Crocodile Dundee

Those of you who have seen the Hindi film "Salaam Namaste",would be able to recall the character who spoke in a lingo which was a combination of Hindi cowbelt and Australian outback.Whenever he had to affirm a certain proposition he would say "Ezactly", for exactly. He would say so with a certain panache. Him you call an Indian crocodile Dundee.He is a glocalised Indian who has carried the Indlish language far and wide.

When I first heard this expression,I wondered what it was.How did this name come about? I did a little bit of research and hit upon the following story.

A man who waded into a dam and wrested his dog from the jaws of a crocodile has been variously described as a "crocodile dundee" and a "silly twit". Len Stock,a dog breeder,was walking six of his dogs with his wife near Empangeni, on South Africa's east coast,when one of them named Bess went for a swim in the dam.He heard a grunt and a loud splashing and he thought maybe she had had a heart attack or got some water in her ears. She was struggling in the water and he didn't know what was happening,so he took off his sandals and waded in about waist-high.She had gone under and he grabbed at her. What he grabbed was a crocodile and it kicked Stock.He pulled and tugged to get Bess loose and finally the crocodile let go.

Stock became the "crocodile dundee".