I Never Knew There Was a Word for It - Adam Jacot De Boinod [84]
Zeit totschlagen (German) somebody who has free time but doesn’t know what to do, so does something senseless (literally, to beat time to death)
egkila-kila (Maguindanaon, Philippines) to act foolishly as a means to combat boredom
tsurumun (Japanese) a single woman who dreads being alone on national holidays and invents reasons to visit friends
False friends
black (Swedish) ink
brief (German) letter
fart (French) ski wax
gong (Balinese) orchestra
war-side (Somali) newspaper
urinator (Latin) diver
rust (Dutch) rest or tranquillity
Cucumber troop
There are all kinds of things one can do with time off. What about watching some football? Fans would surely agree that few players can be a peleon (Puerto Rican Spanish), one who plays like Pele, but the Germans have gathered an evocative vocabulary for the highs (and lows) of watching a match:
der Schlachtenbummler a football fan who travels to support his team at home and away (literally, battle stroller)
der Hexenkessel a football stadium of the opposing team, with the fans creating a heated atmosphere (literally, witch’s cauldron)
kleinklein passing the ball from player to player without a plan (literally, small small)
Blutgratsche a nasty tackle
die Gurkentruppe a team that plays badly and unprofessionally, a disaster area, incompetent bunch of players (literally, cucumber troop)
Aggro
Or one could take up a heavier or more demanding sport:
bariga (Tagalog, Philippines) being thrown down in wrestling (literally, the bigger end of an egg)
atuila (Yamana, Chile) to press down on someone and make his legs give way so that he can be held down
munasat (Persian) taking hold of one another’s forelocks when fighting
binti (Manobo, Philippines) a test of strength in which one man stands with his legs apart and his opponent runs from behind and kicks him in the calf of the leg with his shin in an attempt to knock him over; they then change places and continue until one is clearly defeated or gives up because of the pain
Ski-lane terror
Up in the mountains, it’s fast, dangerous, but always fun:
Pistenschreck (German) a skier you have to watch out for (literally, ski-lane terrorist)
tulee! (Finnish) look out! I’m skiing/sledging down towards you at high speed! (literally, it’s coming!)
ahterijarrut (Finnish) falling off your skis and using your tail-end to stop (literally, arse-brakes)
Fackelabfahrt (German) a flaming-torchlight ski-run down the side of a steep snowy mountain, undertaken at night by around fifty skiers
On reflection
The sound of your heart racing
Every language has onomatopoeic words, whose sound and rhythm vividly describe the sound or action they describe:
hara hara doki doki (Japanese) the feeling of your heart racing when you’re scared or nervous
nyurrugu (Yidiny, Australia) the noise of talking heard a long way off when the words cannot be made out
vuhubya-hubya (Tsonga, South Africa) the flapping of pendulous breasts of a woman hurrying
krog-krog (Tibetan) a sound produced by grinding hard brittle objects together
empap (Malay) the sound of a flat object falling on a soft surface
mswatswa (Chichewa, Malawi) the sound of footsteps on dry grass
ndlangandzandlangandza (Tsonga, South Africa) the sound of drums during an exorcism ritual, beaten to cure a possessed person
geeuw (Dutch) a yawn
guntak (Malay) the rattle of pips in a dry fruit
gwarlingo (Welsh) the rushing sound a grandfather clock makes before striking the hour
phut (Vietnamese) the noise of string or rope that snaps
zhaghzhagh (Persian) the noise made by almonds or by other nuts shaken together in a bag
schwupp (German) quick as a flash (short for
schwuppdiwupp)
szelescic (Polish) the sound when someone folds paper (pronounced scheleshchich)
Taking a dip
Down by the sea, river or lakeside, the activity on our day off is altogether gentler:
nchala-nchala-nchala (Tsonga, South Africa) to swim noiselessly and swiftly
zaplyvats (Byelorussian) to swim far out
maulep (Maguindanaon, Philippines) a diver who can stay underwater for