The word ‘Kah-Kashaa.n’, or, Milky-Way, has been used quite beautifully in Urdu poetry. This famous couplet is etched in everybody’s memory:
inhii.n pattharo.n pe chal kar agar aa sako to aa.o
mire ghar ke raaste me.n ko.ii kahkashaa.n nahii.n hai
Interestingly, this word, which is also written as ‘Kaah-Kashaa.n’, literally means to pull dry grass on the soil. This word is made up of two Persian words, 'kah' meaning dried grass, and 'kashan' meaning pulling. Similar to the marks left by a bundle of dried grass dragged on wet ground is the cluster of stars that appear in the night sky, consequently giving it the name ‘Kah-Kashan’. In Hindi, it is known as ‘Aakash-Ganga’, a word which flashes every so often in Urdu poetry.

The word ‘Afshan’ refers to golden flakes or filings that women sprinkle in the parting of their hair or foreheads as adornment. Afshan is especially graced upon, or “etched (Chuna Jaana)” into, a bride’s parting of hair. A couplet of Qamar Jalalvi’s reads:
'qamar' afshaa.n chunii hai ruKH pe us ne is saliiqe se
sitaare aasmaa.n se dekhne ko aa.e jaate hai.n

In Urdu, the word Afshan is also used as a suffix in the sense of sprinkling, shedding, or scattering. Girls are commonly named "Mehr Afshan" (She who spreads love) and “Noor Afshan”. In couplets, we see the heavens scattering dew (Shabnam-Afshani) on somebody’s grave, or someone shedding flowers (Gul-Afshani) from their eloquent conversation. Like Ghalib, in this following couplet:
phir dekhiye andaaz-e-gul-afshaanii-e-guftaar
rakh de ko.ii paimaana-e-sahbaa mere aage
In Urdu, another idiom is present for the expression ‘gul-afshaanii-e-guftaar’, namely ‘Phuul JhaDna’. A famous verse by Ahmad Faraz reads:
sunaa hai bole to baato.n se phuul jha.Dte hai.n
ye baat hai to chalo baat kar ke dekhte hai.n
Another Urdu word ‘Ifsha’, means to reveal a secret. In thousands of Urdu couplets, the secret of love is revealed through eyes. Also, interrogation done by the police to solve a crime is called ‘Taftish Karna’.