Jambalaya Diaries: Sunday, January 27th

Many who have spent a lifetime in it can tell us less of love than the child that lost a dog yesterday. -Thornton Wilder, writer (1897-1975) 

 

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

In a forwarded email I came across an article with the title: 14 wonderful words with no English equivalent. The article lists words from various languages and their meanings, for example:

Rhwe (Tsonga, South Africa) : to sleep on the floor without a mat, while drunk and nak*d.

I have a problem with articles like this, listing unusual words in other languages. They are almost always wrong. It's not efficient for a language to have a specific word for such a highly specialized concept as "to sleep on the floor without a mat, while drunk and nak*d". You mean there's a separate word in that language for "to sleep on the floor with a mat, while drunk and nak*d"? I don't speak the Tsonga language mentioned in the article, but I'm certain that the meaning given is not the right one. I believe this is what happens: a writer of such articles comes across a word and takes the whole context as the meaning of the word. Imagine this writer coming across the sentence: "Jane was not expecting a promotion but when she learned that she had been appointed to the VP position, she was chuffed." Now our writer goes on to write a breathless article:

Did you know English has a word chuffed which is used to describe someone who is delighted to receive something unexpected.

Were that writer been especially ambitious, perhaps the definition given would have been:

chuffed: a word in English to describe someone who is delighted to receive an unexpected promotion.

All this is not to say that there aren't words in other languages we don't have in English. As an example, many languages have specific words to describe even remote relations. Hindi has a specific word to describe one's son's or daughter's father-in-law (samdhi) and a word for his wife (samdhin). Even English has words that we believe do not exist because they are not well-known. This week we'll bring you five such words from the attic of the English language.

 

 

overmorrow: 

MEANING:

noun: The day after tomorrow.
adjective: Of or relating to the day after tomorrow.

ETYMOLOGY:

From over (above) + morrow (tomorrow), from Old English morgen (morning). Earliest documented use: 1535. Also see hodiernal (relating to today), hesternal (relating to yesterday), and nudiustertian (relating to the day before yesterday).

 

51.3 K, over 2;38:05, AVG 19.5%, MAX 38.2%

Bordeaux, North Dallas Tollway

Brunch at Zaza: Gander/Patrizzio

Chicken fried lobster, (grilled, CL)

CHICKEN FRIED LOBSTER BENEDICT

Gruyere-Potato Cake | Spinach | Bacon | Hollandaise

Chicken Waffle: Ruthless

CHICKEN & WAFFLES

Duck Confit | Onion-Sage Waffle | Poblano Cream Gravy |
Fried Haney Farm Egg

Buttermilk Flapjacks: Deborah

BUTTERMILK FLAPJACKS

Whipped Butter | Vermont Maple Syrup

French Toast : Robert

FRENCH TOAST

Fresh Berries | Powdered Sugar

Side: APPLEWOOD SMOKED BACON

Chicken fried lobster, (grilled, CL)

CHICKEN FRIED LOBSTER BENEDICT

Gruyere-Potato Cake | Spinach | Bacon | Hollandaise

Chicken Waffle: Ruthless

CHICKEN & WAFFLES

Duck Confit | Onion-Sage Waffle | Poblano Cream Gravy |
Fried Haney Farm Egg

Buttermilk Flapjacks: Deborah

BUTTERMILK FLAPJACKS

Whipped Butter | Vermont Maple Syrup

French Toast : Robert

FRENCH TOAST

Fresh Berries | Powdered Sugar

Side: APPLEWOOD SMOKED BACON 

Passalacqua, 20011 Sauvignon Blanc, 14.4%, Coffaro, 2007 Zinfandel, 15.6% and 2006 Tannat, 13.8%, Green saladin, fresh mushrooms, kartofellage, polenta, lamb, Downton Abbe

Our take on fried chicken: Strips of boneless Jidori chicken deep-fried in a rice flour batter and then tossed in a secret sauce that might fit right in with Korean barbecue. Tender and crunchy with hints of salty, spicy, and sweet. On the Forage pop-up cafe menu at Art Los Angeles Contemporary.