Toujours Tingo Read online

  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

  Tatar (Russia)

  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)

  Warm showerer


  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)