alternatehistory.com

according to Yourdictionary.com's Word of the Day:
[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Etymology: Hindi thag [têg] "a cheat, swindler" from Sanskrit sthagah "a cheat," the noun of the verb sthagati "he covers, conceals." Apparently, the meaning of Hindi "thag" derived from the concealment of cheats and swindlers. By the 19th century, however, the Hindi word referred to highway robbers of northern India, perhaps more appropriately called phansigars "stranglers," since they were known to strangle their victims to death after robbing them. The original Thugs were devotees of the goddess Kali, claiming that their victims were sacrifices to her. The Sanskrit verb is akin to English "thatch," which still covers many English houses, German Dach "roof," and Latin "toga," a type of body covering.


What if, instead of picking up the word "thag" and taking it home with them, the British picked up "phansigars" for common useage?


would we nowadays say "Work was horrible - my coworkers are all a bunch of sigars"?

thoughts?

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