Just wondering… 13
The song can become viral, bacterial or develop gangrene. That’s not my issue. Mine is – why are so many people getting so offended by the ‘di’?
Di. A two-letter, monosyllabic word (single-letter, monosyllabic in Tamil) that carries about as much import as Shruti Hasan in the song’s video. Totally dispensable, no doubt, but absolutely harmless. It’s just a sentence crutch, much like the Hindi yaar and the Anglo-Indian ‘man’.
This is not the first time it’s being used in Tamil songs. Yaradee nee Mohini… ; Adiye, manam nillunaa nikkadhadee…; Yevandee onna petthaan… Even Bharathiyar used di quite liberally in his Kannamma songs that ooze romance even today.
Finally, there’s an equivalent da. So it’s not even sexist.
So why? I am not understandu.
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I am with you nga!
Also di is offensive it seems. Di is cheri it seems. As if! Mudile.
Adhaanay…
why would the di be offensive? If women can stomach da and want equal rights and all jazz , di should not be an issue..
Yes, yes
You meant “Just wonderingu”, no?
I find the song cute….the di actually makes it cuter.
I too like the song. In fact I quite like Dhanush though I don’t usually admit it
the song would be perfect would a few words: “kolaveri, why this, di”
my inner grandma is showing, i think. let me drown my sorrows in some vetlapakku or whatever grandmas ate when they wanted to go grrrrrr.
But that would make the song as spicy as vettala pakku without sunnambu
not would. without.
*bad typing*
I have a pathological hatred of the “di” appellation simply because it sounds so disrespectful when said by most people, especially men. Especially in movies, Especially said to women. Also in real life. It’s more than a sentence crutch, and it’s different from “yaar” because the latter has no pejorative connotations.
I dont take kindly to being addressed as “di” by anyone who is not at least 50 years older than me (male or female). And at least 100 years in the case of songs/songwriters (cue Bharathiyar). And going by that same “skewed” logic, I wouldn’t address males as “da” or females as “di”, regardless of age. But I admit to using “da” with my women friends, similar in meaning and inflection to “yaar” (and occasionally with my younger brother in situations of extreme provocation). *deep breath* There. That’s my two paise’s worth.
Pejorative connotations would be in the mind of the beholder (be-thinker?), no?
Today’s Dhanush/Simbu could be tomorrow’s Bharathiyar, no? Tamizh Thai might poke me in my eyes for this but then Bharathi was not really appreciated when he was alive. So there. We never know.
As I said earlier, da, so why not di?
I use about 10 ‘di’s in 2 sentences. Never thought of it as offensive. Maybe I should curb the habit.
I’m glad to hear from a di-hater
Aiyayo! Dhanush/Simbu tomorrow’s Bharatiyar? I hope never to have to see that tomorrow!