August 2012
13 posts
“Hindus, in their capacity for love, are indeed hairless Christians, just as Muslims, in the way they see God in everything, are bearded Hindus, and Christians, in their devotion to God, are hat-wearing Muslims.”
—Yann Martel, Life of Pi
“To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation.”
—Yann Martel, Life of Pi
11 More Wonderful Words With No English Equivalent →
mentalfloss.com
- Seigneur-terraces (French)
Coffee shop dwellers who sit at tables a long time but spend little money.- Ya’arburnee (Arabic)
This word is the hopeful declaration that you will die before someone you love deeply, because you cannot stand to live without them. Literally, may you bury me.- Schlimazel (Yiddish)
Someone prone to bad luck. Yiddish distinguishes between the schlemiel and schlimazel, whose fates would probably be grouped under those of the klutz in other languages. The schlemiel is the traditional maladroit, who spills his coffee; the schlimazel is the one on whom it’s spilled.- Packesel (German)
The packesel is the person who’s stuck carrying everyone else’s bags on a trip. Literally, a burro.- L’esprit de l’escalier (French)
Literally, stairwell wit—a too-late retort thought of only after departure.- Hygge (Danish)
Denmark’s mantra, hygge is the pleasant, genial, and intimate feeling associated with sitting around a fire in the winter with close friends.- Spesenritter (German)
Literally, an expense knight. You’ve probably dined with a spesenritter before, the type who shows off by paying the bill on the company’s expense account.- Cavoli Riscaldati (Italian)
The result of attempting to revive an unworkable relationship. Literally, reheated cabbage.- Bilita Mpash (Bantu)
An amazing, pleasant dream. Not just a “good” dream; the opposite of a nightmare.- Litost (Czech)
Milan Kundera described the emotion as “a state of torment created by the sudden sight of one’s own misery.”- Murr-ma (Waigman, language of Australia)
To walk alongside the water while searching for something with your feet.
Waiting
If only you could wipe few memories. If only you could undo certain actions life would be perfect.
Others look at you and think life is so perfect for her. Perfection is surrounded by too many repressed emotions, too many unsaid words and too many controlled tears. You wait and you wait. You have been ready for too long to be taken away. Life becomes a burden. To live each day with same things surrounding you. You get tired of pretending to show your interest in all of them. You get tired of acting as if you are still excited by life. You wait and you wait.
