one must return to the past in order to move forward (Akan, Ghana)
… to appearance or behaviour:
Chiku (f)
chatterer (Swahili)
Masopakyindi (m)
eyes like hard porridge (Nyakyusa, Tanzania)
Masani (f)
has a gap between the front teeth (Buganda, Uganda)
… or to the parental reaction:
U-Thokozile (f)
we are happy to have a child (Ndebele, Southern Africa)
Abeni (f)
we asked for her and behold we got her (Yoruba, Nigeria)
Guedado (m) Anele (f)
wanted by nobody (Fulani, Mali) enough (given to a last born) (Xhosa, South Africa)
Silent foreigners
Czechs describe people from outside their country in intriguing caricature. Originally all foreigners were called Nĕmec (from the adjective němý meaning ‘mute’); now the suggestion that outsiders are deprived of speech applies specifically to Germans, whose country is known as Německo. Hungary in Czech used to be Uhersko, and a Hungarian Uher, literally, a pimple.
The Italians, meanwhile, are called makaróni, for obvious reasons; while Australians are known as protinožcí, meaning ‘legs placed in an opposite direction’, as they would be on the other side of the globe. Other cheerfully frank generalizations include: opilý jako Dán, to be as drunk as a Dane; zmizet po anglicku, to disappear like an Englishman; and when the Czechs really don’t understand something, they say to pro mně španě lská vesnice, it’s all a Spanish village to me.
False friends
handel (Polish and Dutch) trade
liszt (Hungarian) flour
berlin (Wagiman, Australia) shoulder
bengal (Malay) temporarily deaf or stubborn
bach (Welsh) cottage
pele (Samoan) pack of playing cards
Skin and buttocks
Just for the record, and to avoid confusion abroad, here are the meanings of a variety of English names when written in other languages:
adam (Arabic) skin
alan (Indonesian) comedian
alf (Arabic) thousand, millennium
anna (Arabic) moans and groans
calista (Portuguese) chiropodist
camilla (Spanish) stretcher
cilla (Zarma, Nigeria) basket
doris (Bajan, Barbados) police van
eliza (Basque) church
eve (Rapa Nui, Easter Island) buttocks
fay (Zarma, Nigeria) divorce
fred (Swedish, Danish and Norwegian) peace
jim (Korean) baggage
kim (Ainu, Japan) mountain
kylie (Dharug, Australia) boomerang
laura (Greek) group of monks’ huts
luke (Chinese) traveller
marianna (Italian) accomplice who tells a gambler the cards held by other players
sid (Arabic) plaster
susan (Thai ) cemetery
vera (Italian) wedding ring
First person singular
Ben in Turkish, Ami in Bengali, Fi in Welsh, Jo in Catalan, Mimi in Swedish, Mama in Sinhala (Sri Lanka) and Man in Wolof (Senegal and Gambia) all mean I.
Speaking in tongues
British first names crop up as the names of languages, too:
Alan (Georgia); Ali (Central Africa); Dan (Ivory Coast); Dido (Russia); Karen (Myanmar and Thailand); Kim (Chad); Laura (Indonesia); Mae (Vanuatu); Maria (Papua New Guinea and India); Pam (Cameroon); Ron (Nigeria); Sara (Chad); Sonia (Papua New Guinea); Uma (Indonesia); Zaza (Iran).
And equally intriguing to English ears may be:
Afar (Ethiopia); Alas (Indonesia); Anus (Indonesia); Bare (Venezuela); Bats (Georgia); Bench (Ethiopia); Bile (Nigeria); Bit (Laos); Bum (Cameroon); Darling (Australia); Day (Chad); Doe (Tanzania); Eton (Vanuatu/Cameroon); Even (Russia); Ewe (Niger-Congo); Fang (Western Africa); Fox (North American); Fur (Sudan); Ham (Nigeria); Hermit (Papua New Guinea: extinct); Logo (Congo); Mango (Chad); Miao (South-East Asia); Moore (Burkina Faso); Mum (Papua New Guinea); Noon (Senegal); Pear (Cambodia); Poke (Congo); Puma (Nepal); Quiche (Guatemala).
Grand capital of the world
The capital of Thailand is abbreviated by all Thais to Krung Thep, and referred to as Bangkok, meaning literally ‘grove of the wild plums’. But, bearing in mind that there are no spaces between words in written Thai, its full correct name is:
Krungthephphramahanakhonbowonratanakosinmahinthara yuthayamahadilokphiphobnovpharadradchataniburiromudo msantisug
meaning: City of Angels, Great City and Residence of the Emerald Buddha, Impregnable City of the God Indra, Grand Capital of the World, Endowed with Nine Precious Gems, Abounding in Enormous Royal Palaces which resemble the Heavenly Abode where reigns the Reincarnated God, a City given by Indra and built by Vishnukarm.
It rather leaves the Welsh
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwillantysilioogofgoch
(meaning St Mary’s Church by the pool of the white hazel trees, near the rapid whirlpool, by the red cave of the Church of St Tysilio) in the shade.
A to Y
At the other end of the scale are three places called A (in Denmark, Norway and Sweden), and two more, in Alaska and France, called Y.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Acknowledgements
From Top to Toe
Movers and Shakers
Getting Around
It Takes All Sorts
Falling in Love
The Family Circle
Clocking On
Time Off
Eating and Drinking
Below Par
From Cradle to Grave
Otherworldly
All Creatures Great and Small
Whatever the Weather
Hearing Things
Seeing Things
Number Crunching
What’s in a Name?