Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Makes me nostalgic...

Imanaren are a Moroccan Berber band from the southern part of the country. Their debut album is available on Amazon as a download for less than 6 bucks. it's worth it, too, as they really nail the trance-out vibe and roll with it... Lots of oud, percussion and unison vocals. Sweet.



Saturday, November 19, 2011

Mamihlapinatapei, anyone?

Here's a terrific article over at BigThink.com about relationship words that don't translate easily into English. What a blast. The Yagan word Mamihlapinatapei, for example, means: "The wordless yet meaningful look shared by two people who desire to initiate something, but are both reluctant to start."

Awesome. I'm going to have to start using this word in everyday conversation. (Well... maybe every other day.) The article lists 9 more, plus a few observations about close-but-not-quite equivalents in English. It's a good time, take a look at it here.