Friday, December 19, 2008

It pays to increase your word power

Gwarlingo: Welsh description of the sound of a grandfather clock before it strikes.

Kati-kehari: Hindi meaning to have the waist of an elegant lion.

Nosom Para Oblake: Serbian for "he is ripping clouds with his nose", describing someone conceited.

Traer la lengua de corbata: Latin American Spanish for to be exhausted - literally, to have your tongue hanging out like a man's tie

Sjostygg: Norwegian for someone so ugly the tide refuses to come in if they stand on the shore.

Lolo: Hawaiian for someone who would gladly give you the time if only they could read a clock.

Chantepleurer: French for singing at the same time as crying.

And one for skiing next year:

Du kannst mir gern den buckel runterrutschen und mit der zunge bremsen: Austrian for "go to hell" – literally "You can slide down my hunchback using your tongue as a brake".

2 comments:

KaliAmanda said...

Exactly how do you pronounce sjostygg? Because I'm fairly sure I want that on in my arsenal... Though, when in doubt I tend to pronounce everything in Spanish. (I just don't have "sj" to reference)

Nick Browne said...

I could chantepleur to think that you need such a word.