Words around the world

This section includes short items on these places:

• Congo (Kinshasa)
• Bosnia
• Hong Kong
• the United States
• India

Zaire now Congo

When politics changes, place names often change as well.

Most recently, Zaire was renamed Congo after Laurent Kabila expelled Mobutu Sese Seko. Congo is the country's original name, but there already is a Congo, just across the Congo River. Confusing? You bet.

Properly, the countries should be distinguished by their capital cities, so former Zaire should be called Congo (Kinshasa), while the smaller Congo should be known as Congo (Brazzaville).

For more on what countries are called, clickhere.

Watch your gestures

The Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County has compiled a list of gestures that have very different meanings in different cultures.

• Beckoning someone by sweeping an index finger or hand inward is used only for animals in Malaysia and Serbia, and is used to attract prostitutes in Indonesia and Australia.
• The OK sign, with thumb and third finger touching, is obscene in Brazil, Greece and Russia. It means worthless in France and give me change in Japan.
• Nodding your head means no in Bulgaria, while shaking your head from side to side means yes.
• "Thumbs up" is very rude in Nigeria and Australia.
• The English associate the North American "peace" gesture with "V for Victory," but only if the palm is facing away from you. If your palm is facing inwards, it indicates contempt.
• Pointing the index finger is rude in the Middle East and in Asia.

A Hong Kong confession

Hong Kong treasury secretary K.C. Kwong has confessed. According to a May 25 Associated Press story, Kwong shared the secrets of bureaucratic double-speak with a women's group. Kwong's secrets? Be wordy; use obscure phrases, foreign words and acronyms; and use the passive voice to evade responsibility.

Bosnia, war and language

What was once the single language of Serbo-Croatian is becoming three separate languages as Moslems, Serbs and Croats emphasize and accentuate the differences in their regional dialects.

The New York Times reports that Moslems are replacing Serbo-Croatian words, such as junak (martyr) with Arabic equivalents, such as shahid.

Croatians, meanwhile, are reviving words not used since the 15th century. Croatians have replaced hiljada, the Serbo-Croatian word for thousand, with tisuca, because the latter had been banned by the Communists. But ironically, hiljada is more authentically Croatian.

The latest US street slang

Harlem street slang is changing so rapidly that a third of the words in a 1991 Random House dictionary of American slang are already out of date. A story in the Independent says that B means friend, cream means money, and butter means good.

Webster's New World Dictionary, meanwhile, has put duh, def, phat and 'tude on the short list of new entries. Def and phat are the latest words for hip, groovy and cool, while 'tude is short for attitude.

Plain language in India

"Cops in Poona have nabbed a bunch of miscreants who absconded after gunning down a family of four and had thrice evaded arrest."

According to The Observer, this combination of casual Americana and ornate Victoriana is common in India, as is an appetite for such French words as litterateur, artiste and danceuse. But side by side with this antiquarian eloquence come playful expressions such as air-dash for international flight and prepone as the opposite of postpone.

However, the Federation of Consumer Organizations is trying to stamp out the more flowery phrases. Indians are learning to write, "I'd be pleased if you read this document," instead of "I beg the favour of your esteemed perusal."

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