Ghor-zanvuy is the lucky man who for whatever reason inherits his parents-in-law’s house and property and parks himself therein. It’s quite a common practice in Goa, particularly when the wife has no brother who can be an heir to the family assets. Most often it is because his wife is the only child of her parents. Or it may be that she does have a brother, but he is either an idiot or a priest. But whatever may be the reason for the inheritance, one cannot earn the appellation ghor-zanvuy unless one is also humble enough to leave his own home and make his wife’s residence his permanent abode!
As you can see, ghor-zanvuy or ghorzanvuy is a compounded word in which ghor means house while zanvui means son-in-law. So ghorzanvuy is a son-in-law who lives in the house that belongs or belonged to his parents-in-law.
For some reason, however, the word ghorzanvuy has acquired a slightly pejorative connotation by being associated with a degree of laziness or even idleness, as a person who doesn’t need to do any work because he has all the goodies thrown into his lap.