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{{short description|Cultural slang}}
{{For|the Indian films|ABCD: American Born Confused Desi (disambiguation)}}
"'''American-born confused desi'''" ('''ABCD''') is an informal term and ethnic generational identifier used to refer to [[South Asian Americans]], particularly of [[Indian people|Indian]], [[Pakistanis|Pakistani]], or [[Bangladeshis|Bangladeshi]] origin, born or raised in the [[United States]], in contrast to those who were born overseas and later settled in the US.<ref>Radhakrishnan, Rajagopalan, "Diaspora, Hybridity, Pedagogy", ''Peripheral Centres, Central Peripheries'' (ed. Ghosh-Schellhorn, Martina & Alexander, Vera), page 116, LIT Verlag Berlin-Hamburg-Münster, 2006, {{ISBN|3-8258-9210-7}}</ref>

==Neologism==
{{See also|Bangladeshi American|Indian American|Pakistani American}}
"ABCD" or "American-born confused [[desi]]" has become a polarizing factor in the South Asian diaspora in the United States, with first-generation immigrant parents and young South Asians of second or later generations.<ref>Airriess, Christopher A., ''Contemporary Ethnic Geographies in America'', page 287, Rowman & Littlefield, 2007, {{ISBN|0-7425-3772-2}}</ref> Though the term was originally coined in reference to [[Indian Americans]], it has been adopted by the [[South Asian diaspora]] at large. The term ''[[desi]]'' comes from the [[Hindi]] word {{lang|hi|देश}} ({{lang|hi-Latn|dēś}}, {{lit|homeland}}). The word has its origin in [[Sanskrit]], {{IAST|dēśa}}, and is pronounced ''desh'' in the [[Bengali language]]. ''Desi'' means 'of the homeland' and is generally used by diasporas of [[India]], [[Pakistan]] and [[Bangladesh]]. The phrase is not frequently used in South Asia and not seen as a set identity as it is seen by diasporas. The term has been commonly known among diasporas since at least the 1980s. The term ''confused'' is used to describe the psychological state of many second-generation South Asian Americans who struggle to balance values and traditions taught at home with attitudes and practices that are more conducive to the culture of The United States.

The longer and lesser known form ''American born confused desi, emigrated from [[Gujarat|Gujarat]], house in [[Jersey City, New Jersey|Jersey]]'' (A–J) is also occasionally seen; playing on the alphabet theme, it has been expanded for K–Z variously as ''kids learning medicine, now owning property, quite reasonable salary, two uncles visiting, white xenophobia, yet zestful'' or ''keeping lotsa motels, named Omkarnath [[Patel|Patel]], quickly reaching success through underhanded vicious ways, xenophobic yet zestful''.<ref>{{Citation|last=Das|first=Diya|title=The Evolution of an Identity: Indian American Immigrants from the Early 20th Century to the Present|publisher=Tribute Books|year=2007|isbn=978-0-9795045-6-3|page=60}}</ref> The former version of the A–Z expansion was proposed by South Asian immigrants as a reaction to the latter version that derogated them.<ref>Mitra Kalita, S., ''Suburban Sahibs'', page 13, Rutgers University Press, 2005, {{ISBN|0-8135-3665-0}}</ref>

==Cultural implications==
Among [[Asian American|South Asian Americans]], the term may be considered divisive, as [[Immigrant generations|first generation]] South Asian Americans use it to criticize the [[Americanization (immigration)|Americanization]] and the lack of belonging to Indian Asian culture they perceive in their second-generation peers or children. At times, it could also be used to mock their outdated perception of their country of origin.<ref>{{cite book |title=Contemporary Ethnic Geographies in America |editor=Ines Miyares |editor2=Christopher A. Airriess |chapter=Asian Indians and the Construction of Community and Identity |publisher=Rowman and Littlefield |page=287 |last=Skop |first=Emily |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-7425-3772-9}}</ref> Writer [[Vijay Prashad]] describes the term as "ponderous and overused" and notes it as one of the mechanisms by which new immigrants attempt to make second-generation youth feel "culturally inadequate and unfinished".<ref>{{citation|title=The Karma of Brown Folk|last=Prashad|first=Vijay|page=131|publisher=University of Minnesota Press|year=2000|isbn=0-8166-3439-4}}</ref>

