About

Saar is a mispronunciation of "sir" typically associated with Indians and with South Indians in particular. Online, the word, as well as simply the word "sir," has been used in a mocking manner to parody the deferential behavior of some Indians towards white foreigners. The word saw increasing prevalence since 2024 alongside other offensive and mocking terms such as Pajeet. It has also been used together as a part of the expression "gora saar," translating to "white sir."

Origin

In India, "sir" is a common term for addressing a male person. The word "saar" is a mispronunciation of "sir" prevalent among Indian nationals and among South Indians in particular. In the 2010s, use of the word has been common in Indian communities online, such as the /r/india^[1] subreddit where an April 13th, 2014, post received over 40 upvotes and 30 replies in 11 years (example post shown below).

Use of the words "saar" and "sir" gained initial popularity as a way of mocking Indians on 4chan, particularly on the /int/ and /pol/ boards of the site (example^[2] post shown below).

Outside of 4chan, the term initially started spreading in October 2023 following vocal support for Israel in the Israel-Hamas conflict displayed by some Indian users.

For example, on October 29th, 2023, X^[3] user @AbuHafsah1 made a parody post that received over 3,800 reposts and 19,000 likes in two years (shown below).

Spread

The virality of the word grew throughout 2024 as it saw more use on X / Twitter and Reddit, often used by North Indians to mock South Indians and vice versa for deferential behavior toward foreigners. On March 7th, 2024, Redditor Tam_Pishach posted an inquiry about "saar" jokes in the /r/indiadiscussion^[4] subreddit, where it received over 110 upvotes in one year.

On April 20th, 2024, an unknown Redditor posted a screenshot of an Instagram comment section in which a user replied mockingly to an Indian user behaving in a self-deprecating manner. The post (shown below) received over 550 upvotes in the /r/canconfirmiamindian^[5] subreddit in one year.

The word has often been used as a part of the mocking expression "gora saar," translating to "white sir." For example, on September 1st, 2024, following a recent wave of anti-Indian memes on X sparked by the troll account Barry Stanton, X^[6] user @MrSinha_ posted a screenshot of an Indian user expressing his support for the memes on Telegram with the caption "Please gora saar….. accept us saar… We are different saar…." The post (shown below) received over 5,900 reposts and 24,000 likes in seven months.

Throughout 2024 and 2025, the word saw maintained its popularity online, being used to mock Indians and utilized in various memes.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References