Category: Words and phrases

Bons mots

By Simon

What connects bons mots with mottos and muttering? Let’s find out.

bon mot test 2 stitch-out

A bon mot [bɒn məʊ / bɑn moʊ] in English means a clever saying, a phrase or witticism or a witty riposte in dialogue. It comes from French bon mot [bɔ̃ mo], which means the same thing, or literally “good word”. You can also find bon mot in Dutch, Indonesian and other languages [source].

The word mot [mo] in French means a word, note, (short) message or the answer to an enigma. It comes from Middle French mot (word), from Old French mot (word), from Late Latin muttum (a mutter, grunt), from muttīre (to mutter, murmur, talk quietly) from muttiō (to mutter, murmer), which is of onomatopoeic origin and signifies “make a mu-noise” [source].

Other French expressions featuring mot include:

  • demi-mot = a hint (“half-word”)
  • fin mot = the real story, the (whole) truth (“final word”)
  • gros mot = dirty word, swear word (“coarse / rough word”)
  • grand mot = a strong word, strong term (“big-word”)
  • demi-mot = a hint (“half-word”)
  • mot d’esprit = a witticism, bon mot (“word of spirit / wit”)
  • dernier mot = last word

Other words from the same roots possibly include mot (word) in Catalan, motto and mutter in English, mote (nickname, motto) in Spanish, Motto (motto, slogan) in German and motto (philosophy, motto, watchword, byword) in Polish [source].

By the way, the plural of bon mot in French is bons mots, but in English it can be bon mots or bons mots. What about in other languages?




Silly Madness

By Simon

The word mishegoss came up in a book I’m reading at the moment, and I had no idea what it meant, so I thought I’d find out.

mishegoss

Mishegoss [ˌmɪʃəˈɡɒs / ˈmɪʃəɡɒs] is apparently a slang term meaning madness or silliness. It comes from the Yiddish word משוגעת (meshugas), which means craziness, madness, nonsense, crazy talk, senseless activity, irrationality, craze, fad or quirk. That word comes from Yiddish משוגע (meshuge – crazy), from Hebrew משוגע (m’shugá – mad, crazy, insane), from שיגע (shigéa – to drive crazy) [source].

Words from the same roots include mișegos (petty) in Romanian, мишигас [mʲɪʂɨˈɡas] (maddness, insanity) in Russian, мешигос (mešyhós – maddness) in Ukrainian, mesüge (crazy) in Hungarian, and meshugge (crazy, mad, senseless, insane) in English [source].

I think I’ve heard or seen the word meshugge before, though I wasn’t sure what it meant at the time. Apparently it’s been used in English since at least 1880 [source]. Is it mainly used in American English?

Some related words in English include:

  • mashugana = nonsense, silliness, craziness, garbage; a person who is silly or crazy
  • meshugaas = nonsense, rubbish, craziness, a chaotic state of affairs, a mess
  • meshuggener = crazy, insane; a madman, a crazy person, a nutter

Do you use any of these words?




Omphaloskepsis

By Simon

Do you engage in omphaloskepsis?

Mimicking UK politicians navel gazing

Omphaloskepsis [ˌɒmfələˈskɛpsɪs] is a very useful word that means the comtemplation of or meditation upon one’s navel, or in other words, navel-gazing. Another definition is ‘Ratiocination* to the point of self-absorption’. It comes from Ancient Greek ὀμφαλός (omphalós – navel) & σκέψις (sképsis – perception, reflection) [source].

*Ratiocination = Reasoning, conscious deliberate inference. Thought or reasoning that is exact, valid and rational. A proposition arrived at by such thought [source].

Related words include:

  • omphaloskeptic = One who contemplates or meditates upon one’s navel; one who engages in omphaloscopy. Likely to, prone to, or engaged in contemplating or meditating upon one’s navel.
  • omphalomancy = Divination by means of a child’s navel, to learn how many children the mother may have.
  • omphalopsychic = Related to or characterised by navel-gazing (omphaloskepsis). Someone who engages in omphaloskepsis, a navel-gazer.

The Modern Greek word ομφαλοσκοπία (omfaloskopía – the action or effect of omphaloscopy. A method of divination involving the examination of the umbilical cord) is also related [source].

The Ancient Greek word ὀμφαλός (omphalós – navel, umbilical cord, anything navel-shaped, centre) comes from Proto-Indo-European *h₃m̥bʰ-l̥- (navel), from *h₃nebʰ- (hub, navel) [source].

