I Never Knew There Was a Word For It
Page 26
On reflection
Tail between legs
Many everyday English words are derived from other languages. Finding out more about their roots often casts a fascinating new light on the word itself:
accolade derives from the French accoler (to embrace) because knighthoods were initially conferred with an embrace
agony comes from the Ancient Greek agonia (contest): the athletes in training for the Olympic Games put their bodies through intense discipline to reach the peak of fitness, denying themselves normal pleasures and enduring punishing physical tests
coward comes from the Old French couard (tail) and thus we have the image of a dog retreating with its tail between its legs
jargon comes from the Old French word jargoun (twittering), the sound made by birds, incomprehensible to others
muscle is descended from the Latin word musculus (little mouse), a rather apt description of the moving and changing form under the skin, especially of the arms and legs
Talk box
The language of politics is famous for both rollo (Spanish), the long boring speech (literally, a paper roll), and for double speak. All round the world it’s very important to listen extremely closely to what politicans say – and to what they don’t:
borutela (Tsonga, South Africa) to praise another in his presence but malign him behind his back
feleka (Setswana, Botswana) to speak so as to conceal one’s meaning; to be intentionally ambiguous
chíndugirathu (Tamil) to give a sign by pressing with the finger, unobserved by any third party
tok bokkis (Tok Pisin, Papua New Guinea) a way of giving words hidden meanings (literally, talk box)
achakiy (Quechuan, Andes) to say one thing and do something else
Problem solving
The Bambuti people of Congo have no chiefs or formal system of government; problems and disputes are solved by general discussion often involving the use of humour. Elsewhere, people have other ways of achieving agreement:
taraadin (Arabic) a compromise; a way of solving a problem without anyone losing face
mochi (Chinese) the rapport or teamwork that enables people to cooperate smoothly (literally, silent contract)
remettre les pendules à l’heure (French) to re-align something, for example, in establishing who is the boss, or how we work (literally, to set the clocks at the right time again)
biritululo (Kiriwani, Papua New Guinea) comparing yams to settle a dispute
War elephants
What a shame that such delightful methods can’t be universally employed. But from the start of time dispute-resolution has often been alarmingly violent:
gazi (Mauritanian dialect) a plundering raid in which at least forty camels are employed
falurombolás (Hungarian) the destruction of villages
Schrecklichkeit (German) a deliberate policy of terrorizing non-combatants
edsabil (Maguindanaon, Philippines) to fight until death for the cause of Allah
nuulone (Anywa, Nilo-Saharan) a victory dance with rifles after a war
Cancer forces
All that’s changed over the years is the deadliness of the weapons used:
dagadaga (Sranan Tongo, Surinam) a machine gun
plofstof (Afrikaans) explosive (literally, puff/bang stuff)
springstof (Dutch) an explosive (literally, jump matter)
rakovye voiska (Russian) strategic missile forces (literally, cancer forces – referring to the numerous cancerous diseases caused by radiation)
Heroes
On the battlefield itself individuals make extraordinary sacrifices …
lwa manyanga (Mambwe, Zambia) to fight one another crawling along on all fours
mamakakaua (Hawaiian) the leading man in battle who bears the brunt of the fighting
ohiampunut (Finnish) one who has survived in battle (literally, shot/fired past)
abhí-vī ra (Sanskrit) surrounded by heroes
Yellow-bellies
… or not, as the case may be:
ngivhe (Venda, South Africa) to hit with the butt-end of a spear (a blow given as a warning to escape)
rafizat (Persian) a body of soldiers who deserted their commander and retreated
imboscarsi (Italian) to lie in ambush, to evade military service, to avoid working, or to retreat to a secluded place to make love (literally, to take to the woods)
palias (Maranao, Philippines) the power or magic which protects its possessor from a bullet in battle
Handschuhschneeballwerfer (German) somebody who wears gloves to throw snowballs – used in general for all cowards
War trophies
There are no limits to cruelty, savagery and treachery:
liput (Manobo, Philippines) to throw someone off guard, through an appearance of goodwill, in order to kill him
usauara (Yamana, Chile) to shout, as a group of men, when ready to make an assault on someone they intend to kill
áhaneoha’ov (Cheyenne, USA) to kill someone by stepping on him
tsantsa (Jivaro, Ecuador) a human head shrunken and dried as a war trophy
tzompantli (Aztec) a rack of skulls
Legacy
But when it’s all over, what are we left with?
aidos (Ancient Greek) the understanding of the need for humility at the point of victory
Gleichgültigkeit (German) the feeling of dreadful moral insensibility and detachment which is a peculiar legacy of wars
Cucumbers and shaving brushes
And, all too often, a large standing army. Who better than the Russians to tell us all about the realities of that sort of organization?
