The Death of Imagination

1. die Geburtseinleitung
2. het inleiden van de bevalling
3. la inducción del parto
4. la inducció del part
5. le déclenchement du travail
6. an t-ionduchtú
7. yr ysgogiad
8. indukcja porodu
9. 노동의 유도 (勞動의 誘導)
10. 引產 yǐnchǎn
11. 陣痛促進剤 (じんつうそくしんざい)

Notes: Today is my sister's induction date. That is, if she hadn't gone into labour yesterday, they would've induced it today. From what my told me, they actually induced it yesterday, which may be part of the reason why it went so quickly (less than six hours, whereas her other children all required nine). They'll be sending her home today, which I guess means that the little heart murmur they found yesterday is nothing to worry about. Even better, she no longer has to worry about gestational diabetes (although with it goes any chance of losing her maternity weight).

1. das Gerstenkorn
2. het strontje, de stijg
3. el orzuelo, la perrilla (Mex.)
4. l'urçol
5. l'orgelet
6. an sleamhnán
7. y llefelyn
8. jęczmień
9. 다래끼, 맥립종 (麥粒腫)
10. (偷)針眼 (tōu)zhēnyan
11. 麦粒腫 (ばくりゅうしゅ)

Notes: The Latin word for this type of minor eye infection was hordeolus, a diminutive of hordeum "barley", and that underlies the Romance and East Asian terms given here with the exception of perrilla (poss. an alternation of perlilla "small pearl") and native Korean 다래끼. In addition, the German and Polish terms are calques, these being the usual words for "barleycorn". Naturally, other forms are found in the dialects, such as Alemannic Wegschisser and Urschili (the latter of which looks like an alteration of the Latin with the characteristic South Alemannic diminutive suffix).

Also representing a diminutive is Strontje, from stront "crap". By contrast, stijg is cognate with the English. The English word actually has an interesting history, being a backformation from styany which was interpreted as "sty-on-eye". The -y does stand for "eye", but styan actually means "that which rises". (Cf. Ger. steigend "rising".) The (Southern) Welsh form shows reanalysis as well, at least according to the GPC, which etymologises it as lle "place" + melyn "yellow". In current usage, however, the -yn is interpreted as a masculine diminutive suffix, thus yielding the plural llefelod.

I noticed on Thursday that the lower lid of my left eye was red and inflamed. Neither the Old Man or I could see the sty which caused it, but my doctor spotted it right away when I went to see her yesterday (part of the reason why I decided to stay with her for another year despite the fact that we reckon it's going to cost me more overall than switching to an HMO and starting over again with someone entirely new).

1. das Fallrohr
2. de regenpijp
3. el bajante/la bajada pluvial, el canalón
4. el canaló
5. la descente(d'eau pluviale)
6. an sconna báistí
7. y beipen ddŵr/landar
8. rura spustowa
9. 배수관 (排水管)
10. 排水管 páishuǐguǎn
11. 排水管 はいすいかん

Notes: The shiny new downspout gives me a feeling of confidence every time I look at it. We were dismayed but not particularly surprised to find that the old one was held together with duct tape.

1. der Freud'sche Versprecher, die (Freud'sche) Fehlleistung
2. de freudiaanse verspreking
3. el desliz freudiano, el acto fallido
4. l'acte fallit
5. le lapsus révélateur, l'acte manqué
6. an sciorradh Freudach
8. 본심을 드러낸 실언 (本心을 드러낸 失言), 무의식중의 실수 (無意識中의 失手)
9. 弗洛伊德式錯誤 Fúluòyīdéshì cuòwù, 動作倒錯dòngzuò dàocuò
10. フロイト的失言 (ふろいとてきしつげん), 無意識 (むいしき)

Notes: Where two terms are given, the first corresponds to the narrower sense of the English, namely a revealing slip of the tongue, whereas the second is the equivalent of Freud's Fehlleistung, which is rendered into psychological jargon as parapraxis.

