A Brain Workout.

I have been out of college for a year and half now and in Morocco for 9 months, needless to say my English vocabulary is going. In an effort to regain some of this "lost" knowledge I have been diving into more academic papers, intellectual books and cranking through my LSAT prep.

I wanted to share with you some vocabulary words I have learned recently in both Tashlheet and English that I find amusing.

English:

apex: the top or highest part of something, esp. one forming a point. The highest level of a hierarchy, organization or other power structure regarded as a triangle or pyramid.

archipelago: a sea or stretch of water containing many islands.

cacophonous: a Harsh, discordant mixture of sounds.

eschew: deliberately avoid using; abstain from

fervor: intense and passionate feeling.

fulcrum: the point on which a lever rests or is supported and on which is pivots. A thing that plays a central or essential role in an activity, event or situation.

guise: an external form, appearance, or manner of presentation, typically concealing the true nature of something.

heed: pay attention to; take notice of.

inexorable: impossible to stop or prevent.

nascent: (a process or organization) just coming into existence and beginning to display signs of future potential.

persnickety: placing too much emphasis on trivial detail; fussy.

ruminate: thing deeply about something.

salient: most noticeable or important.

sinuous: having many curves and turns.

swath: a row or line of grass, grain or other crop as it lies when mown or reaped. A broad strip or area of something.

trepidation: a feeling of fear or agitation about something that may happen.

welter: a large number of items in no order; a confused mass.


Tashlheet:

drunkard: askayri

generalize: smun kulshi (literally translated to 'collect everything')

day before yesterday: assfan

day dream: tiwerga

to flirt with: t'brram f

lame: abiDar

There are days when I feel so daunted by the task of learning (and understanding) Tashlheet and then there are days where I learn the word for the 'day before yesterday' is assfan and I have to giggle.

One final note, the way my villagers say 'Oh my God' is "wak, wak". Yes, wak, rhymes with quack. When all of the women do it, they sound like ducks on a pond. Amusing for sure.