Words from the same roots include umbilicus (navel, middle, centre), navel and nave in English, ombelico (navel, umbilicus) in Italian, nombril (navel, belly button, middle) in French, umbigo (navel) in Portuguese, buric (navel, belly button) in Romanian, naaf (hub, nave) in Dutch, Nabel (navel, belly button, centre, middle) in German, and imleacán (navel, belly button) in Irish [source].

By the way, I found the word omphaloskepsis while putting together a Celtiadur post about words for navel, centre and middle in Celtic languages. It appears in the definition of the Welsh word bogailsyllu [bɔɡai̯lˈsəɬɨ / boːɡai̯lˈsəɬi], which means to comtemplate one’s navel, or to engage in navel-gazing or omphaloskepsis [source]. If you are omphaloskeptic, then in Welsh you are bogailsyllol (given to navel-gazing) [source].

The bogail [ˈbɔɡai̯l / ˈboːɡai̯l] in bogailsyllu means navel, umbilicus, belly button or afterbirth, a boss on a shield, a knob a stud, a nave, the hub of a well, middle or centre [source]. It should not be confused with bogail, which means vowel.

Words that mean navel-gazing in other languages include: navlepilleri in Danish, navelstaren in Dutch, nombrillisme in French, Nabelschau in German, and navlebeskuer in Norwegian [source].




Little Friends

By Simon

In Mandarin Chinese, one word for a child or children is 小朋友 (xiǎopéngyǒu), which means literally ‘little friend’. It’s generally used by adults to address children.

Mia & Isla
My god-daughters, Isla & Mia

The other day when talking about my experiences in China, I translated 小朋友 from Chinese into French as petits amis, which means boyfriends. I was talking about children, and didn’t realise I’d said something unusual until my friends looked at me strangely, and asked if that’s what I really meant. I assured them I was talking about enfants (children) and not petits amis.

Other ways to refer to children in Mandarin include:

  • 孩子 (hái​zi) = child
  • 小孩子 (xiǎo hái​zi) = (small) child
  • 儿童 (értóng) = child(ren)
  • 孩童 (háitóng) = child
  • 小儿 (xiǎo​’ér) = young child
  • 少儿 (shào​’ér) = child
  • 娃娃 (wáwa) = baby, small child, doll

Source: https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary

Words for older sister – 妹妹 (mèimei), younger sister – 姐姐 (jiě​jie), older brother – 哥哥 (gē​ge) and younger brother – 弟弟 (dìdi) – can also be used to refer to children in Mandarin.

Other ways to refer to a child in French include:

  • bambin = toddler
  • bout de chou, bout d’chou, boutchou = sweet little thing, little one, little tot
  • chérubin = cherub
  • fils = son
  • fille = daughter
  • galopin = urchin, scamp, brat, ragamuffin
  • gamin = kid, street urchin, street kid (dated)
  • marmot = kid, brat
  • minot = kid, lad

Source: https://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/enfant#fr

Have you mistranslated terms like I did?

Are there interesting words for child(ren) you know in French or other languages?




Ideophones

By Simon

What does the word tututu make you think of?

Zaanse Schans windmill gears

It’s an ideophone from Bebe (Naami) a language spoken in parts of Cameroon, and to a speaker of Bebe, tututu suggests the sound of a grinding mill.

Other ideophones in Bebe include:

  • kpaŋkpaŋkpaŋ = the sound of a bell
  • gbaaaŋ = the sound of a door closed with force
  • waaa = the sound of a running water
  • ŋgɔɔɔŋ = the sound of a lion roaring
  • ŋaaaŋ = the sound of a baby crying

Source: Naami Orthography Guide, by Grace Tabah and Mkounga Tala Blaise

You can find out more about Bebe on Omniglot – this is a new page I added today, and finding out about the ideophones in this language inspired me to write this post.

An ideophone is a member of the class of words that depict sensory imagery or sensations, evoking ideas of action, sound, movement, color, or shape. They are also known as mimetics or expressives. Unlike onomatopoeic words, which imitate sounds, ideophones can also indicate action, state, intensity, smell, colour or manner. They are common in such languages as Japanese, Korean, Tamil, Yoruba and Zulu.

