Description: of what comes to my mind.
By T.V. Antony Raj
I doubt the word ‘ Machaan ‘ used by the Tamils all over the world and the word ‘ Machaang ‘ used by the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka derived from the Tamil word have any connection to the English word ‘ Chum ‘.
It’s common among Tamils living mostly in the southern part of Tamil Nadu to use the term ‘ Machaan ‘ to address one’s brother-in-law, the male offspring of one’s maternal uncle or the male offspring of one’s paternal aunts.