا رہا کہ کیا سچ ہے اور کیا نہیں ہے. |
| شازیہ: سچ میں؟ یہ کچی آبادی کی صفائی کا نقطہ نیا لگتا ہے. |
| علی: میں واقعی سمجهتا ہوں کہ اسے بیکار میں ایک بڑا مسئلہ بنایا جا رہا ہے. |
| شازیہ: شاید. یہ ممکن ہے کہ اس طرح کے خدشات کے لئے کوئی حقیقی بنیاد نہیں ہے. لیکن جب بہت سی افواہیں گردش کر رہی ہیں، اور لوگ فکرمند ہیں، عہدیداروں کو چاہیے کہ سامنے آئیں اور معاملات کی وضاحت کریں. |
| علی: جی ہاں، اگر وہ آگے آئیں اور، واضح طور پر تمام نکات پیش کریں، منصوبے کی وضاحت کریں، تو مسائل خود بخود ختم ہو جائیں گے. |
| شازیہ: لیکن یہ بھی ہے کہ اگر وہ اس معاملے پر توجہ دیتے ہیں تو پھر میڈیا اور مخالف پارٹیوں کے گروه اس میں کود پڑیں گے اوراسے بڑا مسئلہ بنا دیں گے. |
| علی: یہ ممکن ہے، لیکن یہ واقعی اتنا پیچیدہ ہے؟ خدشات کو دور کر کے اس مسئلے کو حل کرنا بہت آسان ہو جائے گا. مجھے لگتا ہے کہ اگر حکام معاملہ نظر انداز کریں گے تو، یہ ایک طویل وقت کے لئے حل طلب رہے گا. |
| Dana: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| Shazia: Ali, what is your opinion on the flyover? After all, you actually live in the area and will be more directly concerned with this issue than either of us. |
| Ali: Yeah, seriously. There has been way too much discussion on this topic and no progress has been made yet. |
| Ali: The flyover should benefit everyone, but like you said, many people are worried about noise. And some are also saying that this is an excuse to clear out the slum nearby. |
| Ali: I can't figure out what is true and what isn't. |
| Shazia: Really? This slum-clearance point seems to be new. |
| Ali: I really think that this is just being made into a big deal unnecessarily. |
| Shazia: Maybe. It's possible that there’s no real basis for such concerns. But when there are so many rumors circulating and concerned people, the officials should come forward and clarify the matters. |
| Ali: Yes, if they come forward and present all the points clearly and explain the plan, then the problems should automatically subside. |
| Shazia: But it can also be that if they give attention to this matter then the media and opposing party groups will jump in and make it a bigger mess. |
| Ali: It is possible, but is it really that complicated? It would be quite simple to resolve the issue by addressing the concerns. I feel that if the authorities ignore the matter, it will stay unresolved for a long time. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Dana: Some local politics were creeping into the conversation in this lesson. What can you tell us about the political structure of Pakistan? |
| Hamza: Pakistan is an Islamic Republic and has a democratic mode of governance. There is a National Assembly and Senate. |
| Dana: So how are decisions made? |
| Hamza: The bills passed by the National Assembly are sent to the Senate for approval. |
| Dana: What are the major parties in Pakistan? |
| Hamza: There are three major political parties, the Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN), the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which have been in power many times, and Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI), which has recently emerged. |
| Dana: Is this new party bringing on new proposals? |
| Hamza: It is basically supported by young people who want change, while the older generations support the other two parties. |
| Dana: That’s interesting. Is there anything else we should know? |
| Hamza: In general, the middle and lower classes cannot afford to contest the elections because of the money-oriented political campaigns made by the upper classes. |
| Dana: I think this is a reality in many other countries. |
| Dana: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Dana: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Hamza: رائے [natural native speed] |
| Dana: opinion |
| Hamza: رائے [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hamza: رائے [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Hamza: براہ راست [natural native speed] |
| Dana: direct |
| Hamza: براہ راست [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hamza: براہ راست [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Hamza: شور [natural native speed] |
| Dana: noise |
| Hamza: شور [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hamza: شور [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Hamza: کچی آبادی [natural native speed] |
| Dana: slum |
| Hamza: کچی آبادی [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hamza: کچی آبادی [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Hamza: افواہ [natural native speed] |
| Dana: rumor |
| Hamza: افواہ [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hamza: افواہ [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Hamza: بیکار [natural native speed] |
| Dana: unnecessary |
| Hamza: بیکار [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hamza: بیکار [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Hamza: وضاحت کرنا [natural native speed] |
| Dana: to explain, to clarify |
