geop (Gaelic) fast talk which is mostly unintelligible
beròhina (Malagasy, Madagascar) to be spoken to in a strange dialect, to be perplexed by hearing provincialisms
betenger (Manobo, Philippines) to speak another language with a pronunciation that reflects one’s own native language
tener papas en la boca (Chilean Spanish) to speak in a stuffy or incomprehensible manner (literally, to have potatoes in the mouth)
False friends
Those who learn languages other than their own will sometimes come across words which look or sound the same as English, but mean very different things:
dating (Tagalog, Philippines) arrival
phrase (French) sentence
dating (Chinese) to ask about, enquire
Handy (German) mobile phone
Baloney
And sometimes people just speak rubbish anyway:
höpöhöpö (Finnish) nonsense
prietpraat (Dutch) twaddle
botalo (Russian) a chatterbox, a babbler (literally, a cowbell)
poyipoyi (Tsonga, South Africa) a person who talks at length but does not make sense
bablat (Hebrew) baloney (an acronym of Beelbool Beytseem Le-Io Takhleet: bothering someone’s testicles for no reason)
ich verstehe nur Wortsalat (German) I don’t understand a thing you are saying (literally, all I hear is the word sal1ad)
Q and A
Information is power, they tell us; but finding out what we need to know isn’t always as straightforward as we’d like. Sometimes we have to adopt special methods:
candrānā (Hindi) to make an enquiry with a feigned air of ignorance
antsafa (Malagasy, Madagascar) enquiries about things of which one is fully cognisant beforehand
… although of course two can play at that game:
gadrii nombor shulen jongu (Tibetan) giving an answer that is unrelated to the question (literally, to give a green answer to a blue question)
kinkens (Scots) an evasive answer to an inquisitive child
iqsuktuq (Iñupiat, Inuit) to respond negatively by wrinkling the nose
Mhm mmm
So sometimes it’s ‘yes’…
mhm
Lithuanian
hooo
Agua Caliente (California, USA)
ow
Amharic (Ethiopia)
eeyee
Setswana (Botswana)
uh-uh-huh
Tamashek (West Africa)
… and other times ‘no’:
mmm
Pulawat (Micronesia)
uhuh
Shimasiwa (Comoros, Indian Ocean)
yox
Azerbaijani
bobo
Bété (Cameroon)
doo-yee
Kato (California, USA)
halo
Chinook (North America)
pepe
Chitonga (Zambia)
hindi
Tagalog (Philippines)
yuk
Just be sure you know which m(h)mm is which.
IDIOMS OF THE WORLD
It’s all Greek to me
People fail to understand each other all the time it seems. The English idiom ‘it’s all Greek to me’ has counterparts through-out the languages of Europe. To the Germans it’s ‘Spanish’, to the Spanish and Hungarians it’s ‘Chinese’, to the French it’s ‘Hebrew’, to the Poles it’s ‘a Turkish sermon’. And, more unusually still, the Germans say
ich verstehe nur Bahnhof I only understand station
2.
The Human Condition
ge ru-wa nhagi mo choe
(Dzongkha, Bhutan)
the nose doesn’t smell the rotting head
Tightwad
However much we like to think that all those odd-looking, strange-speaking people around the world are different from us, the shocking evidence from language is that we are all too similar. Don’t most of us, whether we live in city, shanty-town or rural bliss, know one of these?
hallab el-namtnleh (Syrian Arabic) a miserly person (literally, ant milker)
krentenkakker (Dutch) one who doesn’t like spending money (literally, someone who shits raisins)
kanjus makkhichus (Hindi) a person so miserly that if a fly falls into his cup of tea, he’ll fish it out and suck it dry before throwing it away
yaalik (Buli, Ghana) sponging, always expecting help or gifts from others without being willing to offer help
False friends
ego (Rapanui, Easter Island) slightly soiled
hiya (Tagalog, Philippines) bashful
incoherent (French) inconsistent
liar (Malay) undomesticated
urn (Bosnian) mind, intellect
slug (Swedish) astute
Big-hearted
Fortunately, those are not the only kind of people on our beautiful and fragile planet:
pagad (Manobo, Philippines) to show consideration for a slow-walking person by also walking slowly, so that he can keep up
manàra-drìmitra (Malagasy, Madagascar) to involve oneself in another’s calamity by seeking to extricate him
elunud (Manobo, Philippines) to go deliberately to someone’s aid and share in his misfortune, regardless of the obviously ill-fated outcome
Ulterior motive
If only people displaying such fine qualities were always pure of heart. But the Italians are not the only ones who understand carita pelosa, generosity with an ulterior motive:
mutakarrim (Persian) one who makes pretensions to generosity
Tantenverführer (German) a young man of excessively good manners whom you suspect of devious motives (literally, aunt seducer)
uunguta (Yamana, Chile) to give much more to one than to others
Obligation
Then again, sometimes the totally sincere can be altogether too much:
Bärendienst (German) an act someone does for you thinking they are doing you a favour, but which you really didn’t want them to do
arigata-meiwaku (Japanese) an act someone does for you thinking they are doing you a favour, but which you really didn’t want them to do; added to which, social convention now requires you to express suitable gratitude in return
Watching the English
In Greek megla (derived from ‘made in England’) denotes elegance and supreme quality and jampa (derived from ‘made in Japan’) means very cheap. Other languages use rather different standards of Englishness in their idioms:
s kliden Angličana (Czech) as calm as an Englishman
ubbriaco come un marinaio inglese (Italian) as drank as an English sailor
filer à l‘anglaise (French) to slip away like the English
Hat over the windmill
Rather than being a sucker who takes consideration for other people’s feelings too far, perhaps it would be better to be one of those enviable individuals who simply doesn’t give a damn?
