Why Don't We Have a Word for That?

Alex

The following is reprinted from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader: World of Odd.

Americans excel at inventing colorful expressions and slang, but it turns out other countries are pretty good at it, too. Here are a list of useful words from around the world that should've been invented for the English language:

Kummerspeck (Germany): "Grief bacon" - the weight that you gain by overeating when you're worried about something.

Attaccabottoni (Italy): A "buttonholer" - someone who corners casual acquaintances or even complete strangers for the purpose of telling them their miserable life stories.

Modré Pondeli (Czech): "Blue Monday" - When you skip coming in to work to give yourself a three-day weekend.

Razbliuto (Russia): The feeling you have for a person you used to love, but don't anymore.

Shitta (Iran): Leftover dinner that's eaten for breakfast.

Tartle (Scotland): To momentarily forget the name of the person you're talking to. The word helps reduce the social embarrassment of such situations: "I'm sorry, I tartled there for a moment."

Pana po'o (Hawaii): To scratch your head in an attempt to remember something you've forgotten.

Ngaobera (Easter Island): A sore throat caused by too much screaming.

Backpfeifengesicht (Germany): A face that's just begging for somebody to put their fist in it.

Papierkrieg (Germany): "Paper war" - bureaucratic paperwork whose only purpose is to block you from getting the refund, insurance payment, or other benefit that you have coming.

Rujuk (Indonesia): To remarry your ex-wife.

Mokita (New Guinea): The truth that everyone knows, but no one will speak about.

Gorrero (Spain, Central America): Someone who never picks up the check.

Fucha (Poland): Using your employer's time and resources for your own purposes. (Uncle John had never heard of such a thing and wanted to ask around the office if anyone else had, but everyone is still out to lunch.) Image: pink_fish13 [Flickr]

The article above is reprinted with permission from Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Wonderful World of Odd. This book focuses on the odd-side of life and features articles like the strangest TV shows never made, the creepiest insect on Earth, odd medical conditions, and many, many more. Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute had published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts. Check out their website here: Bathroom Reader Institute

Comments (31)

Newest 5
Newest 5 Comments

hey! it's a big mistake! i'm russian and we never use this strange word "razbliuto" (i think it doesn't exist at all) but we have a bit similar phrase "serce razbita" that means that the heart is broken...
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@ mochili:

The expression "red tape" comes from the medieval English bureaucracy, where official documents such as land deeds where made official with wax seals, which hung from the parchment or paper by red ribbons or cords. So the red ribbons came to be the name for any official document, specifically when overwhelming for a simple thing.
"Papierkrieg" is a more active notion, it suggests that you are actively involved in fighting with officials who deliberately try to prevent you from getting what you want
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They are indeed tongs, but more likely to be used for picking up sugar cubes for coffee (saw it in a movie once). It has a hinge so it's definately no tuning fork. (Apparently there is a fault in the comments....when writing this I only see the first three posts before this...)
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Looks like a pair of coal tongs, used for picking up live coals to restack them in the fireplace, add a lump of coal to a fire, or to transfer live coals to something else, such as putting them into a bedwarmer.
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Tweezers.
Had one for years- but since my body stopped growing all those extra's every time I pulled them out, I finally sold mine on ebay a year ago or so.

Is used tweeze off or out all those third and fourth legs and arms and to tweeze out all those over-extra digits and eyes.
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This was from back before they had flush toilets. Mr or Ms Royalty would do their thing in a pot. Then the servant would come in and use these tongs to remove the royal log. It was a bit trickier on the morning following taco night, but the servants got good at it.
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They are a set of ceremonial tongs used by Freemasons. Should you find yourself having dinner at a masonic lodge (or the home of a lodge's primate) and encounter a an overcooked lump of something foul and unchewable in your stew, called a 'grimsby', know that it was placed there deliberately to test you. (If you are not at a Masonic lodge, it may simply be the result of careless cookery.) You must approach your host, hopping on one foot, and perform the secret Masonic handshake. He is obliged to hand over the tongs, and you must then use them to extract the grimsby. Alternately, you may attempt to swallow the grimsby without comment. But your host knows it was in there, and that you didn't follow proper procedure, so don't expect to be invited back!
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It may sound horrible... but I read a story by Stephen King where he described such a device used by 19th century doctors to hold the head of white mice while operating without anestethic...
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One thing that sucks about most of these contests is that often there's no indication of size...add a ruler, or a coin to the photo, FFS!
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Coal tongs for sure. Christ, I remember the coal man delivering coal to our cellar when I was a kid in the 60's. Coal tongs were always brass.
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that looks like a tuning fork... we use those in physics class
we actually played twinkle twinkle little star today with tuning forks for the last day of classes :D
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Well.
The story started with an old man on a mountain. Every Wednesday and Saturday he would walk down to the river to get some more water. On Wednesdays, he would meet a snake, who would continually bother him until he got back in his home. The old man's home also got struck by lightning alot. He had long ago realized this issue, but had no idea what to do. One Saturday, he brought a metal object down to the river, and left it at a tree trunk. The next Wednesday, he picked it up, and went home with it. The snake saw, and asked what it was for, but the old man told him he had three shots to guess what it was, then he would show the snake.
"Tongs?"
"No."
"Dowsing rod?"
"Nope."
"Some sort of probe?"
"Not even close."
"What is it then?!"
The old man then proceeded to bludgeon the snake to death.
The End
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