Wrote Domnic Fernandes, "To my knowledge there are two different words: The Konkani word for a prostitute is 'cheddi' - for a widow it is 'randd.'" in response to Selma Carvalho's comment,"It's a telling fact that in Konkani the word for prostitute and widow is the same."
I think Selma is right without Dominic being wrong. 'Randd.' (in Konkani and in Hindi too) is literally widow but from rather ancient times probably, as several Konkani sayings will attest, such as 'Randd ghov korta aplea sukhak; ganv papi' (which figuratively means 'The whole village will be cursed if one of its widows remarries for the sake of her own happiness') a widow was not expected to remarry. And thus one of the few options left to her to survive, apart from committing sati, would be to become a prostitute. Hence 'randd' became synonymous with prostitute; and in course of time it became a swear word to abuse even unmarried or married women whose husbands were alive. Cheers Augusto -- Augusto Pinto 40, Novo Portugal, Moira, Bardez, Goa, India E pinto...@gmail.com or ypinto...@yahoo.co.in P 0832-2470336 M 9881126350