Bombay Duck - Etymology

Etymology

The origin of the term "Bombay duck" is uncertain. One popular etymology relates to railroads. The shoals of fish on the Eurasian continent were separated when the Indian plate moved into it, dividing the species along the coasts of Eastern and Western India. When the rail links started on the Indian sub-continent, people from the eastern Bengal were made aware of the large availability of the locally prized fish on India's western coasts and began importing them via the railways. Since the smell of the dried fish was overpowering, its transportation was later consigned to the 'Mail' Train. The mail train — the Bombay Mail or the Bombay Daak — thus reeked of the fish smell and "You smell like the Bombay Duck" was a common term in use in the days of the British Raj. In Bombay, the local English speakers then called it so, but it was eventually corrupted into "Bombay duck". Nonetheless, the Oxford English Dictionary dates "Bombay duck" to at least 1850, two years before the first railroad in Bombay was constructed, making this explanation unlikely.

According to local Bangladeshi stories, the term Bombay duck was first coined by Robert Clive, after he tasted a piece during his conquest of Bengal. It is said that he associated the pungent smell with that of the newspapers and mail which would come in to the cantonments from Bombay. The term was later popularized among the British public by its appearance in Indian restaurants across the country.