I Never Knew There Was a Word for It - Adam Jacot De Boinod [64]
Far, får får får? Nej, inte får får får, får får lamm (Swedish) Father, do sheep have sheep? No, sheep don’t have sheep, sheep have lambs.
Kan-jang-kong-jang kong-jang-jang-eun kang kong-jang-jang-ee-go, dwen-jang-kong-jang kong-jang-jang-eun kong kong-jang-jang-ee-da (Korean) The president of the soy-sauce factory is president Kang and the president of the bean-paste factory is president Kong.
Learning curve
Soon enough it’s time to start getting to grips with the ways and means of the adult world …
kinder-vraag (Dutch) a childish question
ABC-Schuetze (German) a pupil in the first year of school (literally, ABC shooter)
skolplikt (Swedish) compulsory school attendance
managòana (Malagasy, Madagascar) to go over a list of names to see if all are there
ageographetos (Greek) useless at geography
katapádama (Sinhala, Sri Lanka) a lesson committed to memory
chongak (Malay) to raise the head and the chin or to do mental arithmetic in class
daoshu (Chinese) to count backwards
sonkkopta (Korean) to count on one’s fingers
mushtiya (Sinhala, Sri Lanka) a fist, a closed hand (also applied to the behaviour of a teacher who withholds some knowledge from his pupils through fear that they may surpass him)
Target practice
… with all the unpleasant ordeals that that entails:
quemarse las pestanas (cejas) (Spanish) to study hard (literally, to burn one’s eyelashes (eyebrows)
nochnoe (Russian) late-night studying, as before exams
acordeón (Mexican Spanish) a crib sheet used to cheat in a test or exam (literally, an accordion)
ponchar (Cuban Spanish) to fail an exam (literally, to get a flat tyre)
vo chuoi (Vietnamese) to fail an exam (literally, to slip on a banana skin)
kvarsittare (Swedish) a pupil who has not been moved up
suberidome (Japanese) a school one applies to in case one isn’t accepted elsewhere (literally, skid stopper)
Hanging out
What every parent fears is slynaldern (Swedish), the awkward age, when their once innocent and biddable child starts rebelling against their authority:
kutu embun (Malay) on the streets constantly; young people who roam the streets at night
hangjongeren* (Dutch) groups of teenagers with nothing to do but hang around in groups, making strange grunting noises at passers-by (literally, hanging youth)
katoro buaka (Gilbertese, Oceania) neglectful of one’s parents or grandparents
Filial
The good parent can only hope that all their love and hard work is reciprocated:
matteyyatā (Pali, India) filial love towards one’s mother
tindi (Tsonga, South Africa) to express joy at seeing one’s parents (of children)
chengqi (Chinese) to grow up to be a useful person
IDIOMS OF THE WORLD
Like father like son
kakov pop takov i prikhod (Russian) like priest like church
æblet falder ikke langt fra stamen (Danish) the apple doesn’t fall far from the trunk
ibn al bat ’awwam (Arabic) the son of a duck is a floater
filho de peixe sabe nadar (Portuguese) a fish’s child knows how to swim
de tal palo tal astilla (Spanish) from such stick comes such splinter
hijo de tigre sale rayado (Central American Spanish) the son of the tiger turns out striped
barewa tayi gudu danta ya yi rarrafe? (Hausa, Nigeria) how can the offspring of a gazelle crawl when its mother is a fast runner?
9.
Body Beautiful
kozla boysya speredi, konya – szadi, a likhogo cheloveka – so vsekh storon (Russian)
beware of the goat from its front side, of the horse – from its back side, and the evil man – from any side
Mugshot
Our face is our fortune, they say, but some are undeniably more fortunate than others:
chimmurui no kao (Japanese) a face that would stop a clock
kwabbig (Dutch) flabby pendulous cheeks
oriiti (Anywa, Nilo-Saharan) wrinkles on the forehead
papada (Spanish) a double chin
boirg (Gaelic) a small screwed-up mouth
busachd (Gaelic) the deformity of blubber-lips
bemandromba (Malagasy,