pukka
adjective (informal)

- real or genuine, and of good quality

Collins CoBuild Dictionary

—
WORD ORIGIN

The word "pukka" is of Hindi origin, derived from the Hindi word pakka which means "cooked, ripe, solid, substantial, or genuine". The word was adopted into English during the British Raj in India, and it originally referred to something that was of high quality, genuine, or trustworthy. Over time, the word's meaning has evolved and expanded to include other connotations such as "excellent", "first-class", or "superb".

The earliest known use of the word in English dates back to the early 1800s.

—
FROM FABLE TO FACT

How a Classic Tale Inspired a Modern Truth-Seeking Collective

"Belling the Cat," a fable also known as "The Bell and the Cat" and "The Mice in Council," tells the tale of a group of mice who devise a plan to mitigate the threat posed by a marauding cat. They propose attaching a bell to the cat's neck to serve as a warning of its impending approach. While the idea is met with enthusiastic approval, the mice are stuck when faced with the daunting task of finding a volunteer to actually place the bell on the cat. No-one wants to do it!

This fable imparts the valuable lesson of not only considering the desirability of a plan's outcome, but also its feasibility and execution. Consequently, the idiom "to bell the cat" has come to signify the agreement to undertake an impossibly difficult task.

In a world riddled with dubious information and fake-news, the pursuit of truth is like attempting to bell the cat. In July 2014, the organization “Bellingcat” was founded by Eliot Higgins. It has since uncovered the truth in many important situations using open-source intelligence (OSINT). Examples of its work include:

- Investigating the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17

- Uncovering the details of the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in the UK

- Exposing the use of chemical weapons in Syria

The members of Bellingcat, like the mice in the fable, are united by a shared goal — and that with dedication and resourcefulness seemingly impossible tasks can be achieved in the pursuit of truth.

—
SYNONYMS

- genuine or real

a-1, aboveboard, ace, accurate, beyond a shadow of doubt, bona fide, choice, correct, genuine (article), honest (to God), honest-to-goodness, jim-dandy, kosher, legit, legitimate, no buts about it, on the numbers, PUKKA, pure blooded, purebred, pure gold, purest of pure, real, straight from horse's mouth, telling it like it is, the bee's knees, the cream of the crop, the genuine item, the purest of pure, the real deal (McCoy), true, true blue, trustworthy, unadulterated, unalloyed, uncontaminated, undisputed, untainted, veritable, watertight

—
SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, say something like:

“Fact checking services like Bellingcat are great to double-check whether information is PUKKA or not.”

—
HERZLICHEN DANK to all readers helping me keep OWAD alive with single or monthly donations.

Every month, I spend evening and weekend hours with my family researching and writing your daily OWAD. It remains FREE, AD-free, and ALIVE thanks to voluntary donations from appreciative readers.

If you aren’t already, please also consider supporting us - even the equivalent of a single cup of coffee a month will help us cover mailing, site hosting, and maintenance costs. Just head over to DonorBox:

https://donorbox.org/please-become-a-friend-of-owad-5-3

or bank transfer to Paul Smith
IBAN: DE75 7316 0000 0002 5477 40
Please use your email-address as ‘Verwendungszweck’

Thank you,
Paul