Return to Home Page

May 26, 2006

Some more weird words from around the world

It’s been awhile since I’ve shared any of the weird words from Adam Jacot de Boinod’s The Meaning of Tingo, so — for travelers looking to wow (or just confuse) their international hosts — here are a few choice global vocabularly nuggets:

  • The Dutch word for skimming stones is plimpplamppletteren.
  • Nakhur is Persian for a camel that won’t give milk until her nostrils are tickled.
  • Cigerci is Turkish for a seller of liver and lungs.
  • Madogiwazoku is Japanese for “window gazers” (i.e., office workers who sit at desks with little to do).
  • Seigneur-terrasse is French for a person who spends much time but little money in a café.
  • Tsuji-giri is Japanese for trying out a new sword on a passer-by (an example of the lack of respect for peasants by the Samurai).
  • Torschlusspanik is German the fear of diminishing opportunities as one gets older.
Posted by |  
Category: Weird word of the week
Related Posts: A collection of (somewhat) useful words from around the world, Japanese words that don’t exist, but should, More good words from Vagabonding readers


One Response to “Some more weird words from around the world”

  1. Suz Says:

    Hi Rolf!

    I’m a huge fan of your writing & your experiences. I particularly like this category of your blog - we actually have a ‘Travel Term du Jour’ feature on our blog as well.. I hope you don’t mind, but I may borrow some of these terms, and will give credit where it’s due!

    Best,
    Suz (a.k.a. Lil’ Boozie)
    “3 Troopin’ Travelers”

Leave a Reply

Main

Bio

Stories

Essays

Interviews

Books

Images

Writers

Guide

News

Paris

Vagabonding.net

Contact

Marco Polo Didnt Go There
Rolf's new book!


Vagabonding
   Vagabonding


RECENT COMMENTS

Marcel Janus: The Glacier Express in Switzerland is great! Take the ride if...

Jeff Paulett: Don’t you have the American Orient-Express?

Abha: Mohammad, Anish, JA, and Amanda: Thanks for your thoughts, I really appreciate...

Amanda: Abha, you poor gal, sounds like a nasty case of reverse culture shock and I...

J A: alfds! Please don’t make outrageously ignorant posts. It wastes our time....

friend of another carnival cruiser: Hey Mick, You are the fool if you paid for Desmonds...

aljfds: Wow are you a complainer. You can just waltz back into employment and housing...

anish: didi! it seems natural. it’ll only get better with time, but make sure you...

jquaglia: Thanks for the link and the recent posts about Train travel. I really hope...

Mohammad: I made a decision to quit engineering and study photography in the UK for a...

SPONSORED BY :



CATEGORIES

TRAVEL LINKS

ARCHIVES

RECENT ENTRIES

Holiday gift ideas for the traveler
Spectacular train trips around the world
Handling the transition: Numb and lost
Spare Change
Wanderlust is not a curable disease
The healing power of nature
Website for weekend trips
Looking for the adventures that travel agencies don’t know about
Online marketing solutions for vagabonding businesses
Are some cultural practices ‘wrong’?


Subscribe to this blog's feed
Counter