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i 8 - Orono Weekly Times Wednesday, November 2, 2005 Basic Black by Arthur Black The wonderful world of words Words are, of coarse, the most powerful drug used hy mankind. Kipling Wordsmiths, auteurs, literati, journalists, diarists diarists and simple hacks like myself--are like Klondike miners. Every working day we roll up our sleeves, squat on our ' haunches and jam our metaphorical gold pans into the alluvial stream bed of our language. Klondikers dreamed of fat gold nuggets. We writers hope to . sift through the dross and find one day--the perfect perfect word or phrase winking back at us in the sunlight. Le mot juste, as the French call it. But one can say many things better better in French than in English. For instance, that moment when you think of the clever retort you should have made to the jerk who embarrassed embarrassed you at the party only now it's too late? Took me 27 words to explain that in English. French does it in four (two, really): 1'esprit d'escalier' -- the thought which occurs to you while climbing the stairs to bed. But the French don't own a lock on linguistic precision. Even German, often considered a cumbersome cumbersome tongue, can be deft. What do we Anglos call a person who leaves without paying a bill? We call him, er... a person person who leaves without paying his bill. Germans have a single word for it -- 'zechpreller'. If the contemplation of verbal vagaries tickles tickles your cerebral cortex, run to your nearest bookstore and order a copy of The Meaning of Tingo by Adam Jacot de Boinod. Monsieur Jacot de Boinod has scoured the vocabularies of hundreds hundreds of languages from Sanskrit to Samoan-- and he's served up a treasure trove of linguistic linguistic nuggets. That utterly pointless gesture where we scratch our head as we try to remember something something we've forgotten? 'Pana po'o' in Hawaiian. That realization that the woman who looked drop-dead gorgeous from behind is actually drop-dead Gorgon when you see her face-to face? 'Bakku-shan' in Japanese. Japanese. That unseemly scramble scramble among press photographers photographers and TV cameramen cameramen to get a better vantage vantage point at media Classified Business Directory This space won't last for long... only $7.09 per week for one year! Call now to book 1905-983-5301 Fine Finishes by T. Osmond COMPLETE Furniture Repair and Restoration Caning • Veneering • Carving French Polishes & Wicker Repair 905-786-2477 Experience You Can Trust GRUNDY'S COUNTRY UPHOLSTERY 3375 Cone. Rd. 7 (905) 983-9874 www.grundysupholstery.com BRYON GRUNDY STOPPEI LARRY JACKSON PLUMBING & WATER CONDITIONING • Pump Repairs & Installation • UV Lights • Water Softeners • • Free Estimates For Friendly, Expert Service Cell 905-983-6214 Pro 'Painting Why Wait... 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HANDY MANNS Hen Home Construction Renovation Reproductions Cedar Products 905-983-5633 or 5341 events? The Chi-nese call it 'Qiang jingtou'. The uncontrollable habit of saying the most inappropriate thing at the most inappropriate time? We call it 'foot-inmouth 'foot-inmouth disease' in English. English. Indonesians are more precise. They call it 'Latah'. Some languages have words and phrases for situations you can't even imagine arising. 'Nakur' is a Persian word which refers to a camel that won't give milk until her nostrils are tickled. 'Kualanapuhi' is what Hawaiians call the poor sod whose job it is to keep flies off his sleeping king by waving a feather whisk. We'd just say 'Dick Cheney'. And the meaning of The Meaning of Tingo? Tingo is from Pas- cuense, the language of, Easter Island. It means to borrow things from a friend's house, one by one, until there is nothing nothing left. On the other hand, some languages have words that cry out to be adopted, if only for their beauty; Say aloud the word that natives of Tulu, India use to describe the sound of a pitcher filling with water: 'Gulugulu'. Or the Indonesian word for the sound a doorbell makes: 'Ning nong'. And how has our nation of Bob and Doug McKenzies managed to stay afloat this long without the Danish word 'olfrygt'? It means 'fear arising from a lack of beer'. So let's just adopt it. The beauty of- the English language is that when we Anglophiles see a better word in another language we don't moan with envy-- we just steal it. Look at Canada. Half the country's country's towns and cities, lakes and rivers have names swiped from First Nations tongues. My favourite example example of lexicographical theft is neither Canadian, Canadian, nor German nor Danish. It is Latin by way of British. The story goes that General Charles Napier was commander of British troops fighting in India in the middle of the 19th century. Fighting Fighting under a handicap. He was expected to defeat his Indian foes in battle, » but because of complicated complicated politics he was under no circumstances to capture the capital of Hyderabad--the city of Sind. Against orders, Napier Napier and his troops took possession of the capital. He explained his failure/triumph failure/triumph in a one? word telegram to his superiors. It read: PEC- CAVI. That's Latin for T have sinned'. True story? Probably Probably not--but a great one. SKILL-TECH Renovations Since 1983 905-431-6604 • Expert Renovations • Windows X Doois • Bays X Rows • Cutouts Out Specialty I & T Carpenters • Licensed • 27 Years Experience • Custom Homes • General Contracting • Additions • House Trim • Stairs • Decks •Windows «Doors • Barns And all carpentry- related work. 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