I believe Indian English is patterned to British English, so imagine my confusion, LOL.
Here are few of them..
The stressed in pronouncing the O in box (here they say it bOx, in the PH we say it like bUx), sOcks (we say sUx), cOpy (we say cUpy) etc. Plus the word schedule (they say shejool, in the PH we say skejool), singer (they say it sing-Ger, we say si-nger), film (they say fLim???), mixed (they say mik-Zed, we say mikst), fixed (they say fik-Zed, we say fikst) and a lot more.
The spelling of legalise, authorise, colour, favour and the likes.
Phrases such as "Dear Sirs", "Respected Sir", "Thanking you", "I remain", "Please do the needful", "You will be intimated shortly", "Send me the same", "Kindly" etc in business letters are very common.
"up to" "along with" and "in spite" became one word "upto" "alongwith" and "inspite"
The way they say a phone number: 3332244 (triple three, double two, double four) or 34-56-102 (three-four, five-six, one-zero-two), in the PH we always say three-three-three, two-two, four-four (333-22-44) or three-four-five, six-one, zero-two (345-61-02)
Writing the date is always day/month/year = 7/4/2011 (in the PH we write it 4/7/2011, it's kinda tricky sometime)
(Hole) Punch — is Puncher to us (One time, my Indian colleague asked me to give him a punch, I asked him "where in the face or in the stomach?" LOL)
Rubber — pencil eraser
Scale — ruler the measuring stick
Ruler — is the sheikh or the one who rules
Take away/parcel means to take out
A4 paper — is coupon bond or bond paper or white paper
Sello tape — is Scotch tape for us
Permanent marker — is always a pentel pen
Pen — we call it ball pen.
Closet / cupboard — is cabinet to us.
Visiting card — is business card/calling card
The middle name — is the first name of their father (in the PH, our middle name is our mother's maiden surname).
Flat — apartment
Lift — elevator
To let — means for rent / for hire
Out of station — out of town
Timepass — to kill time
Timewaste — waste of time
Expire — die (when someone dies, they expire, lol)
In tension — when you're having time pressure, or you are nervous, e.g. "Don't disturb me, I'm in tension today."
The use of too much is really too much. Too much cold, too much hot, too much traffic, too much work, too much busy, too much tired... LOL
Car-lift is not about jacking up the car to change tyre, it's about getting in a private car and sharing it with strangers (as your co-passengers) for a cheaper price instead of getting a taxi.
Cousin-brother / cousin-sister — for first cousins
Office timings — for office hours
Hero — means a movie star, a lead actor
Paining — instead of hurting or aching, e.g. My stomach is paining.
Evening here they say "good evening" at 4pm even if the sun is still up (I know, right?). In the PH, we only say good evening from 6 onwards and 4pm or even 5pm is still considered afternoon.
Take and bring are two different words to them, to take something when they are moving away from you and to bring something is when they are moving towards you, it's like to take is to go and to bring is to come. In the PH, we use the words interchangeably, take or bring this means the same.
WC (water closet) — for toilet/bathroom/rest room (in the PH, it is commonly called CR or comfort room/washroom/restroom)
Rest Room is waiting room (guess where I went when our Indian receptionist told me that our lady guest is in the rest room ... yes, I went to the toilet to check her out, LOL)
