The heading says "Javanese is more concise than English". I don't really buy that, as you could find examples in any language where it takes a bunch of words to express a concept that another language uses a single word for. But these are pretty cool anyway.
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Indeed. I love this kind of stuff. Maybe you've already seen it, but there's a good compilation of cool words from more common languages in a book called ''In Other Words'' - it makes a good gift for translators, linguists, and other nerdy word people.
Soeharto said toward of the end of his rule that he was "old, toothless, wrinkled and senile" - tua, ompong, peot, pikun - but he was accused of secretly claiming that he was on TOPP...
That's great. And peot is another great word, meaning so much more than 'wrinkled' but containing 'shriveled and used up' as well. So many great Indonesian adjectives: linglung 'absent-minded', picik 'one-eyed', tembem 'chubby-cheeked*, and many more, and they all require at least a compound in English to translate.
MY favorite Suharto story: he had a cockatoo which said Selamat Pagi Bapak Presiden ('Good morning, Mr. President') to him every morning. After he was forced out of office, the bird didn't get the memo, and kept calling him Mr. President every morning. There was a great cartoon in the paper of the cockatoo wishing him good morning and Suharto saying "Diam lu" ('You shut up').
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amit-amit is fantastic. Going into my active vocabulary now.
The heading says "Javanese is more concise than English". I don't really buy that, as you could find examples in any language where it takes a bunch of words to express a concept that another language uses a single word for. But these are pretty cool anyway.
Indeed. I love this kind of stuff. Maybe you've already seen it, but there's a good compilation of cool words from more common languages in a book called ''In Other Words'' - it makes a good gift for translators, linguists, and other nerdy word people.
Sounds cool. I'll have to check it out.
I have a few favorites from Indonesian (a language not too distantly related to the Javanese in the link):
amit-amit: "may I never have a child who looks/acts like that person"
nongkrong: to squat idly on ones haunches, wasting time
ngebut: to drive wildly
ompong: having only a few teeth left
I'll never forget that last word...
Soeharto said toward of the end of his rule that he was "old, toothless, wrinkled and senile" - tua, ompong, peot, pikun - but he was accused of secretly claiming that he was on TOPP...
That's great. And peot is another great word, meaning so much more than 'wrinkled' but containing 'shriveled and used up' as well. So many great Indonesian adjectives: linglung 'absent-minded', picik 'one-eyed', tembem 'chubby-cheeked*, and many more, and they all require at least a compound in English to translate.
MY favorite Suharto story: he had a cockatoo which said Selamat Pagi Bapak Presiden ('Good morning, Mr. President') to him every morning. After he was forced out of office, the bird didn't get the memo, and kept calling him Mr. President every morning. There was a great cartoon in the paper of the cockatoo wishing him good morning and Suharto saying "Diam lu" ('You shut up').
amit-amit is fantastic. Going into my active vocabulary now.