It’s a phrase belonging to no language known to man. But, when my mother was a child living on the north-east coast of England at the start of WW2 during the “phoney war”, they were on constant alert for a German invasion, starting with a landing on their beaches. My mother, aged 11, spoke no German. But she’d heard it, in movies and propaganda films. So, plucky little defender that she was, she came up with a suitably teutonic-sounding phrase to yell at any invaders she may encounter on the beaches around Sunderland. It stayed with her and it’s stayed with me. I still reach for it in moments of stress.
I like the Te Reo word ‘mana’. For me, it means charisma or that special word what one thinks of when they see x person. It’s been used quite a bit lately here in NZ with reports of Tana Umaga potentially being one of the new All Blacks assistant coaches .
When I was sitting in Brisbane, I had a close relationship with next door neighbours who were from New Zealand, they said I had become part of their Whānau and that meant I was considered family, not only to them but also to their family. After Australia, I went to New Zealand and they gave me the contacts of family members there in case I needed their help.
When we did a 3 month course in Thai (Isaan) language I really liked this phrase
Thai:พูดจาดูถูก (Phôot-jaa doo-thùuk)
Meaning: To talk down to, to condescend, to disparage.
Doo-thuuk for short means to gossip or be nasty in a disparaging way, it’s considered not polite to do this in public and makes the person doing it ‘lose face’ a lot. To lose face is terrible to Thai people, it’s shameful.
I like the idea that being gossipy about someone is very much discouraged.
I love that concept and enjoy it very much whenever we housesit in Spain. Unfortunately it’s unthinkable in the US where usually the waiter will present the bill once you’re done eating.