"jahaji" means: An Indian term for a sailor or ship-worker, particularly associated with the indentured labourers transported from India to the Caribbean an.... This is a fairly neutral word with no inherent risk attached. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than something dangerous. If your child uses it, context will usually make the meaning clear. A brief, curious question about where they heard it is generally enough to know whether to follow up.
jahaji
An Indian term for a sailor or ship-worker, particularly associated with the indentured labourers transported from India to the Caribbean and other British colonial territories in the 19th century.
Definitions
An Indian term for a sailor or ship-worker, particularly associated with the indentured labourers transported from India to the Caribbean and other British colonial territories in the 19th century. In Caribbean Indian communities, jahaji bhai (ship brother) became a term for the bonds formed between people who crossed the sea together.
His great-grandfather came over as a jahaji, part of the first wave of indentured workers to arrive on the island.
"jahaji" means: An Indian term for a sailor or ship-worker, particularly associated with the indentured labourers transported from India to the Caribbean an.... This is a fairly neutral word with no inherent risk attached. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than something dangerous. If your child uses it, context will usually make the meaning clear. A brief, curious question about where they heard it is generally enough to know whether to follow up.
"jahaji" means: An Indian term for a sailor or ship-worker, particularly associated with the indentured labourers transported from India to the Caribbean an.... Register: neutral, standard English, usable in most everyday contexts. Note the regional or dialect label (Indian) — usage may sound odd outside that variety. A common non-native mistake is to use the word in the wrong register, or to assume one fixed meaning when it is actually polysemous; always check the surrounding register and the audience before producing it yourself. In formal writing, prefer a neutral synonym or a short descriptive phrase, and use this word only when you have heard or read it being used naturally in a comparable context.
Comments
(India) A sailor.
Comments
For specific readers
Why is this section here?
Slang is read by different audiences for very different reasons. The For parents view re-explains the term in plain, non-judgemental language so a caregiver can understand what their child means without needing the surrounding subculture. The For English learners view focuses on register (when it's safe to use), formal alternatives, and common mistakes — what a textbook won't teach you.
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Other words near "jahaji" (J)
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An Indian man, especially a migrant worker.
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(India, historical) A native who loitered about the wharves of Calcutta seeking employment as a servant with newly arrived Europeans.
- 57%
A historical Indian term for a water carrier — a person whose occupation was transporting and distributing water, typically using a goatskin bag (mashk) to deliver water to households, worksites, or military camps. An essential occupation in pre-piped-water South Asia. Immortalized in Rudyard Kipling's poem 'Gunga Din,' whose title character is a bahisti.
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(Singapore, colloquial, slang, derogatory, ethnic slur) An Indian man, especially a migrant worker.