I Never Knew There Was a Word for It - Adam Jacot De Boinod [92]
Gifted
While others find different ways to stay afloat:
pakimkím (Tagalog, Philippines) money given by a godparent
hustrulon (Swedish) a wife’s salary
namidakin (Japanese) a small amount of consolation money (literally, tear money)
pujo (Korean) a congratulatory gift or condolence money
Up against it
It’s certainly true that the folding stuff can be elusive; and the occasion when you really need it may be the one time you are unable to find it:
ipatapata (Lozi, Niger-Congo) to try hard to find money with which to make an urgent purchase
lukupu (Mambwe, Zambia) to miss gaining riches by a narrow margin
On the floor
When you do finally get some, for heaven’s sake be careful with it:
pagar el piso (Chilean Spanish) to take out all your friends and pay with the first pay packet from your new job (literally, to pay for the floor)
madyelakhwirhini (Tsonga, South Africa) a man who immediately spends all he earns and sends nothing home; a spendthrift
peaglatata (Dakota, USA) to exhaust one’s own supply by giving to others
It’s the thought that counts
To demonstrate their wealth, the Kwakiutl Indians of Vancouver Island destroyed it. Their chiefs publicly burned food, blankets, canoes and ornaments in the ceremony of potlatch, a word that means ‘giving’. A potlatch might be held for a variety of reasons, which varied from group to group, but included puberty rites and death commemorations. It involved a great feast at which the host lavishly distributed valuable property to all the assembled guests. The hitch was that the guests had to reciprocate at some future date – with interest of up to 100 per cent.
An umbrella at midnight
Two proverbs from the Kannada language of Southern India speak eloquently of the paradoxes of getting rich. HalliddAga kaDle illa; kaDle iddAga hallilla – there are no nuts when one has teeth and there are no teeth when there are nuts; in other words, when you are young you have no money, and when you have money the chance of enjoying it is often gone. But perhaps this is all as it should be. For the second proverb points up the absurdity of some people’s behaviour when they are in a fit state to enjoy their money: Aishwarya bandre ardha rAthrili koDe hiDkonDa – when a poor fellow gets rich, he has an umbrella over his head at midnight; which is to say that a newly wealthy man will flaunt the symbol of the well-off, a parasol to shield him from the sun, even in the dark.
False friends
Reformhaus (German) health food store
top (Dutch) done! agreed! it’s a bargain!
stershit (Albanian) to sell everything that one has
Detail (German) retail
hamstring (Swedish) hoarding (derives from hamster)
male (Italian) bad, wicked
Cowherd’s cake
Sometimes the destitute may just have to make do with a payment in kind:
legopelo (Setswana, Botswana) a piece of meat that is given to someone who has helped skin a cow
angauriyā (Hindi) a ploughman making use of a farmer’s plough instead of receiving wages in money or kind
bonnach-iomanach (Gaelic) a cowherd’s cake (a special reward for good herding at calving time)
matao ni bwe (Gilbertese, Oceania) the price paid in fish for the loan of a canoe or fishing net
On reflection
To see thirty-six candles
The French refer to many things in terms of the number thirty-six:
j’ai trente-six choses à faire I have many things to do
tous les trente-six du mois once in a blue moon (literally, each thirty-sixth of the month)
faire les trente-six volontés de quelqu’un to be at someone’s beck and call (literally, to do the thirty-six wills of someone)
voir trente-six chandelles to see stars after getting hit on the head (literally, to see thirty-six candles)
Stall
‘Gol’ na vydumku khitra,’ say the Russians – poverty is crafty; and it’s surely true that having no money can become the spur for entrepreneurial activity, even of the most basic kind:
bahu (Bugotu, Solomon Islands) to barter food for money
ditan (Chinese) a street vendor’s stand (with the goods spread out on the ground)
higgler (Jamaican creole) a person