I loved this, especially the last story where the people in the group would ask "what is this." We played a similar game on the kibbutz with a young boy who would hang out with us. "Ma zeh" what is this." We'd point to something and he'd give us the Hebrew word for it.
Thank *you*, Vicki! I love that you shared whānau with us -- I was so glad to get to include a word from the Māori language here, and it brought such a beautiful and timely concept to this collection 🤍
I love that thought of our native language as being a 'home' that we take with us. I don't think that's something you realize unless you've lived abroad.
Yes! I told Laura the same thing -- that I'd never quite thought of our mother tongue as being a part of what "home" is and can be for us in the world. I loved that idea and am so glad you connected with it as well, Kerani 🤍
The other stories you picked are wonderful, I always find it interesting to read about words that are only or mostly used to address specific groups of people, like ‘shikamoo’, and words that can’t be translated easily into other languages, like ‘whānau’.
In Dutch, an example of the latter would be ‘gezellig’. It means cosy, fun, inviting, and can describe a relaxed situation or a moment shared with friends or family. It’s an abstract concept which makes it hard to translate, but it’s usually used to describe a positive atmosphere shared between two or more people. Maybe you’ve already come across this word in Belgium!
I love that you mentioned gezellig here, Laura -- so we were already in Belgium when we first learned about the word, but it was actually because of the show Ted Lasso! I'm not sure if you've seen it, but my favorite episode from the last season is actually set in Amsterdam and one of the characters learns about gezellig :) It always makes me happy to come across it here in Antwerp, and it reminds me a lot of the concept of hygge in Danish.
Thank you so much again as well for sharing your story about chuchichäschtli with us! And especially your reflections on how our native language can be a part of what home is for us -- I know I'll be thinking about that for a while to come 🤍
I love how you put that, Julie -- I hadn't quite thought of it that way, but that's definitely how putting this collection together felt 😊 I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed it!
My MIL (RIP) was born and lived in South Africa until she was in her early 30s, went to Denmark as a refugee during apartheid and spoke Danish with a South African English accent that was also peppered with Zulu and Afrikaans. There are certain words she used — mostly when she was angry or frustrated and no English or Danish word would do — that remain unwritten, though I can clearly hear them in my head as well as reproduce them in speech. I could perhaps use my rusty IPA to attempt to transcribe, but seems like a distant memory from a long time ago that she would like to have best left forgotten. There are now really only three of us left who ever heard her when she was alive. Anyway...
Thank you for sharing about your mother-in-law, Gérard 🙏 I'm especially struck by how all the different languages she spoke must have reflected the different layers of a very complex identity and an equally fraught journey through the world. And I can very much imagine how some of the words she used have remained with you, even after so many years.
I loved this, especially the last story where the people in the group would ask "what is this." We played a similar game on the kibbutz with a young boy who would hang out with us. "Ma zeh" what is this." We'd point to something and he'd give us the Hebrew word for it.
I'm so glad this brought back good memories from your time on the kibbutz, Sue -- thanks so much for reading, and for sharing that 🤍
Gorgeous piece Candace, and lovely to see my word featured ❤️ Thanks so much 😊
Thank *you*, Vicki! I love that you shared whānau with us -- I was so glad to get to include a word from the Māori language here, and it brought such a beautiful and timely concept to this collection 🤍
I love that thought of our native language as being a 'home' that we take with us. I don't think that's something you realize unless you've lived abroad.
Yes! I told Laura the same thing -- that I'd never quite thought of our mother tongue as being a part of what "home" is and can be for us in the world. I loved that idea and am so glad you connected with it as well, Kerani 🤍
Thanks for sharing my story, Candace!
The other stories you picked are wonderful, I always find it interesting to read about words that are only or mostly used to address specific groups of people, like ‘shikamoo’, and words that can’t be translated easily into other languages, like ‘whānau’.
In Dutch, an example of the latter would be ‘gezellig’. It means cosy, fun, inviting, and can describe a relaxed situation or a moment shared with friends or family. It’s an abstract concept which makes it hard to translate, but it’s usually used to describe a positive atmosphere shared between two or more people. Maybe you’ve already come across this word in Belgium!
I love that you mentioned gezellig here, Laura -- so we were already in Belgium when we first learned about the word, but it was actually because of the show Ted Lasso! I'm not sure if you've seen it, but my favorite episode from the last season is actually set in Amsterdam and one of the characters learns about gezellig :) It always makes me happy to come across it here in Antwerp, and it reminds me a lot of the concept of hygge in Danish.
Thank you so much again as well for sharing your story about chuchichäschtli with us! And especially your reflections on how our native language can be a part of what home is for us -- I know I'll be thinking about that for a while to come 🤍
Shikamoo. I love that. Probably because I'm older and would love to hear a special, reverent greeting.
Yes! I loved learning about shikamoo as well 😊
Lovely to see different languages celebrated in this way. Thank you Candace and kolay gelsin!
Thank you so much, Jeffrey, and thank you especially for being part of this collection! 🙏🙏
I love that you organized this as a sort of scavenger hunt, gathering these charming words and stories as you went.
I love how you put that, Julie -- I hadn't quite thought of it that way, but that's definitely how putting this collection together felt 😊 I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed it!
My MIL (RIP) was born and lived in South Africa until she was in her early 30s, went to Denmark as a refugee during apartheid and spoke Danish with a South African English accent that was also peppered with Zulu and Afrikaans. There are certain words she used — mostly when she was angry or frustrated and no English or Danish word would do — that remain unwritten, though I can clearly hear them in my head as well as reproduce them in speech. I could perhaps use my rusty IPA to attempt to transcribe, but seems like a distant memory from a long time ago that she would like to have best left forgotten. There are now really only three of us left who ever heard her when she was alive. Anyway...
Thank you for sharing about your mother-in-law, Gérard 🙏 I'm especially struck by how all the different languages she spoke must have reflected the different layers of a very complex identity and an equally fraught journey through the world. And I can very much imagine how some of the words she used have remained with you, even after so many years.