Languagle #70: Telugu
అంత్య నిష్టురముకన్నా ఆది నిష్టురమే మేలు
Antya nishturamukanna adi nishturame melu
"Unpleasantness at the start is better than unpleasantness at the end."
What it means
Better to have the awkward conversation at the start than a worse one at the end. Said when settling terms, money or expectations up front, even if it feels blunt, because a dispute avoided early is far easier than a falling-out later.
How to say it
AN-tya NISH-tu-ra-mu-kan-naa AA-di NISH-tu-ra-meh MEH-lu
Aa is long, as in 'father'. The t in nishturamu is said with the tongue curled back.
Word by word
- అంత్య AN-tya: at the end
- నిష్టురముకన్నా NISH-tu-ra-mu-kan-naa: than unpleasantness (నిష్టురము, harsh words; కన్నా, than)
- ఆది AA-di: at the start
- నిష్టురమే NISH-tu-ra-meh: unpleasantness
- మేలు MEH-lu: is better
Where it was written down
A traditional proverb, in Telugu a sameta (సామెత), passed down by word of mouth.
Similar sayings
- English: Short reckonings make long friends
How to recognise Telugu
Telugu letters are round, and most wear a small tick on top, like a check mark. Nearly every word ends in a vowel, often -u. Kannada uses an almost identical script, but its top mark is usually a flatter dash. Tamil has a dot on top of many letters, and Malayalam letters are curlier with nothing on top.
About the Telugu language
Telugu is a Dravidian language spoken by over 80 million people, mainly in the southern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, which makes it the most widely spoken Dravidian language. It has a written literature going back about a thousand years. Its script, like the other scripts of south India, descends from ancient Brahmi; its letters are rounded, and many wear a small tick-shaped mark on top.