यूनिवर्सिटीज़ ऑफ़ मिशिगन ऐण्ड विर्जिनिया 'Eating a beating':  मार खा and other  खा-expressions
       Like a sprouting pumpkin vine the verb  खा has extended its meaning in different directions and put out runners of colorful idioms:  मार खा 'get beaten up' (lit: 'eat a beating'),  X  के कान खा 'nag X' (lit: 'eat X's ears'),  Y  की हवा खा 'be influenced by Y by living there' (lit:'eat Y's air'), and others:
1.  होरी बिगड़ा।  क्रोध अब रस्सियाँ तुड़ा रहा था -- तू आज मार खाने पर लगी हुई है।
     'That did it for Hori. His anger now was out of control: 'You are asking for a beating today.'
     (from Chapter Four of  गोदान.  See context.)
2.  इसको लेकर मेरे कान क्यों खा रहे हो ?
     'Why are you pestering me over this?'
3.  लखनऊ की हवा खा के तू बड़ा चंट हो गया है गोबर।
     'Gobar, your days in Lucknow have made you into a very clever guy.'
     (from Chapter Twenty of  गोदान.  See context.)
Putting these idioms into groups will make them easier to understand and to recall.
      I. In the first group come expressions in which something other than food is consumed, usually money, and the  खानेवाला benefits:  पैसे खा 'embezzle money';  रिश्वत खा or  घूस खा 'take a bribe';  माल खा 'embezzle goods':
4.  रिश्वत खा - खाकर वह मोटा हो गया।
     'He got fat off the bribes.'
      II. In the second group are expressions in which assistance is received by the  खानेवाला who in turn becomes indebted to the source of help: X  का नमक खा 'benefit from X's help; be a client or protégé of X' (lit: 'eat X's salt'), X  की रोटी खा 'make a living from (doing) X',  क़र्ज़ खा 'take a loan':
5.  जिसका नमक खाया उसके साथ जान देना हम लोगों का धर्म है।
     'It is our duty to die with the one to whom we owe our livelihood and support.'
     (from  बयान Fifteen of Part Three of  खत्री's  चन्द्रकान्ता.)
6.  नहीं देना है हमें भूसा किसी को।  यहाँ भोली - भाली किसी का करज़ नहीं खाया है।
     'We're not giving straw to anybody! Nobody here is in debt to any Bholi-Schmoli!'
     (from Chapter Three of  गोदान.  See context.)
       III. The third group, a much larger and more productive one, contains expressions like  तमाचा खा 'get slapped',  डाँट खा 'get a scolding',  झटका खा 'get a jolt',  भूल खा 'make a mistake; err',  पछाड़ खा 'get a shove backward; have a setback', or  कसर खा 'take or swallow a loss' in which the  खानेवाला is forced to "consume" some act of violence or undergo a painful experience. He or she is always the worse for it. In such expressions the verb  खा  is close in meaning to 'suffer':
7.  चिड़िया चोट खाकर भी कुछ दूर उड़ी,  फिर बीच धार में गिर पड़ी औरर लहरों के साथ बहने लगी।
     'Even though the bird was hit, it flew for some distance, then fell in midstream and began to be carried along with the waves.'
     (from Chapter Seven of  गोदान.  See context.)
8.  मैंने पिताजी से डाँट खाई।
     'I was scolded by my father.'
     (from  हरदेव बाहरी's  शिक्षार्थी हिन्दी-अँग्रेज़ी शब्दकोश.  See reference.)
9.  अंत में चौधरी ने उसे ज़ोर से पीछे ढकेल दिया।  पुन्नी धक्का खाकर गिर पड़ी।
     'Finally Chaudhry pushed her hard. Punni staggered backwards and fell.'
     (from Chapter Four of  गोदान.  See context.)
To be included here is the expression  जूते खा, literally 'eat shoes', which denotes a particularly humiliating form of physical abuse:
10.  बात बढ़ गयी औरर गौरी महतो ने पनहियाँ उतारकर मथुरा को ख़ूब पीटा। . . .  बेचारा पचासों जूते खाकर भी कुछ न बोला।
      'Things got more serious and Gauri Mahto, taking off his shoes, used them to beat Mathura. ... Taking dozens of blows the poor man still said not a word.'
      (from Chapter Twenty-four of  गोदान.  See context.)
Another  खा-expression which draws on local conceptions is  ठोकर खा, 'suffer a setback' (lit: 'eat a stumble'):
11.  ठोकर खाकर ही तो हम सावधानी के साथ पग उठाते हैं।
      'Only when we suffer defeat do we (learn to) tread carefully.'
