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Sri Lankan English: A dialect worth learning

Written by
Time Out editors
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Get with the local dialect 

Portuguese, Dutch and British colonisers left a chunk of their culture behind, and the English language is one of them. However, our multi-cultural society has been adapted this language to create a local vernacular. So for the visitor, here’s a guide that will help you understand and communicate easily.

One hundred thousand is a lakh

Almirah is a wardrobe

Aubergine and eggplant is brinjal

Baila is an infectious dance music inherited from the Portuguese 

Tooting the horn is a single word known as horning

To let someone down is to give them a Dead-rope

A group of friends, family or people is lovingly known as a jingbang 

Rather than stressing something with of course, we would say otherwise

To come at one’s leisure means to come quietly

Plaint Tea is tea without milk in Sri Lanka

A rice-puller is any dish that makes food tastier for consumption

A palm civet is a polecat

Tube light is a florescent light

Frangipaniis temple flower

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