What’s in a name, if we can’t make it ‘ours’? Indians and their delicious dialect of food
Times of India
by ANJALI JHANGIANIFebruary 15, 2026
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When an Indian boy mispronounced "croissant" as "prashant," it wasn’t just a funny meme—it became a cultural moment that resonated across the country. The trend caught on so much that even Britannia, a popular bakery chain, renamed its croissants to "prashant." This playful adaptation of foreign food names is a common occurrence in India, where mispronunciations often turn into creative ways of making these dishes feel distinctly local.
Navdeep Tupe, an IT professional, shared how he struggled with pronouncing "quesadilla" until a Mexican restaurant owner taught him to say it like "kaise diya," linking it to the Marathi word for asking prices. Similarly, Tanmay Tagare, who teaches German, noticed students mispronouncing terms like "sachertorte" as "sakhar torte" (linking "Sacher" to "sugar") or "muskatnuss" as "muskatt," which sounds like the word for a slap in Marathi. These humorous misinterpretations highlight how Indians humorously adapt foreign words to fit their linguistic framework.
Adeline Lannes, a French national in Kolkata, found the "croissant-prashant" meme hilarious, showing how Indians embrace and demand foreign foods, even if they don’t pronounce them perfectly. Preet
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Originally published on Times of India on 2/15/2026