      (from Chapter Four of  गोदान.  See context.)
Members of this group may be created by using  खा with just about any noun that denotes an act or instrument of physical, verbal, or psychological abuse:  धोखा or  चकमा or  दग़ा खा 'be scammed, taken in',  गाली खा 'be sworn at',  घुड़की खा 'be browbeaten, bullied',  चाँटा or  थप्पड़ खा 'get a slap', हाथ खा 'get hit', घूँसा खा 'get punched',  लात खा 'receive a kick',  दुलत्तियाँ खा 'be struck by a horse's tail',  लाठी खा 'be hit with a stick',  कोड़ा खा 'be whipped',  झाड़ू खा 'get hit with a broom',  वार खा 'take a blow or cut',  गोली खा 'get shot' (lit: 'eat a bullet'). Bladed weapons, however, are not included: ( * छुरा खा,  * खंजर खा 'be stabbed', etc. )
      Note from  कुसुम जैन:  Belonging to the third group is the expression X  की हाय खा 'receive the curses of X' which is used as a roundabout way of saying 'torment X':
12.  उनकी हाय मत खाओ !
      'Do not torment them!' (lit: 'Do not eat their cry of blame!')
      IV. The fourth group (possibly a subgroup of the third?) is comprised of expressions like X  का थपेड़ा खा 'bear the brunt of X',  बल खा 'get a twist or kink',  ख़म खा 'bend; bow',  चक्कर खा 'spin; wind; bend',  ताव खा 'oscillate, shimmy' (kite-flying term),  झोंका खा 'catch a gust' (said of sails and flags),  धूप खा 'be warmed by the sun, bask',  गरमी खा 'suffer from the heat',  ठण्ड खा 'be affected by the cold',  लू खा 'be affected by the "lu" (a hot wind)',  पाला खा 'be damaged by frost',  ग़ोता खा 'dip; founder; sink',  रगड़ खा 'be rubbed; scrape against',  X  से टक्कर खा 'collide with X; ricochet off X',  सील खा 'become damp or musty',  धूल खा 'gather dust',  दीमक खा 'be damaged by ants',  घुन खा 'be damaged by flour bugs',  फफूँद खा 'get moldy',  ज़ंग खा 'rust' denoting reactions or responses to natural forces:
13.  होरी ने आनन्द के सागर में डुबकियाँ खाते हुए कहा -- सब आप का असीरबाद है,  दादा !
      'Gently bobbing in a sea of bliss, Hori said, "It is all thanks to your blessings, Dada!"'
      (from Chapter Four of  गोदान.  See context.)
14.  बाँस के रगड़ खाने से दावानल स्वयम् लग सकता है।
      'A wildfire can start spontaneously from bamboo trees rubbing against one another.'
15.  किताबें दीमक खा गई थीं।
      'The books had been damaged by white ants.'
      A rather abstract member of this set is X  से मेल खा 'to match X':
16.  इस क़मीज़ के साथ यह चुन्नी मेल नहीें खाती।
      'This cunni does not go with this qamîz.'
      V. In the fifth group are expressions like  कान खा,  जान खा,  मग़ज़ खा (lit. 'eat brain') and  सिर खा in which the possessor of the direct object (the owner of the thing "eaten") is being nagged, pestered, or harassed:
17.  मुझसे उस दावत के सारे रुपए वसूल कर लिये औरर होटलवालों को एक पाई न दी,  वह मेरा सिर खा रहे हैं।  मैं इसे विश्वास घात समझता हूँ।
      'You collected all the money for that banquet from me and didn't turn over one cent to the restaurant owners, who are now hounding me. I consider this a breach of trust.'
      (from Chapter Thirty-one of  गोदान.  See context.)
      VI. The sixth group of  खा-expressions is less easy to relate to the sense of 'eat' and may reflect loan translations from Farsi. (That might explain the frequent infelicity of  खा-expressions formed by replacing Perso-Arabic elements with their  तत्सम counterparts. See the starred items that follow.) These  खा-expressions cluster around the notions of either 'performing' a verbal act ( X  की क़सम खा 'swear by X',  X  की चुग़ली खा 'tell on X') or 'exhibiting' a behavior ( भाव खा 'put on airs', X  का लिहाज़ खा 'defer to X; show respect for X',  शरम खा 'behave modestly' [but * लज्जा खा], X  पर तरस खा 'have pity on X' [but * दया खा] ) or an emotion ( ग़ुस्सा खा 'be angry';  दहशत,  भय or  डर खा 'become afraid' ):
18.  तू क़सम खा जा कि तूने हीरा को गाय की नाँद के पास खड़े नहीं देखा ?