1. das Gänslein
2. het gansje
3. el ansarino
4. l'ocó
5. l'oison
6. an góislín
7. y cyw gŵydd
8. gąsię
9. 새끼거위
10. 小鵝 xiǎoé
11. 小雁 (こがん)

Notes: Today was a day to be outside, so I went for a stroll along the lagoon. The waterbirds were out napping and foraging on the bank, and among them were two dirty-looking goslings, their dark yellow down moulting to grey. Two adults were grazing alongside them, but a third was keeping watch and hissed as I approached. I gave her a wide berth as I crouched and watched the chicks.

After a while, I saw a young woman approach with an iPhone raised. "Watch out for that one," I warned her, "she hissed at me." She seemed incredulous that geese would attack and bite. When the mother eventually turned on her, too, she responded, "That's so intense! I can't believe she hissed at me!" We had a nice little chat about the geese, ducks, and blackbirds and then we each when on our way. I came across a chunk of bread being attacked by crows and brought it back with me, causing a riot among the mallards and geese when I began ripping off bits and tossing them among them.

1. der Türknauf
2. de deurknop
3. la perilla
4. la maneta rodona giratòria
5. le bouton de porte, la clanche
6. an murlán dorais
7. y bwlyn drws
8. klamka
9. 문의 손잡이
10. 門把(手 ménbǎ(shǒu)
11. ドアノブ

Notes: This is a word I never learned when I was in Germany because I never needed it: All the doors there had Türklinken. And this, in turn, was a term I never knew the English for because I hardly need to talk about them here. But now, thanks to The Economist, I know that the term of the trade is apparently "levered doorhandle". I guess if they ever become more common here, we'll come up with something similar. It seems doorknobs are comparably rare in Catalonia given that the trade-jargoniness is the only unambiguous term I could find. Amusingly, clanche (found in east-central France) is cognate with Klinke.

1. die Zaubernuss
2. de toverhazelaar
3. la hamamelis
4. l'hamamelis
5. le noisetier des sorcières
6. an coll virginiach
7. y gollen ystwyth
8. oczar
9. 풍년화 (豊年花)
10. 金縷梅 jīnlǚméi
11. 満作 (まんさく)

Notes: I don't normally think of witch hazel blossoms as a sign of spring so much as an indication that winter might actually be ending. But this snow-packed Arctic juggernaut has pushed everything off of schedule, so today was the first day I saw these delicate beauties blooming. It was glorious in the sun, but the lake effect is very pronounced, so to really enjoy it, I had to find a spot sheltered on the east but open to the south. I was so eager to see spring that at first I mistook these shrubs for forsythia, as I often do, but I didn't have to get too near them to spot my mistake. They were flanking a patch of tulip greens, among which was concealed an embryonic tulip blossom emerging pupaelike straight from the earth.

1. gähnen
2. geeuwen/gapen
3. bostezar
4. badallar
5. bâiller
6. méanfach a ligean
7. dylyfu gên
8. ziewać
9. 하품하다
10. 打哈欠 dǎ hāqian
11. 欠伸する (あくびする)

Notes: I was surprised to realise the other day that not only was this a verb I couldn't recall for any languages but English and German, but it was one for which, even after having looked them up, the equivalents didn't look familiar to me. Do English- and German-speakers really talk about yawning more than other people?

1. die ganze Mischpoke/Sippschaft
2. de hele kliek/aanhang/misjpoge
3. todo el clan
4. tot el clan
5. toute la tribu/smala/chibaigne (LF)
6. an aicme go léir
7. y llwyth cyfan
8. cały szczep
9. 온 가족
10. 一家子 yījiāzi

Notes: 1. Also Muschpoke. May be pronounced with short stressed /ɔ/. 5. Smala is argot, from Ar. زملة "tribe". LA Fr. (spec. Lafourche Parish) chibaigne looks suspiciously like a derivative of Ir. síbín via Eng. shebang.