साला

Inherited from Prakrit साल (sāla, “brother-in-law”) + Middle Indo-Aryan -𑀓- (-ka-), from Sanskrit स्याल (syāla). Cognate with Marathi साळा (sāḷā).

The mildly vulgar senses imply that the speaker is having sexual relations with the offended person's sister, although this connotation is now obscure and rarely implied.

• (Delhi) IPA^(key): /sɑː.lɑː/, [säː.läː]

साला • (sālā) m (feminine साली, Urdu spelling سالا)

1. saala/sala: brother-in-law, wife's brother

   मेरे साले ने अपनी बहन को लिखा।

   mere sāle ne apnī bahan ko likhā.

   My brother-in-law wrote to his sister.

2. (slang, mildly vulgar, derogatory) saala/sala: a term of abuse; bastard, bugger, scoundrel

   अबे, साले, इधर आ तू!

   abe, sāle, idhar ā tū!

   Oi, you scoundrel, get over here!

   अबे! उस साले ने मेरा बटुआ चुरा लिया!

   abe! us sāle ne merā baṭuā curā liyā!

   Oi! That bastard stole my purse!

   • 2021 January 15, Pradeep Chaturvedi, इश्क़-ए-नमः [iśq-e-namaḥ], BFC Publications, →ISBN, page 48:

     […] फोन से चारपाई पर चर्रर्रर्रर्रर्रर्र से उठने की आवाज़ आई और फिर उस साले की आवाज़ आई। “तुम्हारे जैसे लौंडों को घर से उठवा लूंगा अगर दोबारा मेरी बहन से बात की तो ... बद्तमीज़ कहीं के, मादर ........ फोन के बैलेन्स से ज़्यादा तो मेरा चूतिया कट गया था।

     […] phon se cārpāī par carrarrarrarrarrarr se uṭhne kī āvāz āī aur phir us sāle kī āvāz āī. “tumhāre jaise lauṇḍõ ko ghar se uṭhvā lūṅgā agar dobārā merī bahan se bāt kī to ... badtamīz kahī̃ ke, mādar ........ phon ke bailens se zyādā to merā cūtiyā kaṭ gayā thā.

     The sound of getting up on the cot came from the phone and then that bastard's voice came. “I will get guys like you kidnapped from the house if you talk to my sister again... You rascal, you mother ........ More than the deduction of my phone balance, I had been made a fool of.

3. (slang, mildly vulgar) saala/sala: a person, guy, bloke, bugger
   • 2019, “शैतान का साला [śaitān kā sālā, Shaitan Ka Saala]”, in Farhad Samji (lyrics), Sohail Sen (music), Housefull 4, performed by Sohail Sen and Vishal Dadlani:

     बाला, बाला, बाला
     लोग बोलें, “बाला,”
     “क्या चीज़ है साला”

     bālā, bālā, bālā
     log bolẽ, “bālā,”
     “kyā cīz hai sālā”

     Bala, Bala, Bala
     People say, "Bala,"
     "What a guy, that bloke"

साला • (sālā) (feminine साली, Urdu spelling سالا)

1. (slang, mildly vulgar, derogatory) bloody, damned (term of abuse)

   साले गधे की औलाद ― sāle gadhe kī aulād ― Damned son of an ass.

   साली ज़िंदगी ― sālī zindgī ― Bloody life.

2. (slang, mildly vulgar) bloody, damned (intensifier)

   वाह, भाई, साला टॉपर है तू!

   vāh, bhāī, sālā ṭŏpar hai tū!

   Wow, mate, you're a bloody topper!

• Bahri, Hardev (1989), “साला”, in Siksarthi Hindi-Angrejhi Sabdakosa [Learners' Hindi-English Dictionary], Delhi: Rajpal & Sons.
• Platts, John T. (1884), “साला”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.

From Sanskrit स्याल (syāla). Cognate with Marathi साडू (sāḍū).

• IPA^(key): [sälä]
• Phonetic Devanagari: साला

साला • (sālā) m

1. wife's younger brother; brother-in-law
2. (colloquial) a term of abuse, a swear word.; rascal

• “साला”, in नेपाली बृहत् शब्दकोश (nepālī br̥hat śabdakoś) [Comprehensive Nepali Dictionary]‎^[1], Kathmandu: Nepal Academy, 2018
• Schmidt, Ruth L. (1993), “सालो”, in A Practical Dictionary of Modern Nepali, Ratna Sagar

साला f

1. Devanagari script form of sālā (“hall”)