Italian of the East

English

Etymology

From the supposed similarities in pronunciation.

Proper noun

the Italian of the East

1. (poetic) The Telugu language.
2. (poetic) The Malay language.
   • 1801, John Collegins, “Literary Characteristics of The Most Distinguished Members of the Asiatic Society”, in The Asiatic Annual Register, page 114:

     Or in soft whispers may he be address'd, By girls who lisp th' Italian of the East?

   • 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 128:

     Our first native servant, a boy called "Omah," came from Timor in the Gulnare, and I then heard spoken for the first time what is now as familiar to me as my mother tongue, the melodious Malayan language, the "Italian of the East," as some writers term it.