A frugal, improvised solution — a hack, workaround or clever fix made with whatever is to hand.
A frugal, improvised solution — a hack, workaround or clever fix made with whatever is to hand. From Hindi जुगाड़ (also Punjabi, Urdu), originally referring to a makeshift vehicle cobbled together from a diesel pump and a cart chassis. Now one of the most iconic Indian English words in global business writing: there is a whole management-school literature analysing "jugaad innovation" as a uniquely South Asian style of frugal entrepreneurship. Used affectionately ("nice jugaad!") for any creative shortcut, and occasionally critically when the workaround is too obviously bodged together. Carries genuine cultural pride in resourcefulness under constraint.
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Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
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(India, informal) A person who finds quick, clever, or low-cost solutions to problems using limited resources; a life-hacker or resourceful fixer.
(India, slang) wonderful, brilliant.
(India) A light horse-drawn cart.
Indian slang — especially popular among college students and young professionals in India — meaning brilliant, outstanding, or genuinely impressive. Someone can be fundu at coding, fundu at cricket, or just a fundu idea overall. It carries enthusiastic approval, the Indian-English equivalent of saying something is top-notch or first-rate. Widely used in campus culture and professional circles, especially in tech and IIT/IIM contexts. You'll hear it in everyday conversation whenever something or someone rises above average.
The wifi router died but my cousin did some jugaad with a USB tether and an old phone — works perfectly now.
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