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gujrī (Hindi) a roadside market set up in the late afternoons

sitoa (Gilbertese, Oceania) a small trading ship whose decks are set up as stores

chelnoki (Russian) shuttle traders (who buy goods from the back of lorries)

limpiaparabrisas (Mexican Spanish) street kids who gather at intersections with traffic lights and rush to wash the windscreen of cars waiting for the lights to change and then demand to be paid

Red shells out, white shells back

The Kiriwina of the Trobriand Islands in the Pacific have an elaborate gift exchange system called the kula. The islanders set off round the islands in large, ocean-going canoes and trade red shell necklaces (veigun) in a clockwise direction, and white shell bracelets (mwali) in an anti-clockwise direction. The round trip is several hundred miles.

The art of selling

There’s a lot of skill (even magic) in encouraging people to part with their hard-earned dosh:

spruik (Australian slang) to talk to attract customers; to hold forth like a showman

verlierlen (Yiddish) to lose a customer to a fellow salesman

vparivat’ (Russian) to palm off defective goods

fare orecchie da mercante (Italian) pretending not to understand (literally, to have a merchant’s ears)

palulud (Maguindanaon, Philippines) a charm that is supposed to have the power to attract customers

Smoke and mirrors

Although the further up the scale you go, the less need you have for actual goods:

muhaqala (Arabic) the sale of grain while still in growth, dealing in grain futures

dymoprodukt (Russian) an advertised product that is not yet being produced (literally, smoke product)

wheeler (Scots) one who bids at an auction simply to raise the price

One-armed bandit

There are, of course, other ways of making money, if you’re prepared to take a chance:

agi (Maranao, Philippines) to win continually in gambling

airi (Maranao, Philippines) to bet again on a card which has just won

an non (Vietnamese) to quit gambling as soon as one has won

balato (Tagalog, Philippines) money given away by a winning gambler as a sign of goodwill

Losers

However, even the most hardened practitioners know that in the long run the betting tables don’t pay. As the Germans say, ‘Young gamblers, old beggars’:

borona (Malagasy, Madagascar) having nothing with which to pay money lost in betting

biho (Maranao, Philippines) a bet, money asked for from winners by losers

pelasada (Maranao, Philippines) the percentage taken from bets by the owner of a gambling place

Tokyo tricks

The Japanese have two words to describe what happens as the temptation to cheat gets stronger:

dakko the flicking movement of the palm that will send goods up into the sleeve

dosa a player with an exceptionally bad hand who will flick a compromising card up his sleeve and quickly substitute a more favourable one

Retail therapy

So what to do with it when you finally have it? Why, hit the streets, of course; and this is an occupation, if not an art, in itself:

faire du lèche-vitrines (French) to go window-shopping (literally, to lick windows)

chokuegambo (Japanese) the wish that there were more designer-brand shops on a given street; the desire to buy things at luxury brand shops

arimuhunán (Tagalog, Philippines) something worth taking although not needed

emax (Latin) fond of buying

You’re safer with prison

What a fine array of products the world has in its shop window:

Atum Bom Portuguese tinned tuna

Bimbo Mexican biscuits

Kevin French aftershave

Polio Czech detergent

Vaccine Dutch aftershave

Flirt Austrian cigarettes

Meltykiss Japanese chocolate

Climax Kenyan disinfectant

Hot Piss Japanese antifreeze spray

Naked New Zealand fruit and nut bar

Noisy French butter

Last Climax Japanese tissues

Happy Swedish chocolate

Prison Ugandan body spray

IDIOMS OF THE WORLD

As easy as falling off a log

så let som at klø sig i nakken (Danish) as easy as scratching the back of your neck

semudah membalikkan telapak tangan (Indonesian) as easy as turning your palm around