Ho’oponopono (Hawaiian) a social mechanism for healing wronged parties where the offended sit down until the issue is set right. It could come to symbolize a powerful covenant, going beyond mere “family discussion” or “therapy.”
Tingo (Pacuense, Easter Island—rhymes with bingo) to take all the objects one desires from the house of a friend. I like this because we do not have a word that means borrowing with a positive connotation. Personally, I like it when people borrow something from me: it’s kind of a social glue which tells me they trust me enough to ask and which then allows me to ask them for something later on. I hate it when I see everyone with their own snow blower, sander, miter saw, leaf blower, rototiller, etc. Why can’t we all buy one each and then share? We only use these items a few times a year—such a waste.
Gemutlich (German—gem-OOHT-lick with a hard “g”) cozy, snug familial situation usually in a living room. That just nails it for me. Although not too often, my family has a gemutlich ever now and again, sometimes when we do a family cheer (not sure how this tradition started), frequently when we all snuggle up to watch a good film, and when (quite infrequently) we have a group hug.
Aware (Japanese—ah-WAH-ray) ephemeral beauty. This would, of course, counter the western/US notion of beauty which seems so often tied to grandiose, stable, overpowering. Using this term we could, as Rheingold, argues cultivate a bittersweet aesthetic emotion for the transient. I think of the Art of Andy Goldsworthy, not necessarily the photographs of his work, but encountering his work al natural, in decay.
And, finally, just for fun:
Tartle (Scottish) This is when you are in the embarrassing situation of conversing with someone you have been introduced to but can’t remember their name. This is a good one since I often find myself in this situation and, more importantly, because it’s fun to say especially as a dig: “Don’t worry old boy, we all tartle at some point.”
9 comments:
I love it! It seems like a good assignment I might use in my creative writing class. Invent an untranslatable word for a concept you understand but have a hard time explaining.
I think Andy's art is a good metaphor for that. Like a snowflake that melts before you have a chance to "explain" it. Experiences like that exemplify why the post-structuralists are wrong, at least sometimes. Some experiences do exceed or precede our ability to "name" them.
Yet what happens once we name something? I'm confident we can experience emotions and think ideas without naming them but then that process of naming legitimizes the "thing" which creates a social network in which to flesh out the thing. Of course you know this--I'm just trying to articulate what I wanted to say to my class today, most of whom dismissed the notion of words creating reality.
I had this insight just the other day when I used the online thesaurus to find a synonym for "imagination," and there were, like, three in English, but in French there were a bundle. What does this tell us? What?
And what is the word in any language for "thank God you finally blogged again!"?
I think its "blogratuity" which of course I feel, in abundance.
I posted a third, yes third, comment earlier, but it disappeared into the ethosphere. What's the word for that?
Anyway. I basically asked if we don't have a word, or a communal word, for a concept do we really have the concept? I mean, if we don't have "tartle" does that mean we don't tartle? Or if we had the word would we tartle more? Or would we just talk more about how we tartle?
I was thinking I'd vote for "blogtastic" as the word for "thank God you blogged" but then this doesn't convey the sense of thankfulness that "blogratuity" does. The whole blogosphere thing might be a good example of how experience, language, and naming co-construct a new reality. I'd never really named the disappointed feeling or the excited feeling I get when I see that someone has created a new blog. But in the process of naming it, I then refine my sese of what this feeling is and how to differentiate it from say receiving a letter or email from a friend. It's similar to these events but it's quite different because I can immediately respond and, possibly more important, the communication is immortalized in an interactive online space.
BTW I think my wife would like a term to define someone (or the action thereof) who is blogging who really should be working. Any ideas?
maybe: blogwastoid, blogophile, blogturd....
I'm going to start using Tartle in conversation. Dammit, it's a word from my people. Does anyone recall the old Saturday Night Life skit with Mike Meyers where he would yell, "If it's not Scottish it's crap!"?
Does anyone recall Mike Myers? For God's sake, man, _So I Married an Axe Murderer_ is canonical at my house. We showed it once to my Scottish son-in-law, and he not only laughed but said that it wasn't too far off in is characterization of the Scots. Does anyone remember.
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