Some words have multiple meanings in different contexts, regions, etc.

One of our reader has pointed out an interesting word and its usage in Hindi. That word is, गिरी (Giri) which is a versatile word which can be used as noun, surname, verb as well slang in the certain parts of India. I thought to answer the question about this word and how this word is being used in Hindi to my best possible knowledge.

गिरी (Giri) as Slang/New Words

Giri is used as a slang in the North and Western India. Moreover, new words are being invented by using giri as suffix.

तुम्हारी यह दादागिरी यहाँ नहीं चलेगी। (Tumhari yeh dadagiri yahan nahi chalayegi) – lit. Your bullying will not run here.

गांधीगिरी (Gandhigiri) – refering to tenets of Gandhism. This is relatively new term which was invented in a famous Hindi movie, Lage Raho Munna bhai.

गिरी (Giri) as Noun

It is also used as noun meaning Seed, Nucleus, Core, Center. Some of the examples are:

काजू की गिरी (Kaju ki giri) – Cashew kernel
बादाम की गिरी (Baadam ki giri) – Almond kernel
मुंगफली की गिरी (Maungfali ki giri) – Kernel of groundnuts

Another synonyms for गिरी (Giri) is पहाड़ी (Pahadi) which means a small mountain. Some of the examples are:

नीलगिरी की पहाड़ी – Nilgiri ki pahaadi – Mountain of Nilgiri.

This is also used as a surname in India.

गिरी (Giri) as Verb

As verb गिरना (Girna) – to fell down. To form the intransitive verb for feminine grammatical gender, we use Giri as shown in the following example:

कमला छत से कल गिरी थी। (Kamala Cht se kal giri thi) – Kamala fell from the roof yesterday.