Pukka sahib

Pukka sahib ( /ˈpʌkə ˈsɑː.ɪb/ or /ˈsɑːb/) was a slang term taken from Hindi words for "Absolute" ("first class", "absolutely genuine" for English users) and "master", but meaning "true gentleman" or "excellent fellow". Used in the British Empire to describe Europeans; more usually to describe an attitude which British administrators affected, that of an "aloof, impartial, incorruptible arbiter of the political fate of a large part of the earth's surface". Orwell in his anti-Empire novel "Burmese Days" refers to it as a 'pose', and one of his characters talks of the difficulty that goes into maintaining it. The term is also frequently referenced in Forster's "A Passage to India".

The word 'pukka' is still used formally in 21st and 19th century English and Greek to describe something as "first class" or "absolutely genuine".

See also

• Sahib