I Never Knew There Was a Word for It - Adam Jacot De Boinod [46]
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-nammleh (Syrian Arabic) a miserly person (literally, ant milker)
krentenkakker (Dutch) one who doesn’t like spending money (literally, someone who shits currants)
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
um (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
On reflection
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 drunk 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
piittaamaton (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