Poronkusema and the Challenges of the English Language
What do poronkusema, struisvogelpolitiek, and akihi have in common? The answer is in the title of a delightful book called Lost in Translation: An Illustrated Compendium of Untranslatable Words from Around the World. Not that these words can't be translated, but there is no direct English equivalent.
Poronkusema, for example, is Finnish for “the distance a reindeer can comfortably travel before taking a break.”
Struisvogelpolitiek is a Dutch word that literally means “ostrich politics.” I'm certain you've seen it at work, because it describes people who act like they don't notice when something bad happens and instead pretend that there aren't any problems.
And akihi is a Hawaiian word that describes the experience of listening to and understanding directions to go somewhere, and then walking off and forgetting them. Which means I have frequently “gone akihi” and didn't even know it.
This book caught my eye as I was reflecting on how difficult it must be for non-English-speaking people to learn English pronunciation and spelling. Consider all the English words that are spelled similarly but pronounced differently, such as though and tough. Add to these the words that are spelled differently but pronounced the same, such as to, too, and two, and words that have two different pronunciations for a given spelling, such as tear and wind. Wow!
These language peculiarities suggest that we need to allow for errors when working on projects with team members whose first language isn't English. But should we be similarly tolerant of people born to English? I admit to being one who experiences misspellings and botched usage like fingernail scratches on a blackboard. I can overlook such glitches in email messages, but not in blogs, websites, or other written information intended for a wide or professional audience.
Fussbudget though I may be on this matter, there's a genuine downside to letting spelling or usage errors creep into your material. Job seekers, for one, had best avoid typos in their resumes. If your resume states, for example, that you "pay atention to detail," you won't be the first to make this mistake. You also won't be the first not to get the job as a result of it. And anyone whose written material is marred by spelling or other communication gaffes stands less chance of advancing than those who, yes, pay attention to detail.
(Savvy marketers, however, capitalize on spelling incompetence. Upon learning that prospective customers doing a search on "bathroom suites" often misspelled suites as sweets, one company created a website called BathroomSweets.com. Very clever, both the name and the site!)
By the way, according to the book Lost in Translation, mamihlapinatapai is a word that seems relevant when you're trying to resolve a conflict with a coworker. It's in Yaghan, an indigenous language of Tierra del Fuego, off the tip of South America, and it refers to a silent acknowledgment and understanding between two people who are both wishing or thinking the same thing, but neither is willing to take the first step. Now, there's a word that could use a direct English equivalent!
