The following is a list of words and phrases currently prevalent in IITian lingo.
A - The coveted academic grade. It is also the first letter of the alphabet.
Arbit - (dim. of arbitrary) means nothing in specific and everything in general. e.g. arbit grades (as in labs), arbit babes (as in IIT), arbit fundaes (as in all of you).
AI - average IITian
Babe - An exalted term meaning girl, and a highly endangered species in IIT
Banao - An expression in vogue during M.I. Something the average IITian (henceforth known as AI) dreams of doing.
Booze - Spiritual sustenance for the AI, especially after the midsems, endsems, actually, anytime.
Bunk - (orig. lectures) Cut lectures and do what you would have done in the first place .... crash!
Cogging - (1) Exercise of the neck causing eyestrain (2) Replication of any old ghoda's assignment.
Coffee - Carcinogenic, mutagenic, impotency - causing caffeine
delivery system. Concoction which forms the non-alcoholic spirit of IITian
life, or how to spend time between lectures.
About caffeine: Caffeine is an alkaloid.
80 mg of caffeine is enough to kill you. This quantity is found in 100
cups of coffee or an equivalent amount of tea. Moral of the story: never
drink 100 cups of coffee at one go. According to informed sources (actually
'Aerobics Oz Style', but it's true), caffeine causes a release of stress
hormones. Caffeine is a drug; it is also exremely addictive. That's why
it's very difficult to stop drinking coffee and tea without feeling zonked
out of existence. It is diuretic (that means it makes you feel like going
to the bathroom). As a carcinogen, caffeine can cause cancer of the liver.
Can also cause ulcers. Caffeine is a mutagen: YOUR KIDS COULD BE BIGGER
FREAKS THAN YOU! So avoid tea and coffee. Actually, given the quality of
the brew as served in the mess, this makes perfect sense.
Cracku - What every IITian aspires to be, maybe in the next semester.
Crash - Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....
Cyber - The computer center. New chappals for old.
Daana - The proverbial easy one that gets away without fail; the problem in the quiz that everyone else gets.
Department - Ancient torture chamber still in use. For help see 'bunk'.
Despo - (dim. of desperate) Situation in which the AI is with respect to grub, babes, money, everything.
Endsem - The end. The final blow from the sadists from the department. Also the time the Profs. take revenge for all the ink darts you threw and blamed your neighbour for.
Flunk - A four letter word. A major accomplishment, especially as it is rather difficult in IIT
Freak-out - Used for qualifying something that is especially good. Synonyms are good, very good, damn good, bad, damn bad, terrible.
Freshie - (dim. of freshman, orig. JEE) Dumb, confused, scared, newborn IITian.
Fundaes - What all toppers have acquired with divine intervention.
Grub - Euphemism for offal served in the mess.
Hajaar - any number between one and infinity. Synonymous with n.
Huggoo - Antonym of cracku, in all respects. The `so near, yet so far' case.
IIT - An institution. You get that? You are all in an institution! Also interpreted as Institution for Insane Technologists.
Intro - A freshie's inaugural address, and he better make it long.
Junta - Group of AI's. Also plural of panchhi.
Lab - Also a torture chamber equipped with modern technology.
Live Wire - A cacophony performed by cretins for cretins.
Lukhagiri - Any of the several delightful ways to waste time. Used more often than not to avoid mugging.
Major - (pronounced 'may-jhur') an adjective meaning big, as in 'major cracku'.
Moskee - IITianese for mosquito.
Muggoo - Synonymous with N.B.D.u, an accusation which every IITian stoutly denies.
NBD - Nervous Breakdown. A state that occurs before, during and after every quiz and test.
Nightout - A one night stand, a last ditch effort to salvage the semester.
Night tea - Usually precedes a nightout. An effort to cool the nerves. Actually a major cack session.
Open notes - What helps the Xerox shops to mint money and gives the Prof. an excuse to set a tense paper.
PAF - Perfoming Arts Festival. The annual cultural extravaganza in IIT
Panchhi - Individual form of junta.
Park - Do nothing, wait for the end of the world.
Pseud - Anybody who wears shoes, dresses neatly, and talks in la-di-dah English; hence a misfit IITian.
Reco - Randomly Extravagant Certificate of Overstatement.
RG - (1) Any cracku or muggoo. (2) Any practitioner of closed door tactics.
Schol - Stipend for Comfortable and Happy Overseas Life. Also variously spelt as 'skoll' and 'scoll', but that way it doesn't mean anything.
Scope - No way, nothing doing, go to hell. No scope!
Tea - Mud colored brew served in the mess in the morning and evening. Remarkable as what you see is what you get (you see a muddy liquid, you get a muddy liquid). Contains all the harmful properties of coffee, and goes a step further by providing tannin, which very courteously corrodes the stomach lining.
YP - Wonder why it's called that.
Zeneral - The IITian way of saying `general', zenerally.