I recently read an absolutely delicious book titled "The Meaning of Tingo" by Adam Jacot de Boinod. It's a collection of words from around the world. Here are some of my favorites - I just can’t believe I’ve survived so long without them.Iktsuarpok - Inuit for "to go outside often to see if someone is coming".
Nglayap - Indonesian for "wander far from home with no particular purpose".
Mingmu - Chinese for "to die without regret".
Termangu-mangu - Indonesian for "sad and not sure what to do".
Nedovtipa - Czech for "one who finds it difficult to take a hint".
Narachastra prayoga - Sanskrit for "men who worship their own sexual organ".
Fissilig - German for "flustered to the point of incompetence."
Mukamuka - Japanese for "so angry one feels like throwing up."
Sekaseka - Zambian for "to laugh without reason".
Neko-neko - Indonesian for "one who has a creative idea which only makes things worse".
By the way, "Tingo" is Pascuense for "to take all the objects one desires from the house of a friend, one at a time, by borrowing them." I'm not sure if this would make me mukamuka; or if it would first induce a feeling of liberation, then invite me to sekaseka and finally set me free to nglayap.
6 comments:
This is great, thanks Dushka! One of my favorite Russian words is "nedoperepil" - litelly meaning "drank just a little not enough to drink too much".
That is a GREAT word!
These are absolutely marvelous choices of examples of an excursion through this book. I particularly sympathize with "flustered to the point of incompetence". It explains what often happens, which otherwise had no rational definition. I also admire "to die without regret". This seems so lofty, and so very Chinese.
I know! I love them! And can't you imagine yourself saying "oh, that guy is such a narachastra prayoga."
But how would you define the popular mexican slang expression: "hueva"?
Hi, Marivi! Not translatable. This is what makes languages so much fun. How would you translate "Me quiero desahogar?" another good one.
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