Podah

The former Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, in an election rally at Putrajaya last night, used the Tamil word Podah on the caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Razak.

In his campaign speech, Mahathir had said: “A so-called 'religious warrior'? Podah! I picked him but now that he has become the PM, he wants to have me arrested instead. It seems I had accused him of being involved in the alleged sabotage of the plane I was on last Friday. How does he know that I was wrong, when he didn't look at what happened? Even the civil aviation authority (DCA) did not come to see me or check the plane,"

But what exactly does podah mean? I tried asking my Indian friends but none has come back with a response. I had to search for the term on the Internet before finding it as well as other colourful Tamil words. This list below, will be interesting reading:

1. Dei - The verbal response to someone who does or says something stupid, idiotic or asinine. For example, "Lee turns to walk out the door to my office, but instead runs into the wall." Dei!!
2. Podah / Podeh – Podah means to "get lost, man" and Podeh means to "get lost, girl". For example, "I don't want to see you around here anymore. Podah! or Podeh!"
3. Elek – This is a verbal response to mean “don’t have”. For example, "Hey, man, have you seen my iPhone?" Elek.
4. Sapade – Directly translates to mean "eat". For example, "Aneh, sapade order here!
5. Aneh/Anah – This is the Tamil word for “Bro”. For example, "Aneh, teh tarik satu!"
6. Kunji – Directly translates to mean "penis" in Tamil.
7. Thani – It means "water" in Tamil. But here in Malaysia, we use it for drinking alcohol. For example, "Eh, bro, tonight thani ah?"
8. Pundek – A Malaysian Tamil word for "vagina".
9. Thangachi – This is a polite word for "younger sister". But here in Malaysia, we use it to call both of our guy and girl friends. For example, "Hey, thangachi, apa buat!"
10. Macha – Literally, this is a term for "brother-in-law". It is commonly used to address our friends. For example, "Macha, we’re going to the club tonight. Wanna join?"