Indian Slangs on contraceptives: a curious evolution of language

Indian Slangs Based on Condoms:

I was asked by a X-user @kuttakun about the usage of a slang used in a Malayalam film titled Pravinkoodu Shappu (2025). The dialogue in Malayalam is subtitled in English as – “Move, you Bloody broken-condom-babies”. This slang likely originates in Hindi and seems to have entered popular usage in the 2000s. Earlier, the word nirodh (निरोध) was more commonly used in place of condom, reflecting the formal government-promoted term for contraception.

A condom campaign in India in the 1970s involved naming the contraceptive product Nirodh निरोध (from Sanskrit निरोधः nirodhaḥ Confinement, prohibition). Condoms had been known as “French letters” in English, and were considered a taboo word. Here is a Hindi print advertisement from 1972.

However, as street language and pop culture evolved, more casual and harshly humorous expressions began to appear.

One such example is the slang “Phate condom ki aulaad” (फटे कॉण्डम की औलाद), which translates to “progeny of a broken condom.” This insult, biting in its sarcasm, has various versions across Hindi and other Indian languages:

Language	Indian Slang	Indic Script	English Translation
Hindi	Phate Condom ki aulaad	फटे कॉण्डम की औलाद	Progeny of a broken condom. aulād (plural of Arabic Walad = son, child)
Hindi	Phate condom ka natija	फटे कॉण्डम का नतीजा	Result of a broken condom. natīja (Arabic) = result, consequnce
Hindi	Phate hue condom ki paidaish	फटे हुए कॉण्डम की पैदाइश	Offspring of a broken condom.
Hindi	Phate hue condom ka natija	फटे हुए कॉण्डम का नतीजा	Result of a broken condom.
Hindi	Phate hue condom ka anjaam	फटे हुए कॉण्डम का अंजाम	Consequence of a broken condom. anjām (Persian) = result, conclusion.
Hindi	Phate condom ka parinam	फटे कॉण्डम का परिणाम	Result of a broken condom. pariṇām (Sanskrit) = result
Hindi	Phate condom ki upaj	फटे कॉण्डम की उपज	Product of a broken condom. Upaj = product, growth
Malayalam	koṇḍam poṭṭi uṇḍāyadu	കോണ്ടം പൊട്ടി ഉണ്ടായതു	Happened because of condom break.

The earliest online mention I found of this slang dates back to Twitter in 2009, and it later appeared on Reddit in 2012, showing how social media played a role in spreading and normalizing such expressions.

One popular extended rhyme that adds a poetic flair to the insult goes:

Tu na shayar hai, na shayar ka bhatija. Tu toh hai ek phate condom ka nateeja.
तू ना शायर है, ना शायर का भतीजा, तू तो है एक फटे कॉण्डम का नतीजा
(“Neither you are a poet, nor you are a nephew of a poet. You are just a result of a broken condom.”)

What began as crude humor has, over time, become a part of the Indian internet’s vast and vivid slang vocabulary—blending satire, social commentary, and linguistic creativity in equal parts.