ogourets a soldier in his first six months of service (literally, a cucumber – referring to the colour green, which signifies inexperience)
pomazok a soldier who has served more than one year and is therefore released from certain menial tasks (literally, a shaving brush)
chelovek-amfibiya a soldier on dishwashing duty (literally, an amphibian man)
khoronit’ okourok a punishment for soldiers who drop their cigarette butts on the ground; when even one such butt is found all soldiers are woken up in the middle of the night and forced to spend hours digging deep holes to bury individual butts
lekarstvo ot lyubvi two years of army service (literally, a cure for love, meaning that girlfriends rarely wait for soldiers to come home)
IDIOMS OF THE WORLD
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark
hay un gato encerrado (Spanish) there’s a cat shut up
les dés sont pipés (French) the dice are cheated
il y a anguille sous roche (French) there is an eel under the rock
iskat’ igolku v stoge sena (Russian) there is a needle in the haystack
hayya min taht tibn (Arabic) a snake under the hay
23.
From Better to Hearse
Dios es el que sana, y el medico lleva la plata (Spanish)
God cures the patient and the doctor pockets the fee
Fagged out
We have all kinds of habits that aren’t exactly good for us. As the Italian proverb cheerily goes: ‘Bacco, tabacco e Venere, riducon l’uomo in cenere’, Bacchus, tobacco and Venus make men into ashes:
Glimmstengel (German) a cigarette (literally, a glowing stick)
pitillo (Spanish) a cigarette (literally, a small whistle)
bychkovat’ (Russian) to smoke only part of a cigarette so as to save the butt
sassakisibingweiabas (Ojibway, North America) feeling a burning pain in my eyes from too much smoke
Peaky
The simplest symptoms can announce forthcoming suffering:
hí (Rapanui, Easter Island) to have a headache or to blow one’s nose
kirukiruppu (Tamil) dizziness
cloch (Scots) to cough frequently and feebly
koodho (Anywa, Nilo-Saharan) to fart repeatedly
ku-susuukirira (Ganda, Uganda) to feel the first shivers of a fever
svimf
ardig (Swedish) ready to faint
motami-ella (Yamana, Chile) to go home or to a place eastwards and throw up
Hypo
Some people are more likely to succumb to illness than others:
niba n aoraki (Gilbertese, Oceania) a person very susceptible to catching every disease
mabuk darah (Malay) one who becomes sick upon seeing blood
wakakhtakeća (Dakota, USA) one who is made sick by a little matter, one who is nervous
aráttam (Tamil) the anxiety of a sick person
STD
Love is often described using the terminology of disease, as with dongai (Fijian) love sickness; while sex is seen both as a cause of sickness and as a cure:
pham-phòng (Vietnamese) to become sick after having intercourse
una cachiaspirina (Chilean Spanish) refers to how one will sweat heavily during sex and thus kill a cold
Sweating carrots
All too soon things become more serious:
zweet peentjes (Dutch) sweating like a pig (literally, sweating carrots)
fare i gattini (Italian) to vomit (literally, to make the kittens)
ca-ca-ca (Tsonga, South Africa) to have diarrhoea; to rain heavily
sarar burer (Chorti, Guatemala) a fever accompanied by an itch
útsu (Telugu, India) the falling out of the hair from sickness
oka/shete (Ndonga, Namibia) urination difficulties caused by eating frogs before the rain has duly fallen
kinudegan (Maguindanaon, Philippines) a disease in men that causes the penis to retract inside the body
Quack remedies
Routine must be interrupted and steps must be taken:
krankfeiern (German) to call in sick (literally, to celebrate illness)
tombola (Kalanga, Botswana) to extract a thorn from flesh using a safety pin
tervismuda (Estonian) curative mud
verkwakzalveren (Dutch) to spend money on quack remedies
kudóripannugirathu (Tamil) to slit or cut the top of the head in order to put in medicine to cure dangerous diseases
Docteur, docteur
Few enjoy handing themselves over to doctors, but sometimes it’s unavoidable; or, as they say in France, inévitable:
trente-trois say ah! (literally, thirty-three – said by a doctor to the patient)
artilleur de la pièce humide a male nurse (literally, artilleryman of the wet gun)
passer sur le billard to undergo surgery (literally, to go onto the billiard table)
Surgical spirit
In some societies recommended cures may not be primarily medical:
millu (Quechuan, Andes) a rock of aluminium sulphate used by witch doctors, who diagnose illnesses by analysing its colour change when it is thrown into a fire
ti-luoiny (Car, Nicobar Islands) to call on the spirit of a sick man to return
tawák (Tagalog, Philippines) a quack doctor with magic saliva
anavinakárayá (Sinhala, Sri Lanka) a juggler, one who practises incantations upon persons who have been poisoned or bitten by a serpent
indahli (Alabama, USA) to cut stripe marks on, in order to suck out blood (applied to a hexed or sick person)
Hex
A Chilote Indian, who has gathered up the spittle of an enemy, will put it in a potato, hang it in the smoke, and utter certain spells in the belief that his enemy will waste away as the potato dries in the smoke. And many others, likewise, believe that one person can be responsible for another’s physical decline:
khmungha (Dakota, USA) to cause sickness or death in a supernatural way
The devil’s in the detail
If it’s an evil spirit to blame, it will need to be expelled. Methods differ:
tin-fu-ko (Car, Nicobar Islands) the driving out of the devil from a man by beating the ground with the thick stubs of a coconut leaf
sosela (Tsonga, South Africa) to cure a person by exorcism through the beating of drums
phurbu (Tibetan) ceremonial nails with which evil demons are symbolically nailed fast and banished
On reflection
Corpse in the middle
The Koreans, Japanese and Chinese (both in Cantonese and Mandarin) avoid the number 4 since in all these languages it has a very similar pronunciation to the word for death. Chinese and Korean buildings often do not have a fourth floor, replacing the number 4 (sa) with the letter F. This is not the only number that the Chinese are wary of: the number 1414 is especially avoided because when spoken it sounds just like the words ‘definite death, definite death’. Many traditional Chinese people believe that having an uneven number of people in a photograph brings bad luck. To have three people is of greater consequence as the person in the middle will die.
