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arse gras (Tok Pisin, Papua New Guinea) a bunch of tanket leaves stuck into a belt to cover a man’s backside

So village

For as long as clothes have been around, people have sneered or laughed at what others have chosen to wear:

topeewalla (Hindi) one who wears a hat, generally a European

kampungan (Indonesian) someone who is incredibly out of fashion, outdated (literally, so village)

hemdsärmelig (German) someone who behaves very rustically (literally, shirt-sleeved)

ta-oiny (Car, Nicobar Islands) clothes-wearing foreigners

samopal (Russian) home-made clothing sold under commercial labels (literally, a home-made cap gun)

Clodhoppers

Though hopefully not what they put on their feet:

gállot (Sami, North Scandinavia) a shoe made out of hide taken from the head of a reindeer

fittocks (Scots) the feet of stockings cut off and worn as shoes

kirza (Russian) imitation leather boots

innesko (Swedish) an indoor shoe

jorg (Scots) the noise of shoes when full of water

Barely there

But then again isn’t one of the most enjoyable things about dressing up coming home and stripping off ?

huhu (Rapanui, Easter Island) to take off one’s clothes in one go, with a pull

byambula (Tsonga, South Africa) to walk in the open completely naked

Just make sure that when you get dressed again there’s no confusion …

vrenge (Norwegian) the action of putting right clothes which are inside out

lopodutes (Ancient Greek) one who slips into another’s clothes

terchausser (Gallo, France) to put the right foot into the left boot and vice versa

embasan (Maguindanaon, Philippines) to wear clothes while taking a bath

IDIOMS OF THE WORLD

Don’t judge a book by its cover

ngam tae rup, jub mai horm (Thai) great looks but bad breath

l’abito non fa il monaco (Italian) clothes do not make the monk

quem vê caras não vê corações (Portuguese) he who sees face doesn’t see heart

odijelo ne čini čovjeka (Croatian) a suit doesn’t make a man

het zijn niet alleen koks die lange messen dragen (Dutch) it’s not only cooks who carry long knives

11.

Stretching Your Legs

zemheride yoğurt isteyen, cebinde bir inek taşir (Turkish)

he who wants yoghurt in winter must carry a cow in his pocket

Travel broadens the mind, they say. But in these days of mass tourism and carbon footprints there’s a lot to be said for staying exactly where you are:

dlanyaa (Tsonga, South Africa) to lie on one’s back with one’s legs apart, gorged with food

lezarder (French) to lie around basking in the sun like a lizard

bafalala (Tsonga, South Africa) to lie face down in the sun, to lie asprawl in the open

naptakhpaya (Dakota, USA) to lie on one’s belly and rest on one’s arms

ngumulo (Tagalog, Philippines) to put both hands under the head when lying down

kagwia (Yamana, Chile) to go upstairs and lie down

Presiding

Not that you have to remain entirely supine to relax:

sumernichat (Russian) to sit outside in the evening doing nothing

seranggong (Malay) to sit with one’s elbows on the table

kem-lo-re (Car, Nicobar Islands) to sit on someone’s knee

upa-nishád (Sanskrit) sitting down at the feet of another to listen to his words

mâhove’êsee’e (Cheyenne, USA) to have a tired bottom from sitting

babaran-on (Ik, Nilo-Saharan) to sit in a group of people warming up in the early morning sun

On reflection

Go to hell

‘See Naples and die’ we’re all told, but what do you do after you’ve visited these admirably named places?

Ecce Homo, Switzerland

Egg, Austria

Hell, Norway

No Guts Captain, Pitcairn Island

Saddam Hussein, Sri Lanka

Sexmoan, Philippines

Silly, Belgium

Starbuck Island, Polynesia

Wedding, Germany

Enviable

The Yamana people of Chile have clearly had plenty of time to think about the many permutations of sitting: utapanus-mutu is to sit by the side of a person but not close to him; usata-ponur mutu is to turn round and sit facing someone; mumbu-moni is to sit holding anything between one’s lips; while kupas-aiiua-mutu is to sit envying a person.