It isn’t often that four-letter words create a ripple of excitement. “Aiyo” has achieved what most of its alphabet count cousins haven’t despite being around for centuries. It’s a distinct Indian expression now in the most famous English language lexicon: the Oxford English Dictionary. It deserves the honour as it exemplifies a unique expression whose meaning is widely understood, that gracefully expresses surprise or amazement at the positive end; and shock, horror, anguish or even pain at its negative extreme. It enriches the lexicon with a simple two-syllable word encompassing so many complex human emotions. The vibrancy of English has given it unchallenged status as an universal language, with pretentious rivals like Esperanto falling by the wayside ages ago.
However Indian history may judge Thomas Babington Macaulay, he did us a favour by assiduously promoting English as our language of education. His words, “It is, I believe, no exaggeration to say that all historical information collected from all books written in Sanskrit is less valuable than what may be found in the most paltry abridgement used at preparatory schools in England”, may not go down well with some. But he established a tradition that benefited millions of Indians. The colonial era is long past, but we’re proud of all the words we gave for adoption, beginning with the majestic juggernaut, after the Puri deity’s chariots, down to Aiyo. This one got through to the ultimate reference book, tool or lexicographic programme that embraced words of so many living languages and even built up a 10-billion word corpus of all modern languages. Aiyo!
