KOCHI: I was left quite amused when a friend recently said she often gobbled to kill boredom. I am informed that the tendency to munch on something when bored is not that uncommon. The Japanese would call it kuchisabishii.
Last week was a delightful one in terms of discovering new words. I must thank Merriam-Webster, which asked tweeples to throw up words in their native language that do not have an English equivalent. The fascinating thread has notched up over 87 lakh views.
Kuchisabishii was among hundreds of amusing entries. The word, in Japanese, “translates to ‘lonely mouth’... you eat because your mouth is lonely or you are bored”. It was, however, another Japanese term that really got me hooked — tsujigiri. A tweeter described it as “trying out your newly acquired sword by decapitating a random passer-by”. Ha!
The next one, again in Japanese, was something many of us can relate to — tsundoku. It means “acquiring books and letting them pile up without reading them” or a “stack of books you’ve purchased but haven’t yet read”.
It just got better and better.
Soubhiyé (my favourite): In Lebanese Arabic, it means “that quiet time when you’re the only one awake in the house and can enjoy a cup of coffee before the day starts”.
Kabelsalat (German): “Cable spaghetti or cable clutter, describing the result of several cables close to each other tangling up.”
Verschlimmbessern (German): “To make something worse by trying to make it better.”
Bjørnetjeneste is something similar in Norwegian: “You try to help, but do too much, so instead you do harm. (From a tale about a bear wanting to kill a fly on its owner’s nose, and instead killed the man.)”
Qti maz (Armenian): translates to ‘nose hair’, but to the Armenians, “it means someone who is overly concerned with details that don’t matter”.
Trúno (Icelandic): “really showing yourself in a long and intimate conversation with others, often late in the evening and accompanied by alcohol, but not necessarily only then”.
Sisu (Finnish): Loosely translated as “stoic determination, tenacity of purpose, grit, bravery, resilience and hardiness…. You might hate doing a thing, but the thing has to be done, so you will do the thing.”
Fargen (Hebrew/Yiddish): “emotionally, spiritually and verbally support someone in a warm and loving and non-judgmental way”.
Apapachar (Mexican-Spanish): “it literally means ‘hug with the soul’, it’s used like, sort of a mix of ‘to cuddle’, ‘to support’ and ‘to console’: to throw all of your love to someone when they need it the most”.
I am ready!
Cafuné (Brazilian): “gently scratching/rubbing a beloved’s head and scalp”.
Sobremesa (Spanish): Means ‘upon the table’; it is “the Hispanic tradition of relaxing at the table after a heavy meal. It begins after dessert is served….” Well, it can go on for hours.
Umay (Austronesian — Tagalog): “The feeling of having had too much of the same food over and over again that you feel like you can no longer take a bite of the same stuff again.
This can also be used figuratively and describe ideas, concepts, experiences, among others.”
Hiraeth (Welsh): “basically a longing for the land of our fathers. It’s like having a piece of elastic tied to Wales and your heart under constant tension, tugging you back gently, softly, whispering in Welsh ‘come home soon’.”
There were some Indian entries, too.
Jugaad: “a flexible approach to problem-solving that uses limited resources in an innovative way”.
Mudita (Sanskrit): “feeling joy in the happiness of others”.
Dharma: “Doing what is right (not what is legal) and it can vary from person to person and there is no right answer.”
I am certain there are hundreds of more Indian words with no parallels in English. Do write in your picks to neeraj@newindianexpress.com
Okay, time for me to go on a word hunt. Have an enlightening week ahead. Leaving you with some trending words from the latest update to Dictionary.com
Digital nomad: “A person who works remotely while travelling for leisure, especially when having no fixed, permanent address.”
Nearlywed: “A person who lives with another in a life partnership, sometimes engaged with no planned wedding date, sometimes with no intention of ever marrying.”
Hellscape: “A place or time that is hopeless, unbearable or irredeemable.”
Antifragile: “Becoming more robust when exposed to stressors, uncertainty or risk.”
Liminal space: “A state or place characterized by being transitional or intermediate in some way.”
Rage farming: “The tactic of intentionally provoking political opponents, typically by posting inflammatory content on social media, in order to elicit angry responses and thus high engagement or widespread exposure for the original poster.”
Trauma dumping: “Unsolicited, one-sided sharing of traumatic or intensely negative experiences or emotions in an inappropriate setting or with people who are unprepared for the interaction.”
Petfluencer: “A person who gains a large following on social media by posting entertaining images or videos of their cat, dog or other pet.”
Bedwetting: “Exhibition of emotional overreaction, as anxiety or alarm, to events, especially major decisions or outcomes.”
Self-coup: “A coup d’état performed by the current, legitimate government or a duly elected head of state to retain or extend control over government, through an additional term, an extension of term, an expansion of executive power, the dismantling of other government branches, or the declaration that an election won by an opponent is illegitimate.”
Cakeism: “The false belief that one can enjoy the benefits of two choices that are in fact mutually exclusive, or have it both ways.”
Pinkwashing: “an instance or practice of acknowledging and promoting the civil liberties of the LGBTQ+ community, but superficially, as a ploy to divert attention from allegiances and activities that are in fact hostile to such liberties”.
Cyberflashing: “an act or instance of sending someone unsolicited, unwanted, sexually explicit images or video using digital platforms”.
Anti-fat: “opposed, hostile, or averse to fatness and fat people”.
Sexual minority: “a member or members of the LGBTQ+ community, used especially in the context of discrimination against or advocacy for a minoritized sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression’.
Abrosexual: ”noting or relating to a person whose sexual orientation is fluid or fluctuates over time”.
Multisexual: “noting or relating to a person who is sexually or romantically attracted to people of more than one gender, used especially as an inclusive term to describe similar, related sexual orientations such as bisexual, pansexual, omnisexual, etc.”
Climate fiction (cli-fi): “a genre of fiction, encompassing both speculative and realist works, in which climate change and other environmental concerns are major themes”.