I’ve finally mastered the word onomatopeia (words whose sounds suggest their meaning). You’re thinking what a dipshit, hasn’t everybody? It is kinda hard to spell, though, don’t you think? Anyway, so you can imagine my delight when I came across an article in Mental Floss, pictorially depicting the sounds other languages give to the noises we hear. (Okay, I wasn’t actually delighted, let’s just say relieved that I’d found something to blog about–the 30-day blogging thingy I’m doing. It is kinda interesting. Sort of?)
- In Korea, trains go chic chic pok pok (in Zambia our trains went chook chook)
- Mampf, mampf says a German man eating a plateful of bratwurst
- Russian dogs? Gav gavi
- A Japanese fire doesn’t crackle, it goes pachi pachi
- The French snore is hard to sound out–ron pshs
- A Thai party with streamers, and a Thai girl with a pagoda on her head, goes suaan saeh haeh haa–that’s some serious partying
- A Latin punch (excuse me?). They’ve got a Roman Centurion with mouth open and thrusting a closed fist with the words, tux tax
- My favourite one is the sound the Georgian pig makes: ghrutu ghrutu
- When a Latvian bubble bursts is goes bliuks
- And a Finnish evil laugh? kakat taa with inflections above the A’s
Do you have any interpretations to add (challenge?). Maybe even just your own family’s rendition of certain sounds?
I use this word a lot, in my head for the most part, because I’m worried about sounding like an emoting dipshit, also as a writer I need to be precise in choosing my words. Between the two I manage. But I must tell you, the feeling of delight or marvelousness or extremely good, spills right out of me sometimes and I have to hug someone. With dogs, no explanation needed and with people, well, so far I haven’t had any cringing or WTF looks. And sometimes the hugee will provide a reason for me, like my Jazzercise instructor yesterday, when after class I grabbed and hugged her tight, filled with gratitude for her instruction and for my life.