menefreghista (Italian) a person who has an ‘I don’t care’ attitude
piitaamaton (Finnish) unconcerned about other people’s feelings
i v oos nye doot (Russian) not to give a damn (literally, it doesn’t blow in one’s moustache)
no me importa un pepino (Spanish) I don’t care two hoots (literally, I don’t care a cucumber)
jeter son bonnet par-dessus les moulins (French) to throw caution to the winds (literally, to throw one’s hat over the windmills)
Number one
On second thoughts, perhaps not. For the line between self-confidence and self-centredness is always horribly thin:
szakbarbár (Hungarian) a crank who can think of nothing but his/her subject
iakićagheća (Dakota, USA) one who is unreasonable in his demands, one who keeps asking for things after he should stop
kverulant (Czech) a chronic complainer, a litigious person
hesomagari (Japanese) perverse or cantankerous (literally, bent belly button)
The Germans have pinpointed some particularly egotistic types:
Klugscheisser someone who always knows best (literally, smart shitter)
Warmduscher someone who is easy on himself (literally, warm showerer)
Trittbrettfahrer to take advantage of someone else’s efforts without contributing anything (literally, the person who rides on the stepping board of a bus or train without buying a ticket)
Nose in the clouds
And it’s another short step from egotism to conceit:
péter plus haut que son cul (French) to think highly of yourself (literally, to fart higher than your arse)
creerse la ultima Coca-Cola en el desierto (Central American Spanish) to have a very high opinion of oneself (literally, to think one is the last Coca-Cola in the desert)
nosom para oblake (Serbian) he’s conceited, puffed up (literally, he’s ripping clouds with his nose)
khenh khang (Vietnamese) to walk slowly like an important person, to put on airs
cuello duro (Spanish) a snob, stuck-up (literally, hard or stiff neck – from keeping one’s nose in the air)
Impressing
Almost as irritating as the conceited and the pompous are those who fail to see that, as they say in the Kannada language of Southern India, ‘Tumbida koDa tuLukuvudilla’, the pot which is full does not splash:
farolero (Spanish) a show-off (literally, a lantern maker)
m’as-tu-vu (French) a show-off (literally, one who constantly asks other people ‘Did you see me?’)
Spesenritter (German) someone who shows off by paying the bill on the firm’s money (literally, expense knight)
poshlost (Russian) ostentatious bad taste
jor-joran (Indonesian) to compete in showing off one’s wealth
elintasokilpailu (Finnish) keeping up with the Joneses
Sucking up
And yet, despite their obvious failings, both snobs and show-offs are often surrounded by the human equivalent of a benign parasite. As the Spanish say, ‘La lisonja hace amigos, y la verdad enemigos’, flattery makes friends and truth makes enemies:
chupamedias (Chilean Spanish) a sycophant (literally, sock sucker)
banhista (Portuguese) someone who soft-soaps another
digdig (Manobo, Philippines) to praise a person for the quality which he lacks in order to encourage him to develop that quality
jijirika (Chichewa, Malawi) to curry favour by doing more than expected, but not necessarily well
Eejit
Can it get worse? Unfortunately it can:
lū-lū (Hindi) an idiot, nincompoop
gugbe janjou (Tibetan) a stupid person trying to be clever
kaptsn (Yiddish) one who does not amount to anything and never will
eldhus-fifi (Old Icelandic) an idiot who sits all day by the fire
el semaforo de medianoche (Venezuelan Spanish) a person no one respects and of whom everyone takes advantage, a pushover (literally, traffic light at midnight)
Salt in the pumpkin
‘It is foolish to deal with a fool,’ say the practical Japanese, though the Chinese wisely observe that ‘He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.’ Such observations reveal what the Catalans call seny, a canny common sense. Others value such qualities too:
ha sale in zucca (Italian) he has common sense (literally, he’s got salt in the pumpkin)
lapchaty goos (Russian) a sly old fox (literally, a cunning goose)
baser (Arabic) one with great insight or one who is blind
Idiot savant
In Italy you are stupido come l’acqua dei maccheroni, as stupid as macaroni water; in Lithuania, kvailas kaip žasis, as silly as a goose; while in France you can be as stupid as une cruche (a pitcher), un pot (a pot) or un chou (a cabbage). But even idiots are not necessarily all they seem:
adalahendry (Malagasy, Madagascar) a person ignorant yet wise in some things
Spruchkasper (German) a fool full of wise sayings
