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accharika (Pali, India) to make heavenly music

Wiggle your bucket

… and then things can really kick off:

gida (South Africa Township) to jump up and down constantly in one place (as a form of dance)

menear el bote (Mexican Spanish) to dance (literally, to wiggle your bucket)

chachula (Tsonga, South Africa) a dance with the rhythmic quivering of the body

kundáy (Tagalog, Philippines) dance movements made by the wrist

Duck feet

Or not, as the case may be:

hávêsévôhomo’he (Cheyenne, USA) to dance badly

asiqtuq (Iñupiat, Inuit) nodding with the head while others dance

pamutas-silya (Tagalog, Philippines) ladies who go to dances but do not dance

paton (Cuban Spanish) duck feet (i.e. can’t dance)

Keeping their bottle

Sometimes you just have to call in the professionals:

binasohan (Bikol, Philippines) a dance in which three glasses partially filled with wine are balanced, one on the head and one on each hand

danza de la botella (Paraguayan Spanish) a bottle dance in which each dancer balances a flower-filled bottle on his head

gamadj (Ojibway, North America) dancing with a scalp in one’s hands, in order to receive some presents

On reflection

National anthems

The title of a country’s officially chosen anthem can be very revealing about its history: the Czech Kde domov mů j (Where is My Home) reflects many years of shifting borders and invasions. Other interesting titles include:

Burkina Faso: Une seule nuit (Just One Night) Israel: Hatikvah (The Hope)

Kurdistan: Ey Reqîb (Hey Enemy or Hey Guardian)

Netherlands: Het Wilhemus (The William)

Norway: Ja, vi elsker dette landet (Yes, We Love This Country)

Romania: Deşteaptă-te, Române (Wake Up, Romanian)

Tuva, Siberia: Tooruktug Dolgay Tangdym (The Forest is Full of Pine Nuts)

Time, please

Always be wary of overstaying your welcome. As the Italians say, ‘L’ospite è come il pesce: dopo tre giorni puzza’, the guest is like a fish: after three days he smells bad:

desconvidar (Portuguese) to withdraw an invitation

il est comme un cheveu dans la soupe (French) he is not welcome; he has come at an awkward time (literally, he is like a hair in the soup)

pudyapudya (Tsonga, South Africa) to go away because one is shown one is not wanted

ngloyor (Indonesian) to go without saying goodbye

apagavelas (Caribbean Spanish) the last person to leave a party

IDIOMS OF THE WORLD

Have your cake and eat it

auf zwei Hochzeiten tanzen (German) to dance at two weddings

aam ke aam, guthliyon ke daam (Hindi) you can have mangoes and sell the seeds as well

dikasih hati minta jantung (Indonesian) given the liver and demands the heart

avoir le beurre, argent du beurre et la crémière avec (French) to have butter, money from butter, and the woman who makes the butter

non si puo avere la botte piena è la moglie ubriaca (Italian) you can’t have a full cask of wine and a drunken wife

5.

Having an Argument

casa onde não há pão, todos ralham

e ninguém tem razão (Portuguese)

in a breadless home, everyone complains and nobody is right

Cold porridge

One downside to socializing is all the enforced jollity, often with people you might not choose to spend that much time with otherwise:

metepatas (Spanish) a person who always does or says the wrong thing

yokogamiyaburi (Japanese) an obstinate person (literally, to be difficult to tear paper sideways)

elle coupe les cheveux en quatre (French) she is a difficult person (literally, she cuts hair into four pieces)

kashi nye svarit (Russian) to be impossible to get along with (literally, the porridge can’t be boiled)

Being difficult

The German expression Fisimatenten machen, meaning to make things unnecessarily difficult, is a mangling of the French visiter ma tante (visit my aunt). It originates in the difficulty of imposing a curfew on occupied France during the Second World War. Visiter ma tante was the general excuse used by people arrested on the streets at night