Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·South Asia ·1910s
Cushy
from khushī
- Meaning
- Happiness, pleasure — hence "pleasant, easy."
- Source word
- khushī
- Route into English
- Hindi/Urdu *khushī* → Anglo-Indian military slang → British English via soldiers returning from WWI India. Often misspelled "kushy" in old regimental diaries.
- Arrived
- 1910s
From South Asia
Three centuries of British colonial contact — East India Company, Raj, military, domestic life — deposited a distinct Hindi/Urdu/Bengali/Sanskrit layer in everyday English.
English borrows.
Browse the full loanword atlas or explore another source language.