tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520303675367700778.post3968580108976599683..comments2024-03-26T22:57:21.033+00:00Comments on Random Views: Oh General, my GeneralDavid Beesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00393977902379776532noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520303675367700778.post-44339038858682990642009-10-10T20:51:52.586+01:002009-10-10T20:51:52.586+01:00I came across the quotation from Wellington (or Ar...I came across the quotation from Wellington (or Arthur Wellesley as he was then) and thought at the time 'strange sounding word'. He was a high Tory, an Anglo and a Protestant from Ireland, and not I suppose all that inclined to treat the languages of 'natives' with all that much respect; on the other hand he was a surprising man (there's an apocryphal story about him in India which probably gives an accurate picture of how he was perceived, even if it wasn't itself true: he was found one day weighing an infantryman in full kit to find out just how much his men were being asked to carry through jungle; his experiences out there gave him his lifelong commitment to the use of properly organised baggage trains so the men could travel light). Might he not have got the word right? If Nimak is salt and, from what I know, a wallah is a person or a fellow, wouldn't a nimakwallah be a 'salt-fellow', a fellow who has received salt from you (salt as in salary, of course)? That would fit his meaning and doesn't sound implausible to me.David Beesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00393977902379776532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520303675367700778.post-44913106941645870912009-10-10T16:39:30.639+01:002009-10-10T16:39:30.639+01:00Am I allowed a second comment?
I am not suggesting...Am I allowed a second comment?<br />I am not suggesting that you are wrong, but I had never come across the expression NIMAKWALLAH before. I am familiar with two different kinds of nimaks:<br /> Nimak Halal (True to one's salt), and<br /> Nimak Haram (Ungrateful bastard!)<br />SanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520303675367700778.post-9542539951745533062009-10-10T15:09:39.618+01:002009-10-10T15:09:39.618+01:00Clearly the man had been campaigning for his party...Clearly the man had been campaigning for his party, rather than standing up for "his" soldiers, say I- a humdrum point, I know, but one that should be made at every opportunity!<br /><br />SanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com