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You have a word for it?

From:Elliott Belser <renyard@...>
Date:Saturday, January 26, 2002, 2:24
The reason I got into conlanging is because ENGLISH IS
IN-FRIGGIN-ADEQUATE!  So I made up a lot of words for things that
don't exist in english.

In Ng'and'ana, in addition to Eonan honor (tahl) we have Anda'ng'as,
'To empathize...' referencing a strange power that the Ng'anda have
to read emotions.  This is no mere human empathy.  Also they have
Rever'as, which is 'to remember' literally but also means 'to wake up
from a horrifying nightmare and remember the real world.'

In a language I'm creating for a romantic comedy, Sornaiel, we have
Sa Sara (the Grace, Feminine) and Se Rage (the Strength, Masculine)
for concepts of feminity and masculinty quite unheard of on earth.
Releniqe, the alien heroine, tells a befuddled human boyfriend that
"Sa Sara is 'I am woman, I don't need to roar.'  It's synergy, grace,
beauty and a wit that could disembowel Chris Rock."

Natlangs of course have lots of these.  Katzenjammer (German, for,
erm, 'cats copulating') is a word for a trancendentally severe
hangover.  And Mayan has... I love this... the word Bol (Boul), which
means both 'In-Law' and 'Idiot.'

Ever picked up a book called 'They Have A Word For It?' This is where
I got Katzenjammer and Bol from, along with a lot of other great
words like Potlatch, 'to give away lavish gifts for the purpose of
rising in social rank' and L'espirit d'escaler, 'The state where you
have come up with a cutting retort to a wise-ass remark, long after
you have left the situtation where you were the butt of it.'  I'd
like to know what cool untranslatable words are in your languages.

Sho'ben'a tahl ("We are honored," the Ng'anda'u greeting)

Ay'ng ben'am ay'ng, mi'doud, ei le oi'simpar'am fikmen ve qalareh,
krasan, ei orhal.
Love is always love, with no exception, and it never regards
differences of nationality, religion, or gender (the official
Ng'anda'u policy on gay rights and intermarrage).

Ab'e Ng'and'ana?  Ain?  Ama iod'fueng'adi!  Marh'mah ve Klingon, mi'le...
Do you speak Ngandan? You do?  Geez, what a nerd you are!  Better
than Klingon, at least...

Replies

Ian Maxwell <ian_maxwell@...>
Philip Newton <philip.newton@...>
Christophe Grandsire <christophe.grandsire@...>
nicole dobrowolski <fuzzybluemonkeys@...>
Herman Miller <hmiller@...>
Danny Wier <dawier@...>
Bob Greenwade <bob.greenwade@...>