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ebpamituanen (Maguindanaon, Philippines) a divorced person who keeps their figure in the hope of a future marriage

china buta (Malay) the intermediate husband a divorced Muslim woman must have before remarriage to her original husband

On reflection

Workbox or housewife

Various languages have words with surprising double meanings, creating some thought-provoking associations:

mjall (Swedish) dandruff or tender

varik (Buli, Ghana) castrated or huge and strong

váram (Tamil) friendship or a week

dánamu (Telugu, India) a gift or elephant semen

ola (Samoan) fishing basket or life

panjitkori (Korean) workbox or housewife

turba (Italian) crowd or trouble

toil (Mongolian) mirror or dictionary

rooie (Dutch) carrots or ginger

saje (Hausa, Nigeria) side whiskers or a sergeant

hege’ (Hebrew) steering wheel or murmur

Relative values

Let’s look on the bright side. Though often derided in our fickle age, family life can bring many and varied benefits:

agusto (Latin American Spanish) the cosiness felt when snuggling with a relative

onimagu (Yamana, Chile) to feel such pity as relatives do towards each other when hurt

ka-otaba (Gilbertese, Oceania) to preserve the beauty and freshness of a daughter-in-law

dyadya (Russian) a rich relative abroad, considered as a source of money (literally, an uncle)

bombela (Tsonga, South Africa) to make free with another’s belongings (especially with those of one’s maternal uncle)

Dirt on the nest

Although those who hold up the family as the answer to all things are probably sadly deluded:

butika roko (Gilbertese, Oceania) a brother-in-law coming around too often

kyodai-genka (Japanese) a fight or argument between siblings

mātrigaāmī (Hindi) one who commits incest with his mother

Nestbeschmutzer (German) someone ruining the reputation of the family or community (literally, someone who puts dirt on the nest)

rihorhabodo (Tsonga, South Africa) an irresponsible man who does not care for his family, but just roams around, generally in town

wićawokha (Dakota, USA) a man who lives with his wife’s relations (literally, a buried man)

bayram değil (seyran değil enişte beni niye öptü?) (Turkish proverb) there must be something behind this (literally, it’s not festival time, it’s not a pleasure trip, so why did my brother-in-law kiss me?)

Congo confusion

As every son-in-law knows, you’ve got to be very careful what you say about one particular family member. In the Lokele language of the Congo there is only a tonal difference (shown by the capital letters) between aSOolaMBA boili, I’m watching the riverbank, and aSOoLAMBA boIli, I’m boiling my mother-in-law.

Auntie

In the Pakistani language of Urdu a woman is addressed in the following way:

apa (or baji ) by her younger sisters or brothers

khala by her sister’s children

mani (or momani ) by the children of her husband’s sisters

ch’ hachi by the children of her husband’s younger brothers

ta’i by the children of her husband’s elder brothers

p’ huppi by the children of her brother

bahu by her parents-in-law

nani by the children of her daughters

dadi by the children of her sons

bhabi by her sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law

patiji by her aunts and uncles

sas by her daughter-in-law

nand by her brother’s wife

sali by the husband of her sister

Prodigal son

In Fiji, they observe the custom of vasu which gives a son certain powers over his mother’s native place. He may take anything he covets from the houses, tear down the fruit trees, and generally behave in such a way that if he were a stranger he would be clubbed to death.

Family tree

Of course, however much you try to escape the familial bond, there’s really no getting away from who you are and where you’re from:

asal pagasal (Maguindanaon, Philippines) to trace family relationships among people newly acquainted with each other

anestolt (Norwegian) proud of one’s ancestors progonoplexia (Greek) bragging about one’s ancestors

kupu (Hawaiian) one whose ancestors were born where he himself was