Back in Manchester, I went to a creative writing class, where I was introduced to some incredible words that have no English equivalent. I came across some notes from back then, which I thought I’d share with you.
Rasfeber, for example, is a words of Swedish origin that denotes the restless race of the traveller’s heart before the journey begins, when anxiety and anticipation are tangled together.
The teacher asked us to write some sample sentences with the new words. Here’s what I came up with:
Before my first trip to America I had a severe case of rasfeber, coupled with this awful feeling that something would happen and stop me from going. I pictured myself tripping up and breaking my ankle.
I went to the USA as a student, on a working holiday. In fact, I went a few times. It was a huge deal back then, as it was not easy for Eastern Europeans to set foot in the land of the free and home of the brave. I did a number of odd jobs there and one day I’d love to write a post entitled Memories of a housekeeper or The worst waitress on the East Coast. Oh, the laundry room of the multiple starred hotel! I can still see the Mexican ladies, who were able to fold the fitted sheets for a king-sized bed in under 30 seconds, whilst I stuggled to find the corners. I will never forget the list of salad dressings, either: We have French, Ranch, Thousand Islands, oil and vinegar… and the pompous line on the restaurant menu: The only thing we overlook is… the ocean. One day!
But going back to words in question…
Next up we have akihi, a fabulous word from Hawaiian, which means listening to directions and then walking off and promptly forgetting them. Has it happened to you? A classic situation, isn’t it?
My sample sentence(s):
Never had I heard such complex directions as that one time when I asked the security guard in Alexandria library for the toilet. No wonder an instant akihi followed.
I keep wanting to write about Egypt, but never seem to find the time to do so. Alexandria library, which burnt to the ground some very long time ago, is now a modern glass and steel building where talking on the phone will get you a fine of ten Egyptian pounds. Getting to the toilets is rather complex and numerous stairs and underground corridors are involved, if my memory serves me well. In Alexandria, there is a local variation of the Egyptian staple food – a fuul sadwich (make the u looong, so it doesn’t sound like a fool), the stew of fava beans, served in a flat bread with tomatoes – fuul iskandarani. (Disclaimer: My Arabic may not be perfect.) Delish!
Anyway, going back to the super cool words the English language needs and my notes from Creative Writing:
I find it incredibly hard to practice boketto. It may seem absurdly easy – gazing vacantly into the distance without really thinking about anything specific. I’ve no problem with gazing into the distance – in fact, I could easily master this part. But how does one stop one’s mind from pacing from the mundane to the abstract, from the purely divine to the downright mean? How does one find the off-switch to those electric impulses we call thoughts?
Boketto comes from Japanese.
Please leave a comment if you’d like to share another useful word that hasn’t made it to an Oxbridge dictionary just yet.
Purple Travel Path 