Here are some examples:

  • がぶがぶ (gabugabu) = gulping, guzzling, gulp gulp – Japanese
  • きびきび (kibikibi) = briskly – Japanese
  • しとしとと降る (shitoshito to furu) = to rain or snow quietly – Japanese
  • 가물가물 (gamulgamul) = (light) fading away into the distance, moving away faintly, in a blurred manner – Korean
  • 버글버글 (beogeulbeogeul) = boilingly while spreading in all directions; bubblingly while spreading in all directions – Korean
  • 꽁냥꽁냥 (kkongnyangkkongnyang) = lovey-dovey – Korean
  • படபட (paṭapaṭa) = fluttering – Tamil
  • புசுபுசு (pucupucu) = soft and bushy, fluffy – Tamil
  • விறுவிறு (viṟuviṟu) = energetically, lively, spicy – Tamil
  • khazimula = shining brightly – Zulu
  • qaqa = bursting – Zulu
  • jabula = happily – Zulu

Does your language have ideophones, or anything similar? Do you have any interesting examples?

For more information about ideophones see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideophone
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:Korean_ideophones
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:Japanese_onomatopoeias




Outside Aliens

By Simon

As a non-Chinese person in China, a word you’ll hear quite a bit is 外国人 (wài​guó​rén), which means foreigner, foreign national or alien. Some people like pointing out any foreigners they see, and they might say or shout 外国人 at them, assuming they won’t understand.

Me in front of the Old City Wall in Zhaoqing / 我在肇庆古城墙前
Me in front of the Old City Wall in Zhaoqing / 我在肇庆古城墙前

外国人 [外國人] (wài​guó​rén) could be translated literally as “outside country person” or “foreign nation person”. A slang version is 歪果仁 (wāi​guǒ​rén) which literally means something like “slanted fruit benevolence” or “askew results humaneness” [source].

When Chinese people look at me and say 外国人, I might reply by saying I’m not a 外国人 but rather a 外星人 (wài​xīng​rén), which means space alien or extraterrestrial. This often gets a smile or laugh. Or I might point that to me they are the 外国人.

When I worked in Taiwan, I was officially an alien as I had an Alien Registration Card, which I found quite amusing.

外国人 is a formal and polite to refer to a non-Chinese national, and seems to be used particularly to refer to people who don’t look Chinese or Asian. Other ways to do so include:

  • 老外 (lǎowài / lou5 ngoi6) – “old foreign” – this is an informal, slang term for foreigners, particularly foreigners of non-East Asian ethnicities, and is used throughout China in Mandarin and Cantonese. It is seen as offensive or rude by some [source]. It can also mean a layman or amateur, and in Cantonese it can refer to a father-in-law, specifically a wife’s father [source].
  • 鬼佬 (gwai2 lou2) – “ghost man”, “devil person” – used in Cantonese and Eastern Min to refer to a foreigner, particularly a white Westerner. It is considered derogatory [source].
  • 洋人 (yángrén) – “ocean / foreign person” – refers to a foreigner, especially a westerner or Caucasian. Used in some varieties of Mandarin, Gan, Hakka, Jin, Wu and Xiang [source]
  • 外宾 [外賓] (wàibīn) – “foreign guest” [source].
  • 国际友人 [國際友人] (guójì yǒurén) – “international friend”.
  • 外国朋友 [外國朋友] (wàiguó péng​you) – “foreign friend”.

In China, people who were not born in the area they live are known as 外地人 (wài​dì​rén – stranger, outsider, non-local, out-of-towner) by local people. I met quite a few such people in Zhaoqing [source].

In the few days I’ve been in Hong Kong, I’ve seen more 外國人 than I did in 6 weeks in Zhaoqing. There, it’s rare to spot a 外国人 in the wild. Here, they’re more common. Today, for example, I heard 外國人 speaking English, French, German, Dutch, Russian and other languages I didn’t recognise. There were quite a few at Victoria Peak, which I visited today.

Victoria Peak / 太平山
A view from Victoria Peak (太平山), Hong Kong

In Japanese, 外国人 (gaikokujin) is used to refer to a foreigner, an alien, a foreign national or a person who is not Japanese [source].

The informal version, 外人 (gaijin), is used specifically for foreigners of European ancestry, and used to mean any outsider, or an estranged or unfamiliar person. After Japan opened up to the outside world in the 1850s, 外人 started to be used to refer to foreigners, especially foreigners in Japan. It is considered negative and pejorative by some these days [source]. It can also refer to ethnically Japanese people who have grown up outside Japan and are not Japanese citizens [source].

Language skills in just 10 minutes a day with Ling




One Another

By Simon

The other day I came accross the word 彼此 (bǐ​cǐ) in one of my Chinese lessons. It means each other or one another, and while I’d seen both characters before, I hadn’t seen them together like this.

