Valued Borrowings
3 June, 2014
The Meaning of Tingo by Adam Jacot de Boinod, plus such sites as Wordsolver and Listverse, have helped me compile a mind-spinning list of imported words. A little tricky to use many in a sentence, but that also means very few (if any) have ever been clued before.
Before now, that is. Here’s the list, the sources, and the meaning of the exotic platoon. Only the intrepid will venture forth for this low-key, high-strain Storm to convert any of the borrowings into clues. Good luck, bravehearts.
Kummerspeck (German – ‘grief bacon’) – weight gained via emotional eating
Sobremesa (Spanish – ‘table top’) – conversation the continues after a meal
Bakku-shan (Japanese) – a woman who “seems pretty when seen from behind but not from the front.”
Ulykkesbilen (Danish) – an “ill-fated car.”
Putzfimmel (German) – a mania for cleaning
Katahara itai (Japanese) – laughing so hard that one side of your stomach hurts
Drachenfutter (German – ‘dragon fodder’) – peace offerings made by guilty husbands to their wives
Plimpplampplettere (Dutch) – the game of skimming stones
Hygge (Danish) – complete absence of anything annoying
Ilunga (Bantu) – person you can forgive twice, but not three times
Kyoikumama (Japanese – ‘education mother’) – woman who pushes her kids to achieve at school
Sitzpinkler (German – ‘sit-urinater) – man who sits to pee; a fop
Backpfeifengesicht (German – ‘cheek-pipe-face’) – face/person in serious need of punching
Handschuhschneeballwerfer (German – glove-snowball-thrower) – a coward, lit. ‘one who wears gloves to throw snowballs
Who will have the Tingo zingo? Good luck.
Recent Comments