I've read that in India, children may tease or insult each other by showing their thumb and saying 'thengaa'. Is that true? If so, is the spelling of 'thengaa' right, and what does it mean? I also read that showing your thumb at someone and calling them 'anghutaachaap' implies that you're calling them illiterate. How true is that? And would that be something done by adults as well as children?
2007-10-11 23:59:40 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Travel ➔ India ➔ Other - India
The meaning of Thenga in Malayalam is coconut. the word Angutachaap is a hindi word, which means illiterate. The people who cannot put down their signature, but instead put down their thump impression is also known as Anguttachaap.
2007-10-12 01:11:03 · answer #1 · answered by vakayil k 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
, although the gesture is well accepted, similar gestures have negative connotations:
* While doing a thumbs up, if the hand is wagged from side to side in a reverse-pendulum like movement, it means "won't work" or "disagree".
* Another rude gesture among kids (now less popular), is to show the thumb to a person and say "thengaa," sometimes followed making a face, drawing the tongue out and touching the chin with it.[citation needed] It indicates cocking a snook at someone.[citation needed]
* Showing your thumb to someone and calling him/her "anghutaachaap"(finger-print) implies that you are insulting him/her as an illiterate person.
2007-10-12 00:08:46 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes.
"Thengaa" means coconut. Its a common practice that many people use such words. The practice is actually that people use names of eatables to scold someone. Thengaa - Coconut, Mangaa - Mango, Vennai - Butter, Sambar - A kind of gravy popular in South India and such kind of words.
Coming back to the point, "Thengaa" means coconut. Where the implied meaning is "Hard Skull".
Its commonly used in films and has gained popularity thereby. People even without realizing that they are scolding someone as hard skull say it, because its just a name of an edible substance. They don't actually realize the real implication.
2007-10-12 01:21:27 · answer #3 · answered by Johnny Paul 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes my dear friend it is considered as bad if you wave the thumb and say thengga... that means one is loser or you will get nothing.
Showing thumb upwards is good symbol but if one uses the word thenga its considered as loser.
Mostly childrens use this phrase while they have talk fight or playing versus.
2007-10-12 00:34:33 · answer #4 · answered by Pradeep D 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes
2007-10-12 00:02:00 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