Recuperation
With luck, however outlandish it is, the cure will work and time will do the rest:
mimai (Japanese) to visit a sick person in the hospital
hletela (Tsonga, South Africa) to help a sick person to walk; to lead, as a hen does her chickens
samaya (Maguindanaon, Philippines) a party held to celebrate the promised cure for someone who is sick
insobáayli (Alabama, USA) to have the feeling come back to a body part
amū lha-vinaya (Pali, India) an acquittal on the grounds of restored sanity
Curtains
But nothing can ever be taken for granted:
doi (Vietnamese) to make one’s last recommendations before death
urdhwaswása (Sinhala, Sri Lanka) the rattling in the throat which precedes death
agonia (Spanish) the dying breath
sa-soa (Bakweri, Cameroon) a comb; to make deathbed statements as to the disposition of property
Clogs and slippers
We kick the bucket or turn up our toes. The Russians play the snake, throw their hooves outwards, glue up their slippers, or throw out their best skates. The theme of no longer being shod and upright on your feet is widespread …
estirar la pata (Latin American Spanish) to stretch out your leg
colgar los tenis (Mexican Spanish) to hang up or hand in your tennis shoes
at stille træskoene (Danish) to put aside the clogs
zaklepat bačkorama (Czech) to bang together a pair of slippers
oikaista koipensa (Finnish) to straighten one’s shanks
nallari havaya dikmek (Turkish) to raise horse shoes to the sky
… but not exclusive:
gaan bokveld toe (Afrikaans) to go to the goat field
cerrar el paraguas (Costa Rican Spanish) to close the umbrella
liar el petate (Spanish) to roll up the sleeping mat
passer l’arme a gauche (French) to pass the firearm to the left
ins Gras beißen (German) to bite into the grass
a da colţul (Romanian) to turn around the corner
hälsa hem (Swedish) to send home one’s regards
irse al patio de los callados (Chilean Spanish) to go to the courtyard of the hushed
ya kwanta dama (Hausa, Nigeria) he is lying on his right arm (Muslims are buried not lying on their backs but on the right arm facing the Kaabah)
A thousand cuts
To die of an illness is not ideal, but in comfortable surroundings, with loved ones around us, perhaps better than some of the alternatives:
lepur (Malay) to die through suffocation in mud
asa (Korean) death from starvation
áhano’xéohtsé (Cheyenne, USA) to die from carrying a load
skeelah (Hebrew) stoning to death
lang-trì (Vietnamese) death by a thousand cuts (an ancient punishment)
prayopaveshī (Hindi) one who undertakes a fast unto death
chŏngsa (Korean) love suicide, double suicide
fwa imfwa leza (Mambwe, Zambia) to die abandoned and alone (without having anyone to fold one’s arms and legs for the burial)
lavu (Manobo, Philippines) to drown someone by overturning their canoe
Another way to go
The Fore tribe of New G
uinea suffer from a terrible disease called kuru, which means shaking death. It is also known as the laughing sickness from the disease’s second stage in which the sufferers laugh uncontrollably. It has a 100 per cent fatality rate.
Stiff
There’s no saving us now; the best we can hope for is a little dignity:
tlanyi (Tsonga, South Africa) to find a person lying dead when one thought him alive
bahk’ e chamen (Chorti, Guatemala) the fright caused by looking at a corpse
kreng (Dutch) a dead body which is bloated from being submerged in water for a substantial period of time (also a bitch)
gruz 200 (Russian) corpses transported by air (literally, load 200)
False friends
arm (Estonian) scar
cocoa (Nahuatl, Mexico) to suffer pain
halal (Hungarian) death
kill (Amharic, Ethiopia) skull
kiss (Swedish) pee
men (Thai) a bad smell
rib (Somali) contraction
rat (Romani) blood
safari (Zarma, Nigeria) medicine
wish (Bashgali, India) poison; medicine
Feet first