Illustration of the Chinese and Japanese word 彼此

There is also the idiom 彼此彼此 (bǐ​cǐbǐ​cǐ) in Chinese, which means you and me both or that makes two of us [source].

彼 (bǐ) on it’s one means that, there or those in Mandarin Chinese [source].

I’m more familiar the character 彼 in the Japanese words like 彼 (kare – he, him or boyfriend) and 彼女 (kanojo – she, her, girlfriend), 彼ら (karera – they, them) and 彼氏 (kareshi – boyfriend, he, him)

彼 can also appear in Japanese words like:

  • 彼 (are) = that (thing / person / time / place)
  • 彼の (ano) = that, those, the – usually written あの
  • 彼処 (asoko) = there, over there, that place, yonder, you-know-where, private parts, that far, that much – usually written あそこ
  • 彼方 (achira) = that way, that direction, over there, yonder, that (one / person), foreign country (esp. a Western one) – usually written あちら
  • 彼方此方 (achikochi) = here and there, various places, all around, all over, everywhere, throughout, muddled, confused, back to front – usually written あちこち
  • 彼是 (arekore) = this and that, one thing or another, this way and that, around about, roughly, nearly, almost – usually written あれこれ, can also be written 彼此

Source: https://jisho.org/

此 (cǐ) on it’s one means this or these in Mandarin Chinese [source].

In Japanese 此 can appear in words such as:

  • 此れ (kore) = this (one / person) now, this time, here – usually written これ
  • 此の (kono)= this, last, these, parts この
  • 此方 (kochira) = this way, this direction, here, this (one) – usually written こちら
  • 此処 (koko) = here, this place, this point, here, now – usually written ここ
  • 此奴 (koistsu) = he, she, this fellow, this guy, this person, hey you! – usually written こいつ

Source: https://jisho.org/

I’ve seen some of these words written with kanji in subtitles for songs online, perhaps to save space on the screen.

When I first started learning Japanese, I tried to learn all the rarely-used kanji like this, and wanted to know the kanji for every Japanese word, if they existed. I’ve since forgotten a lot of them, but the Mandarin, Cantonese and Japanese lessons I’ve been working on recently have helped.

When I try to read texts in Chinese or Japanese, I can usually understand enough to get some idea of what they mean. However, there are often characters I’ve forgotten, or haven’t learnt yet, which can be frustrating. Fortunately, I can usually find them in a dictionary or translation app on my phone, or I can ask someone.

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Quick Brown Foxes

By Simon

A pangram, or holoalphabetic sentence, is a sentence that includes every letter used to write a particular language at least once. The best-known example in English is “the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog”.

Illustration of the pangram 'the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog'

This pangram has been used used since at least the late 19th century. Telegraph companies such as Western Union used it to test the accuracy and reliabilty of their equipment, and these days, pangrams are used to display typefaces in computers, and for other programs.

An even more difficult challenge is to construct a short pangram using – that is, one that contains as few letters as possible.

Here are some examples:

  • Quick nymph bugs vex fjord waltz (27 letters)
  • Waltz, bad nymph, for quick jigs vex (28 letters)
  • Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow (29 letters)
  • How quickly daft jumping zebras vex (30 letters)
  • The five boxing wizards jump quickly (31 letters)
  • Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs (32 letters)

A perfect pangram is one that contains each letter of the alphabet once. here are some examples:

  • Blowzy night-frumps vex’d Jack Q
  • Mr. Jock, TV quiz PhD, bags few lynx
  • Cwm fjord-bank glyphs vext quiz

The Finnish word Törkylempijävongahdus, which means “a whinge of a sleazy lover”, is an example of a short pangram in one word. It contain all the letters of Finnish alphabet used to write Finnish words, but not the ones used to write words borrowed from other languages.

Are there similar examples in any other languages?

Another kind of pangram is a phonetic pangram, that is, one that contains all the phonemes of a particular language. Here’s one for English sent in by Murray Callahan, who inspired this post:

That quick beige fox jumped in the air over each thin dog. Look out, I shout, for he has foiled you again, creating chaos.

Can you come up with any others for English or other languages?

Sources and information about pangrams:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangram

https://clagnut.com/blog/2380/

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pangram

https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/385085/is-there-such-a-thing-as-pangram-for-phonemes

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Beware your shoes!

By Simon

Here are a few more signs I spotted recently that have ‘interesting’ English versions.

