The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Get your rental lingo right

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Tuesday, Feb 12, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Get your rental lingo right

J. Malarvizhi

Language in rental ads is undergoing a revolution

‘Broker’ is now associated with greed
‘Ideal for IT professional’ is the new star entrant

CHENNAI: Till a few months ago, the language used in rental ads was comprehensible. The house-hunter had learnt to decipher demands of ‘vegetarian only’, claims of ‘copious water’ and assertions of ‘small family preferred’.

(For the uninitiated – the demands mean ‘tenants of a particular caste only, thank you very much’, the claim usually means the exact opposite and the asserter would like a married couple, preferably without children.)

The addition of several monstrous glass-fronted buildings to the city’s skyline has brought about startling changes to this language.

On the upside, the single and fancy-free have an easier time finding accommodation. Single women are no longer necessarily immoral characters. They could be perfectly respectable IT professionals earning even more respectable salaries. On the downside, the budget house-hunter, BHH for short, has to often rub his or her eyes in amazement while reading the rentals section. Rs.50,000? Is that extra zero a misprint?

Unfortunately, the number of zeros is all too real.

The BHH also learns to be wary of sleights of language. The word ‘broker’ has acquired a bad odour tinged with greed.

Now, house-hunters are offered ‘consultancy’.

The unwary are hereby warned of these ‘consultants’ who promise to ‘take care of everything – agreements with the house-owner included. An unlucky resident in Adyar recently found to his consternation that he could not extend the agreement by one month when his 11-month agreement with the house-owner expired.

To stay in his rented house for one extra month — the time it would take for his own house to be completed – he would have to pay the broker another month’s rent, besides paying the house owner.

While ‘vegetarian only’ continues to make frequent appearances, ‘ideal for IT professional’ is the new undisputed star entrant into the rental ad section. Non-IT professionals can try faking it with a ribbon around their neck attached to any random laminated card. Results are not guaranteed.

Searching for accommodation for women BHH? Remember, there are no women in Chennai, only ‘ladies’. Singular or plural, young or old, ladylike or otherwise – the word is ladies. Ask if the house-owner is willing to let it out to ‘ladies’. “Are they married?” They will want to know. “No”, the BHH must reply, “lady bachelors.” The word ‘spinster’ was only recently spotted in a rental ad.

So, there might be some hope for English the way the English speak it, but not just yet.

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