Favourite Words
"kanchi" - this (and variations upon it) means "scissors"
in a variety of Sanskrit-derived languages in the northern part of the Indian
subcontinent
"gado-gado" - I love saying the name of this Indonesian
dish so much that I often order it even though I don't like eating it
"obfuscation" - here is an opportunity for all my fellow
Roget's-exploration fans to flick sensuously through those flimsy translucent
pages
"mellifluous" - yes yes yes yes yes! oh my god yes!
"kadang kadang" - another Indonesian/Malaysian reduplicative form,
meaning "sometimes" - however, if you mispronounce it as "kachang kachang", you
find yourself saying "nuts nuts".
köszönöm" - ah the beautiful vowels of
Magyarul! This Hungarian word for "thank you" apparently sounds uncannily
similar to something incredibly rude (and surreal) in Egyptian Arabic.
"güle güle" - more beautiful vowels (and another reduplicative form),
this time from Turkish - it's the form of "goodbye" you say to someone who's
leaving when you're staying put. It is often translated as "go with a smile".
"Paraskevi"
- Greek for "Friday". Keen trivia players will notice how this features in the
'Friday 13th phobia' question.
"Nihon no natsu wa atsui desu ne?" - this
common Japanese phrase is best used as often as possible to as a polite way of
striking up conversation with complete strangers when visiting Japan.
"Pozdravljeni" - the Slovenes seem to believe that saying "hello" should
be made as difficult as possible.
"Khrungthep" - the very much
abbreviated form of the full Thai name for "Bangkok"
"tudlo" - Ilonggo
for "finger"