| Hamza: وضاحت کرنا [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hamza: وضاحت کرنا [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Hamza: نکات [natural native speed] |
| Dana: points |
| Hamza: نکات [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hamza: نکات [natural native speed] |
| Dana: Next we have.. |
| Hamza: مخالف [natural native speed] |
| Dana: opposition, opposite |
| Hamza: مخالف [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hamza: مخالف [natural native speed] |
| Dana: And last.. |
| Hamza: پیچیدہ [natural native speed] |
| Dana: complicated |
| Hamza: پیچیدہ [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hamza: پیچیدہ [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Dana: Let's have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is.. |
| Hamza: وضاحت کرنا |
| Dana: meaning "to explain, to clarify." |
| Hamza: The phrase has two words, وضاحت (wazahat) meaning "explanation," and کرنا (kerna) meaning "to do." |
| Dana: This phrase is used in formal settings only. |
| Hamza: Right, you can use it when you want someone to explain something. |
| Dana: Can you give us an example? |
| Hamza: Sure. For example, you can say.. کیا آپ اس تصور کی وضاحت کر سکتے ہیں؟ |
| Dana: ..which means "Can you explain this concept?" |
| Dana: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Hamza: ممکن ہے |
| Dana: meaning "possible." This phrase can be used as a question as well as an answer. |
| Hamza: For example, someone might ask you کیا یہ ممکن ہے؟ |
| Dana: which means "Is it possible?" |
| Hamza: The answer to this question can be .یہ ممکن ہے |
| Dana: meaning "this is possible.” |
| Hamza: If something is not possible, you can say .یہ ممکن نہیں ہے |
| Dana: Meaning “this is not possible.” Can you give us another example? |
| Hamza: Sure. For example, you can say. .یہ کام ممکن ہے |
| Dana: .. which means "This work is possible." |
| Dana: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Hamza: خدشات کو دور کرنا |
| Dana: meaning "to address concerns." |
| Hamza: This phrase has two parts, خدشات, meaning "concerns", and کو دور کرنا , meaning "to address." |
| Dana: This phrase is typically used in a political setting by politicians when they deliver their speeches. |
| Hamza: Also it is only used in formal settings. |
| Dana: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Hamza: Sure. For example, you can say. .عوام کے خدشات کودور کرنا ضروری ہے |
| Dana: .. which means "It is necessary to address the concerns of the public." |
| Dana: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Dana: In this lesson, you'll learn common Urdu idioms. Idioms are an easy way to make yourself understood and sound fluent in any language you’re learning. |
| Hamza: That’s right, and these can come up in conversations too. Like the one we heard in the conversation, بیکار میں بڑا مسئلہ بنانا |
| Dana: Which means "to make an unnecessarily big fuss." So let’s go through some Urdu idioms! Okay Hamza, what do you have for us first? |
| Hamza: آگ میں ہاتھ ڈالنا |
| Dana: What does that mean? |
| Hamza: I’ll tell you the meanings of a few of the words, and then I want you to try and guess! |
| Dana: Okay, I’ll try! |
| Hamza:آگ means "fire." میں means "in," ہاتھ is "hand," and ڈالنا is a transitive verb which means "to put in." |
| Dana: So it’s literally “put your hand into the fire”? Is it something to do with cooking? |
| Hamza: No! It means “to attempt something very risky,” as in putting your hand into the fire is risky. |
| Dana: Well, I failed at guessing that one! Can I have a chance to redeem myself? |
| Hamza: گهول کر پینا (Ghol ker peena). گهولنا (gholna) is a transitive verb which means "to stir and mix in," and پینا (peena) is a transitive verb meaning "to drink." |
| Dana: So the literal meaning is “to mix in and drink completely”. |
| Hamza: Yes, but what does the idiom mean? |
| Dana: Um… To accept something completely? Like, to take some idea or concept in and completely accept it? |
| Hamza: Yeah, that’s pretty much it! It can be used for dedicating yourself to learning something, or even brainwashing. |
| Dana: Okay, one last one. |
| Hamza: ٹھنڈا کرنا (Thanda kerna). In this one, ٹھنڈا is an adjective that means “cold”, and کرنا means “to do”. |
| Dana: So the literal translation is “to cool someone or something down”? |
| Hamza: Yes, it is… you’re one for one, this is the tiebreaker. Can you get it right? |
| Dana: Does it mean to calm someone down when they’re angry? |
| Hamza: Close, but not quite! It means “to teach someone a lesson” or “to put them in their place.” |
| Dana: Ah, I lost. Listeners, we only had time to go through three idioms in this lesson, so make sure to check out the lesson notes as there are many more idioms to learn! |
Outro |
| Dana: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Hamza: !پهر ملیں گے (Phir milenge!) |
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