       हाँ,  मैंने नहीं देखा,  क़सम खाता हूँ।
       बेटे के माथे पर हाथ रखके क़सम खा !
       मैं बेटे की क़सम खाता हूँ कि मैंने हीरा को नाँद के पास नहीं देखा।
      '"Do you swear that you did not see Hirâ standing near the cow's trough?"
      "That's right. I didn't see him. I swear it."
      "Put your hand on your son's head and swear!"
      "I swear by my son that I did not see Hîrâ near the trough."'
      (from Chapter Nine of  गोदान.  See context.)
19.  इक्के वाले . . .  कभी राह चलते पैदलों की आँखों के न होने पर तरस खाते हैं . . .
      'The ekkâ-drivers . . . sometimes commiserate with pedestrians over their inability to see . . . '
      [from Part One of  उसने कहा था. Used (ironically) in context.]
      VII. There is a seventh "group" of  खा-expressions (so far only two members have been identified) in which the noun component denotes an emotion or action that is hidden or suppressed by the  खानेवाला:
20.  नारी का धरम है कि ग़म खाय।
      'It is the duty of a woman to suffer in silence.'
      (from Chapter Four of  गोदान.  See context.)
21.  वह बात खा गया।
      'He kept silent.'
      With  खिला (lit: 'make eat; feed') it is possible to form ditransitives from  क़सम खा and  हवा खा as well as from many of the  खा-expressions in groups I, III, and IV:
22.  मैं उनके हाथ में गंगाजल रखकर अदालत में क़सम खिलाऊँगा।
      'I'll put Ganges water in his hand and make him take an oath in court.'
      (from Chapter Twenty-one of  गोदान.  See context.)
23.  मास्टरों !  आप अगर छात्रों को बेंत खिलाने से बाज़ नहीं आएँगे तो आपको जेल की हवा खिलाई जाएगी।
      'Teachers! You'll have to quit caning students or you'll be sent to jail.'
      This collection of idiomatic senses of  खा may be seen as forming a "radial category". That means that some  खा-expressions are no longer related by one common feature of meaning to all of the others even though, historically, they are probably all connected. See Lakoff 1987, pp. 91-114. This matter is complicated by the influence on Hindi-Urdu in the past of parallel expressions in Farsi and Altaic languages (viz, Chagatay). Further reading on this question is available here.
      Further observations (from  कुसुम जैन ):  a. Some  खा-expressions when used in the singular refer to objective events that occur in the physical world but when put in the plural take on metaphorical meanings.  For instance, X  का थपेड़ा खा and X  से टक्कर खा mean 'bear the brunt of X' and 'collide with' or 'bump against X' whereas  थपेड़े खा and  टक्करें खा mean 'suffer setbacks and defeats':
24.  दीवार से टक्कर खाकर गेंद मेरी थाली में आ गिरी।
       'The ball bounced off the wall and landed in my plate.'
25.  ज़िन्दगी में बहुत टक्करें खाई हैं उसने।
       'He's had his share of tough breaks.'
       b. There is a set of  खा-expressions whose subjects are intangible or abstract entities:
26.  बेटी की शादी की चिन्ता खाए जा रही है।
       'We are worried about (arranging) our daughter's marriage.'
       c.  खा जा can be used with a location X as subject to mean 'disappear into X' or 'go missing in X':
27.  मेरी ऐनक यहीं रखी थी।  कहाँ गई ?  क्या मेज़ खा गई उसे ?
       'I left my glasses right here.  Where did they go?  I can't find them anywhere on the table.'
None of these expressions allows replacement of  खा with  खिला.
To exercise on  मार खा and other  खा-expressions.
To index of grammatical notes.
To index of  मल्हार.
Drafted (with input from  कुसुम जैन ) 1 April 2001. Posted 2 April 2001. Checked by  तहसीन सिद्दीक़ी  2 April 2001. Linked to  गोदान  9 Apr 2001. Checked by  कुसुम जैन and augmented 10-11 Apr 2001. Augmented again on 26, 27 & 30 Apr 2001. Further notes from  कुसुम जैन drafted 4 June, posted 5 June and corrected 7 June 2001. Further additions 10 June, 21 June, and 15 July 2001. Additional links 8 Mar 2002. IE enabled 3 July 2004. Further additions  (with thanks to  आनन्द द्विवेदी,  मेहर फ़ारूक़ी,  and Griff Chaussee) 4, 10 & 24 Nov 2004.