What does it mean? I only heard it here applied to people.
My Mom uses it, for food, like “desi ghee”.
And here people are desi too, it is applied for both Indians and Pakistanis or alone for Indians or Pakistani’s?
desi was originally used for ghee and other food stuff....
desi ghee....
desi anday....
desi murghi....
desi sharab (yes that too)....
later adopted by the ppl living in england to mean "something from back home"....
in some ways it is the opposite of "walayti" (which too means, not really but used as, foreign)....
desi = means original .. no altered. In west used as some from Eastern Origin.
DES = country, homeland [in urdu]
like my DES is Pakistan, for an indian DES is india and so on...
so, DESI means belonging to the DES
and anything associated with DES is DESI
Re: stupid question about the word "desi"
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by sadya: *
What does it mean? I only heard it here applied to people.
My Mom uses it, for food, like "desi ghee".
And here people are desi too, it is applied for both Indians and Pakistanis or alone for Indians or Pakistani's?
[/QUOTE]
To me desi means local.
well, this desi word is totally ridiculous when used to describe pakis/indians in west.....and btw, the so called "DESIs" take very pride when called by this name........grow up ppl....u need to establish an identity for ur self....u need to take pride in ur being paki or indian....not DESI....and btw, i would hate to be called a DESI coz it will mix me with indians......and that will be a shame....
ya people dont call knightofhearts, desi, call him Daisy.
I used it myself efw times here after seeing it being used by others for describing people, and I started to doubt wether I used it rightly or wrongly.
Thanks for the explanations. :-) Now it's clear.
kia aiwain hee tukkay maar rahay ho sab....
Irem gave the correct definition,,, its from the word des .. which means homeland.
des .. desi
pakistan .... paki ... ok ok pakistani :p
irem is right. The basic Word is drived from Hindi word “Desh” which later in urdu became “Des”.
Des mean a country or a teretory where the same culture or custom or rules are followed.
Where as word “Desi” is basically drived from “Des” which means “belongings of the country/teretory/neighborhood/home etc”
way back the word desi was used even back in pakistan to describe a country bumpkin, it was not until last few decades that desi was used in reference to people of south asian origin.
Re: stupid question about the word "desi"
Yeah the word "Desi" is from "Des" (Country) and is used to refer to anything associated with ones country.
If it must be used as an ethnic label then I only use it for people who speak languages belonging to the Vedic/Sanskritic branch which are eastern-Pakistanis (Punjabis, Sindhis, Kashmiris), north-Indians and Bangladeshis. Desi as an ethnic label doesn't include Pathans, Baluchis or South Indian Dravidians because 'Desi' is not a word in their language.
When it's not used as an ethnic label and took for its literal meaning then anyone or anything from ones country is Desi, for example a Pathan would be a Desi to me whilst to a Sikh a Madrasi would be a Desi.
Re: stupid question about the word "desi"
Definitions of desi on the Web:
* This is a colloquial name for people of South Asian descent, particularly those of Indian and Pakistani descent, to self describe each other or their community. The term is derogatory outside of the South Asian community.
www.lorenjavier.com/asian/terminology.html
* Desi (pronounced /they-see/) and Deshi (pronounced /dey-she/) are the two variants of an Indian word which means national as opposed to foreign. For Indians abroad, it has become a term that mainly identifies another fellow Indian. It is also applied to anything seeming very Indian (to a Non-Resident Indian). Sometimes it is replaced with the more generic word Indian, but it is agreed upon that Desi brings the real flavour for the expression.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desi
Re: stupid question about the word "desi"
i thought desi came from the word PARDESI ???????
Re: stupid question about the word “desi”
Couldn’t be any further from the truth.
Desi is a Sanskrit word. Derived from desh or des, which means one’s own region where he/she lives in. Des/desh can be used for the city, state or country. Mostly it is used for country now days. It is also synonymous with word indigenous.
Hence every thing foreigner is perdesi.
In India desi is a guy from rural areas or villages. And here in the developed world we re like from villages. Hence we call our selves desis.
a desi is from Indian subcontinent in general.
btw in America i am perdesi and Americans are desi. it is technically true.
here are some more *desi products for you.
.swades - my country.
.pardes - foreign country.
.vides - foreign country.
Remember there is a ‘desi’ in desire 
.