What is a 'Desi' ?

[CoolDude]

Where I come from Desi's are fresh-off-the-boat indians.. why do some people call pakistani's that too???

I'm a Pakistani, not a Desi!!!

Anyone wanna back me up over here?

[supersonickid]

wherei come from it means very nice.
if it was my way i would make it mean ''ugly skunk''

[Mr Fraudia]

I think desi is just a general term used to describe anything that deals with the sub continent, desi food, music, show etc etc.

[Yankee]

desis are whats driving this world after ofcourse chinkayyyyy (orientals)..

[ChannMahi]

I remember during my days in University in Punjab, our City friends used to refer to some other friends from villages as Desi's and it was not a pleasant thing to hear. But now I feel very proud to associated with desis....words change meanings with context.

[Roman]

I didn't use to like the term "Desi" but over the time my understanding of the word has changed, and I think it's a good generalized term to describe people from the sub-continent.

It's a lot shorter and convenient to use than to say something like "sub-continental".

[KKK]

all u guys are very interesting. do u know what crazy means.well im sure yus wud.
anyvay desi means fellow pakistany .


the kkk are here to stay......ya americano ist stinklangweilig

[Rishmeena]

Cooldude, "desi" is a term which refers to both Pakistanis and Indians and anything which belongs to them or relates to them.

However, I do agree, I would rather prefer to be called a Pakistani. Simply cuz no matter how long, people of both countries have lived together, no matter how many traditions have merged into our culture because of living with them or vise versa, I still think we are two people with a more differences then similarities.

[This message has been edited by Rishmeena (edited August 02, 2000).]

[kohal]

As much as i use the term desi round my friends.....
I accidently blurted it out the word desi while talking to dad about something.....
he got ticked.
Cuz, it's more like.....slang....& doesn't approve of it.
but.......chann's right....it's context is changing...& it basically just deals with the South Asian community overal.
It's hard as it already is generalize all the Pakistanis, Indians, Gayanese (sp?), Sri Lankans, Bengalis, Trinidads, & see what i mean under 1 whole term.

[Dopey]

Agreed with Mr. Fraudia and Roman's answers on the topic.

[black beauty]

well agreed with Roman and yes indeed its a word to describe a ppl from subcontinent.

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mujh se pangey mut lena

[the real AK47]

Desi... in other words "fresh from the homeland" ?
or maybe some one from a different homeland, as in Par-desi/Pardes.? and I have nothing against the word.

[This message has been edited by the real AK47 (edited August 02, 2000).]

[CoolDude]

Ok, so from what you guys are saying,

Tamils, Indians, Bengalis, Pakistanis etc are all desis?

Over here.. the european folk call us 'Asians' - I don't like that too much either.

I think this is more on an American thing actually cos not many people round here use the word desi to describe us!

[yahoo!]

Originally posted by Yankee:
desis are whats driving this world after ofcourse chinkayyyyy (orientals)..

Yeah .... most desi's drive Cabs

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Do you...yahooooooo!!! ?

[Bharysh]

From what I remember, the term 'desi' origionally comes from 'dhesh' (sp?). It covers the region of the Indian subcontinent. So yes- Bengalis, Pakis, and Indians all fall into this category. Where I am from, its not meant to be used in a derogatory way. For me, I think its like calling someone Spanish, even though they might be from different South American Countries (ie. Mexico, Bolivia..) or Spain.