Sign on escalator

I saw this sign on an escalator in the local college campus. If you want to use this escalator, you have to hold the child and the pet, and if you haven’t got them, just borrow or hire them.

The use of handcarts is banned. Handcart is a translation of 手推车 (shǒutuīchē), which, based on the picture, refers to pushchairs, baby buggies, strollers, or whatever you call them. It can also mean trolley, cart, barrow, handcart or wheelbarrow, and literally means “hand push vehicle”. Other translations of pushchair / stroller include 推车 (tuīchē) and 童车 (tóngchē).

You have to watch your sreps to keep safe while waking in the mall, and you must keep your children from plating or running.

Here’s another sign from a different escalator.

Sign on escalator

Here you must hold the child’s hand, carry he pet in your arms, hold the handrail and beware your shoes. The use of carts is banned, the bulky item is forbidden in, and you should not play, slapstick, climb or look at the phone. Most people seem to look at their phones all the time, so the last one is asking a bit much, perhaps.

Rather than slapstick, 打闹 (dǎnào) could also be translated as to quarrel, squabble, be rowdy, play boisterously, or engage in horseplay. So no rowdy or boisterous playing, squabbling or quarrelling with horses on the escalator.

Sign on escalator

This sign, in Chinese, English, Japanese and Korean, forbids you from striding. A better translation might be “No Climbing on/over the fence”. Are the Japanese and Korean versions well-translated?

Here’s a sign I spotted on a litter bin / trash can:

Sign on litter bin

If you have any disposable tableware, old pottery (who carries old pottery around with them?), pericarp skins or the dust, you can dispose of it/them here. I’ve no idea where ‘pericarp’ came from – a better translation of 果皮 (guǒ​pí) would be ‘fruit peel’, and 瓜壳 (guāké) would be better translated as ‘melon rind’.

Merry Christmas, by the way, if that’s something you celebrate.

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Oceanic Lutes

By Simon

My mandolin

When looking for the names of various instruments in Chinese, as you do, I came across 洋琵琶 (yáng​pí​pá) for mandolin. 洋 (yáng) means ocean, sea, foreign or western, and the 琵琶 (pí​pá) is a traditional Chinese string instrument described by the MDBG Chinese dictionary as a ‘guitar-like instrument’. So it’s a ‘foreign pipa’ in Chinese [source].

The Encyclopedia Britannica describes the pipa (see above) it as a ‘short-necked Chinese lute’ that originated in Western Asia, and has been known in China since the 2nd Century AD. Apparently the Chinese name comes from the way it’s played: pí​ originally meant to pluck in a forward motion, and pá meant to pluck in a backward motion. Different characters with the same sounds were later chosen for the instrument’s name [source].

Chinese Pipa

The word 洋 (yáng) also appears in

  • 洋葱 (yáng​cōng) = onion, or ‘foreign scallion / green onion’
  • 洋气 (yáng​qì) = Western style, foreign style, trendy, fashionable, or ‘foreign steam / vapour’
  • 洋葱 (yáng​cù) = potato, or ‘foreign taro’

Another Chinese word that appears in various instrument names is 琴 (qín), which on its own refers to a type of long zither with seven strings, plucked with the fingers, also known as a 古琴 (gǔ​qín). The 琴 (qín) is also translated as a Chinese lute or guitar [source].

Other types of 琴 (qín) include:

  • 钢琴 [鋼琴] (gāng​qín) = piano, or ‘steel qin’.
  • 风琴 [風琴] (fēngqín​) = organ, or ‘wind qin’.
  • 口琴 (kǒu​qín​) = mouth organ, harmonica, or ‘mouth qin’.
  • 竖琴 [竪琴] (shù​qín​) = (Western-style harp). or ‘vertical qin’.
  • 小提琴 (xiǎo​tí​qín​qín) = violin, or ‘small hand-held qin’.
  • 中提琴 (zhōng​tí​qín​) = viola, or ‘medium-sized hand-held qin’.
  • 大提琴 (dà​tí​qín​) = cello, or ‘big hand-held qin’.
  • 低音大提琴 (dī​yīn​(dà)​tí​qín​) = double bass or ‘low sound (big) hand-held qin’.
  • 班卓琴 (bān​zhuó​qín​) = banjo, or ‘banjo qin’ – the Chinese characters sound similiar to the word banjo

I think it’s interesting that in Chinese, non-Chinese instruments and other things are referred to as variants on traditional Chinese instruments, etc, while in English, Chinese instruments are referred to as versions of ‘Western’ instruments like guitars, lutes and zithers.

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