apo trelo kai apo pedi mathenis tin aletheia (Greek proverb) from a crazy person and from children you learn the truth
Pregnant birds
Although the very young can delight us with their wonderful and surprising remarks, naivety is not, sadly, a state of mind that will work for a lifetime:
creer en pajaritos preñados (Venezuelan Spanish) to be credulous (literally, to believe in pregnant birds)
yelang zida (Chinese) ludicrous conceit stemming from pure ignorance
lolo (Hawaiian Pidgin) someone who would be glad to give you the time of day, if he knew how to read a clock
A piece of bread
How wonderful it is when we meet that rare person who just gets it right all the time:
katundu (Chichewa, Malawi) a person with outstanding positive qualities
Lieblingsstück (German) the favourite item of a collection (said of someone special)
para quitar el hipo (Latin American Spanish) very impressive; astonishing (literally, enough to cure the hiccups)
es un pedazo de pan (Spanish) he/she’s a good person/it’s a good thing (literally, he/she/it is a piece of bread)
IDIOMS OF THE WORLD
A leopard cannot change its spots
chassez le naturel, il revient au gallop (French) chase away the natural and it returns at a gallop
aus einem Ackergaul kann man kein Rennpferd machen (Swabian German) you cannot turn a farm horse into a racehorse
dhanab al kalb a ’waj walaw hattaytu fi khamsin galib (Arabic) the dog’s tail remains crooked even if it’s put in fifty moulds
vuk dlaku mljenja ali æud nikada (Croatian) a wolf changes his coat but not his attitude
die Katze lässt das Mausen nicht (German) the cat will not abandon its habit of chasing mice
chi nasce quadrate non muore tondo (Italian) if you are born square you don’t die round
karishkirdi kancha baksang dele tokoigo kachat (Kyrgyz) no matter how well you feed a wolf it always looks at the forest
gorbatogo mogila ispravit (Russian) only the grave will cure the hunchback
3.
Emotional Intelligence
wie boter op zijn hoofd heeft, moet niet in de zon lopen (Dutch)
those who have butter on their head should not run around under the sun
Happy valley
Whatever kind of character we’ve been blessed with, we all still experience similar highs and lows of emotion. Pure happiness is a wonderful thing; and we should never take it for granted, for who knows how long it may last?
kusamba (Ngangela, Angola) to skip, gambol, express uninhibited joy
sungumuka (Luvale, Zambia) to experience transitory pleasure in the novel
faly ambonindoza (Malagasy, Madagascar) delight before the danger is passed, premature joy
choi lu bù (Vietnamese) to have round after round of fun
alegria secreta candela muerta (Spanish proverb) unshared joy is an unlighted candle
In the coal cellar
The opposite emotion is rarely sought, but it arrives all the same:
at være i kulkælderen (Danish) to be very sad or depressed (literally, to be in the coal cellar)
lalew (Manobo, Philippines) to grieve over something to the extent that one doesn’t eat
dastehen wie ein begossener Pudel (German) to look depressed (literally, to stand there like a soaked poodle)
mal ikke fanden på veggen (Norwegian) to be very pessimistic (literally, to paint the devil on the wall)
dar lástima (Latin American Spanish) to be in such a bad way that people feel sorry for you
False friends
bang(Dutch) afraid
blag(Haitian Creole) joke
puke(Rotuman, South Pacific) to come strongly over one (of feelings)
drift (Dutch) passion
job (Mongolian) correct, good
meal (Gaelic) to enjoy
Boo-hoo
Sometimes the best course is just to let it all
hang out:
kutar-atugutata (Yamana, Chile) to get hoarse from much crying
gegemena (Rukwangali, Namibia) to mutter while sobbing
sekgamatha (Setswana, Botswana) the dirtiness of the face and eyes from much crying
dusi (Malay) to be perpetually crying (of young children)
āpaddharm (Hindi) a conduct permissible only in times of extreme distress
Crocodile
Though even tears are never as straightforward as we might like them to be:
ilonkyynelet (Finnish) tears of joy
miangòtingòtim-bòninàhitra (Malagasy, Madagascar) to weep in order to get something
chantepleurer (French) to sing and weep simultaneously
Smiley
‘Cheer up!’ we tell each other. And hopefully this brings the right results:
elmosolyodik (Hungarian) to break into a smile
sogo o kuzusu (Japanese) to smile with delight (literally, to demolish one’s face)
cuòi khì (Vietnamese) to laugh a silly laugh
German Blues
The idioms of the world are full of colour. But in Germany ‘blue’ has a rich range of uses:
blaue vom Himmel herunter lügen to lie constantly (literally, to lie the blue out of the sky)