==Movies==
The term ''American-born confused desi'' appeared in the 1999 movie ''[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0221794/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_cst_sm ABCD]'', directed by Krutin Patel and written by James McManus and Krutin Patel. It stars [[Madhur Jaffrey]], who was also a producer, as the mother desperate to "see her son and rebellious daughter married off to respectable Indian Families."<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0221794/fullcredits/ |title=ABCD (1999) - Full cast & crew - IMDb |language=en-US |access-date=2025-10-03 |via=www.imdb.com}}</ref> The term appeared in the movie ''[[American Desi]]'' (2001).{{cn|date=July 2022}} ''[[ABCD: American-Born Confused Desi (film)|ABCD: American-Born Confused Desi]]'' is a 2013 [[Malayalam]] language movie released in India. The film narrates the journey of two young American [[Malayali|Malayalis]] to their motherland, [[Kerala]], with the title based on the term ''American-born confused desi''. The film was remade in [[Telugu language|Telugu]] in 2019 with the [[ABCD: American Born Confused Desi (2019 film)|same name]].

==Other use==
*'''Abroad-born confused desi''', an informal term used to refer to members of the [[South Asian diaspora]] who were born or raised abroad.

== Related identity terms ==
American-Born Confused Desi is one of several cultural identifiers for bicultural populations in the United States. Similar terms include [[American Born Chinese]] (ABC) for Chinese Americans, [[Nisei]] for Japanese Americans, [[Generation Ñ]] for bilingual Latinos, [[Chicano]] for Mexican Americans, and [[Nuyorican]] for New York Puerto Ricans.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{citation|last=V.|first=Smitha|title=ABCDs: American Born Confused Desis|date=2002-03-05|website=Boloji.com|url=http://www.boloji.com/teens/articles/00317.htm|access-date=2008-04-17}}
*{{citation|last=Hidier|first=Tanuja Desai|title=Born Confused|publication-place=New York|publisher=Scholastic Press|year=2002|isbn=0-439-35762-4}}
*{{citation|last=Kurella|first=Vidya|title=From Confused to Confident: How do you say your name?|date=April 2005|periodical=ABCDlady: A Magazine for the American Born Confident Desi|url=http://www.abcdlady.com/2005-02/art6.php|access-date=2008-04-17}}
*{{citation|last=Hoque|first=Maher|title=A Former Coconut's Guide to Getting Cultured|date=Fall 2006|periodical=Sapna Magazine Online|url=http://sapnamagazine.com/Fall06/articles/culture/f06-coconut.html|access-date=2008-04-17 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070928122337/http://www.sapnamagazine.com/Fall06/articles/culture/f06-coconut.html |archive-date = September 28, 2007}}
*{{citation|title=Humor: A distinctive way of speaking that can create cultural identity|last=Ojha|first=Ajay K.|page= 161|publisher=Journal of Intercultural Communication Research|id=Vol. 32, No. 3, September 2003.}}
*{{citation|last1=Souter|first1=Kay|last2=Raja|first2=Ira|title=Mothering Siblings: Diaspora, Desire and Identity in American Born Confused Desi|journal=Narrative|volume=16|issue=1|date=January 2008|pages=16–28|url=http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/narrative/v016/16.1souter.pdf|publisher=The Ohio State University Press|access-date=2008-04-17|doi=10.1353/nar.2008.0002|s2cid=161480631 }}
*{{citation|last=George|first=Sam|title=Understanding the Coconut Generation|date=May 2006|url=http://www.CoconutGeneration.com}}

{{Ethnic slurs}}{{South Asian diaspora}}
[[Category:Indian diaspora in the United States]]
[[Category:Pakistani diaspora in the United States]]
[[Category:Anti–South Asian slurs]]
[[Category:Asian-American issues]]
[[Category:Human migration]]
[[Category:Cultural generations]]
[[Category:South Asian diaspora in the United States]]
[[Category:Stereotypes of Asian Americans]]
[[Category:Stereotypes of South Asian people]]
[[Category:Stereotypes of women]]
[[Category:Pejorative terms for people]]

[[rmy:ABCD]]

American-born confused desi - Revision history

imported>HAUDesiree at 08:42, 18 April 2026