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Newslaundry
Newslaundry
National
NL Team

‘Tennu-Tussi’ is ‘unparliamentary’ for Shweta Singh: Aaj Tak gets lessons in Punjabi

In a broadcast last night, Aaj Tak primetime anchor Shweta Singh, of GPS-nanotechnology fame, stated that Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi had crossed a line and used unparliamentary language against prime minister Narendra Modi.

Aaj Tak’s viewers may have been expecting a few beeps in the broadcast but, as it turned out, the offensive words used against the PM were "tennu" and "tussi". Singh said that in order to target the PM, Channi indulged in "tu-tadak".

For non-Hindi speakers, "tu-tadak" is a phrase that implies a way of addressing someone that may be rude or abusive, in this case, presumably because Channi didn’t use the more formal "aap" while addressing the PM.

However, as we know from PM Modi’s interview with actor Akshay Kumar "tu-taadi" is also bestie Obama’s way of addressing our PM.

Minor problem: Punjabi and Hindi are two different languages. Twitter was quick to point out Singh’s lack of understanding of the Punjabi language, and that the usage of "tussi" and "tennu" is not meant as disrespect and nowhere close to abusive.

Also Read: Conspiracy, Maoist role: How news channels covered PM’s convoy row

Also Read: HT, Aaj Tak summits: 'Punjabiyat' is bhangra, Shah answers ‘all questions’ and Kalli Purie plays referee

Newslaundry is a reader-supported, ad-free, independent news outlet based out of New Delhi. Support their journalism, here.

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