Whisper these twelve sacred words to hear their magic

#8: Zuzzurellone

Photograph by Larm Rmah

Dear hopeful reader,

Some words aren’t meant to be paraded or shouted. They’re meant to be carried in poised silence or whispered ever so softly.

The famous phrase (and writing technique) “Show, don’t tell” comes to mind. In this case—whisper.

Thus you would hear their sacredness—their magic—from our ancestors, our day-to-day life, from familiar things, others yet to be discovered, from our viscera or the Heavens.

Today you’ll hear twelve from different parts of our stunning Mother Earth.

“Don’t tell me the moon is shining. Show me the glint of light on broken glass.”

—Anton Chekhov

#1: Chuchoter (French)

Definitions:

1. To whisper

2. To produce indistinct, confused sounds

3. To spread hearsay

4. To rustle, as in leaves

There’s something dulcifying about the onomatopoeic shu and sho sounds of the verb chuchoter. Indeed it’s like the rustling of fallen autumn leaves, the sharing and safe keeping of soft, quiet secrets. Sacred words hushed in time, in time.

#2: Ramé (Balinese)

Definition:

1. Something chaotic but joyful

Some of the things that can be ramé: Traveling to a bustling city can be a rush of joy mixed with chaos, attending a Drowning Pool concert with a mosh pit can be chaotic joy. Life too can be full of joy despite all the lived chaos when we let it be.

#3: Trepverter/טרעפּוערטער (Yiddish)

Definitions:

1. Literally: stepwords or staircase words

2. Witty comeback that came back too late

Who hasn’t been there? Coming up with a sharp retort on the fly like you’re Guybrush Threepwood in a word and sword duel—alas all but too late. Only Jack Reacher can be so cool, composed, and off-the-cuff, but he’s also not real.

“You know, cursing is a sign of weak mind and weaker character.”

—Jack Reacher, episode “Spoonful” (2022) from Reacher

#4: Kopfkino (German)

Definitions:

1. Literally: head cinema

2. Imagination

3. Daydream

I was once on a road trip, driving a red Ferrari 360 Spider through the Italian countryside, Ricchi e Poveri’s Made in Italy blasting on the radio. This also never happened except in my mind’s eye.

Have you ever daydreamed your life as a musical? One moment you’re walking down a cobblestone street, the next you’re dancing to a Falco song with a group following your lead. Maybe it’s to Rock Me Amadeus, or Junge Roemer, or even Garbo.

The day turns to night—big, bright stars hanging low above. Your oversized faded salmon t-shirt and stone-washed skinny jeans transform in a blink of an eye. You’re a lamé-spangled honey now, a celestial body yourself. It’s all so starry and surreal.

Who needs cinema when it’s already so cinematic in your head. Or is it just me?

#5: Kaamos (Finnish)

Definitions:

1. Polar night

2. Sunless day

There’s a story to be written about a sunless day that feels like thick, eerie silence, with spirits and shadows dancing, unseen. But, kaamos isn’t so sinister.

Although the sun doesn’t rise over the horizon in the Arctic Circle for a day up to several months in winter—prominently witnessed in countries such as Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Russia, among others—it’s a magical sight to behold.

Picture dark days of blues and reds, neon green auroras flashing you into a trance. Forget time, feel the frisson of not telling apart night from day from day to night.

Also read: Become a proverb à la Ahti from Control

#6: Philotimo/Φιλότιμο (Greek)

Definitions:

1. Literally: love or lover of honor

2. Strong and selfless display and disposition of virtues such as honor, dignity, pride, responsibility, duty, courage, and hospitality

Philotimo is a paramount and prevalent concept in the Greek way of life, reflected as pride and honor in and to one’s culture, country, and community. It’s expressed as helping someone without expectation, but because it’s the right thing to do.

Read more on philotimo here and feel how utterly your heart swells with inspiration, beauty, and goodness.

#7: Woebegone (English)

Definitions:

1. Affected with woe

2. Exhibiting woe

Derived from the Middle English words wo begon—wo meaning woe and begon meaning beset—the expression meant to be afflicted with woe.

Today the adjective extends to physically showing signs of woefulness that even an non-expert in microexpressions could pick up on the miserable state of the person, place, or thing.

Woebegone is a beautifully contradictory word in construction. Woe be gone, but woe isn’t gone.

#8: Zuzzurellone (Italian)

Definitions:

1. Playful idler

2. Overgrown baby or schoolboy

The fun word zuzzurellone describes someone who behaves like a child. Such a person is up for funny business, but not so much for work business.

Life can be too serious sometimes, why not be zuzzurellonious, I mean, zuzzurellone, every now and then? (And then some more.)

#9: Pochemuchka/Почемучка (Russian)

Definition:

1. A person, especially a child of kindergarten age, who asks too many questions

Stemming from the word pochemu or why, a pochemuchka—a why-er—is someone who’s overly curious, always asking why this, why that.

But I’ll say that asking questions and overall curiosity are signs of wanting to learn how the world works, how it could work. Signs of humility, openness, receptiveness, and desire for truth. Nothing wrong with that why!

Also read: Fun animal-based idioms in Russian to send you on a wild goose chase

#10: Spookasem (Afrikaans)

Definitions:

1. Literally: ghost breath

2. Candy floss or cotton candy

The Afrikaans term spookasem directly translates to ghost (spook) breath (asem), which is a hauntingly evocative way of characterizing cotton candy.

Now I’ll be thinking about breathing ghosts while eating cotton candy. I hope never the other way around.

#11: Tacere (Latin)

Definitions:

1. To be silent

2. To pass over in silence

3. To say nothing about something

When thinking about the beautiful Latin verb tacere, I’m reminded of the sage proverb “Speech is silver, silence is golden.”

There’s a time and place for words; when there are no more productive words left, silence is the next best course of action.

Silence is a wise teacher, too. Silence teaches us how to be more humble and tactful. Our true colors reveal themselves in silence. When we’re silent, we hear—or rather listen to—others with greater understanding.

When we’re silent, what is deep and primal in our gut speaks to us and guides us back to ourselves, our alignment, our purpose.

#12: Samar/سمر (Arabic)

Definitions:

1. Predominantly a female given name

2. Evening or night conversation, including storytelling, poetry, music, or games

A dulcet name and noun, samar holds several poetic meanings such as “the night and its blackness” and “the shadow of the moon.”

Samar is also the act of partaking in intellectually stimulating discussions during the quiet hours of evening, exchanging ideas, enlightenment, and wisdom as well as strengthening fellowships between one another.

Samar nurtures consciousness, inquisitiveness, and profoundness. Sublime.

The aforewhispered words embody what is delicate, wise, ancient, tender, curious, down-to-earth, mystical, genuine, relevant, humble, selfless, light-hearted, willing. What is sacred, what is magical.

What’s your favorite sacred word? Whisper it to me.

Yours hopefully,

Nadia

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