Challenge #18 - Words With No English Equivalent

Hi folks

Apropos of nothing, here are my favorite random phrases from your messages over the past 24 hours:

One playwright wrote, “Here's my nod to Australia, Johnny Cash & Emily Dickenson,” to which I responded, that sounds like a great random assortment of elements for a future writing prompt.

Another playwright offered,  “Have some more extremely self indulgent inexplicably lesbian Shakespeare sequel,” to which I responded "extremely self indulgent inexplicably lesbian Shakespeare sequel" would be a great band name :)




Let’s get you that writing prompt…


Challenge #18 - Words With No English Equivalent

Due: Friday, November 19th, 8am
(whenever 8am arrives in your time zone; we’ll do the math here in the Central Time zone, no worries :)

Back when we met in person for my writing group, before migrating online due to the pandemic, the host of any particular meeting would be the one to determine what the writing challenge would be for that week’s meeting.

One week a host told us to “pick a word that we don’t have in English and write a scene or play inspired by that word.”

There is a fun list that pops up when you go searching for “words with no equivalent in English” (just one of many lists and articles, you can find others if you wish quite easily).  Peruse this list (or others) and pick a word:

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/38-wonderful-words-with-no-english-equivalent

Some of my favorites from this list include:

21. Ya’arburnee (Arabic)
This word is the hopeful declaration that you will die before someone you love deeply, because you cannot stand to live without them. Literally, may you bury me.

1. Kummerspeck (German)
Excess weight gained from emotional overeating. Literally, grief bacon.

25. Cafune (Brazilian Portuguese)
Leave it to the Brazilians to come up with a word for “tenderly running your fingers through your lover’s hair.”

3. Tartle (Scots)
The nearly onomatopoeic word for that panicky hesitation just before you have to introduce someone whose name you can't quite remember.

26. Koi No Yokan (Japanese)
The sense upon first meeting a person that the two of you are going to fall in love.

20. Seigneur-terraces (French)
Coffee shop dwellers who sit at tables a long time but spend little money.


But really, the whole list is full of such gems.  Give it a look and see which word inspires you.  Then write something inspired by that feeling or situation.



How to submit your work for Challenge #18

You have options.  They are:

Save your script as a PDF or Word Doc and send as an attachment to an email sent to ThresholdWritingChallenge@gmail.com

OR

Copy and past your script in the body of an email and send it to ThresholdWritingChallenge@gmail.com

OR

Post your script online (as a Google doc, or in a blog post, on your own personal website, etc.) - email a link to this script to ThresholdWritingChallenge@gmail.com
(If you’re going to Google doc route, just make sure to have the document public, or give permissions to our email address to open it)

When emailing us, make the subject line of your email - Challenge #18
(That just helps us sort through the email more quickly)
(Or, you know, just reply to this email if you want :)

OR

Post the link for the online document option above in the comments section on this very blog post for this challenge on our writing challenge blog.



Again, this is: Due: Friday, November 19th, 8am
(whenever 8am arrives in your time zone; we’ll do the math here in the Central Time zone, no worries :)

And, just to reassure you, no, we are not going to be sticklers about you following these directions down to the minutest detail - the important thing is that you write, and then that you share it with us, so we can keep track of who’s writing every day.

We will be VERY understanding about technical difficulties and how they can screw up making the deadline.  No need to fret about anything except the writing (and hopefully that’s not something causing you to fret too much either :)

Also, no, there is no penalty for finishing and submitting early - but it also isn’t a race, so give yourself all the time up til 8am on Friday to write if you need it.  When you’re done, you’re done.

A friendly reminder - you don’t have to write to the prompts if they don’t inspire you.  You can ignore them and just write whatever you want, just as long as you’re writing (that’s the main thing, not what you write)

Someone had a good question about the overall goal of the month, are we supposed to write a full-length play, or two one-act plays, etc.?  The short answer is no (unless you want to).  The longer answer is here if you’re curious.

For those concerned about format, we’re pretty liberal about that, too - just as long as it’s legible and in English.  More on that here.

Again, remember, it doesn’t need to be great, it doesn’t even need to be responding to this prompt (the prompt is just there so you’re not staring at a blank screen to start with no idea what to write about :)

Doesn't even need to be complete - you could have the beginning or the middle or the end of an idea, maybe two out of three but not all, that's still fine. This is all about getting things started, you can write more later. You have 12 more days to build on whatever you come up with today, if you want. Just get anything on the page, even if won't make sense to anyone else, as long as it make sense to you.

It just needs to be something.

And that something can be:

Lights up.

You know that old trick where you tap someone lightly on the opposite shoulder from behind to fool them? The Indonesians have a word for it.  It’s Mencolek.

Lights down.

The End

That’s always your escape hatch, every day.

That’s your base line.

Build on it.

Have fun.

Don’t stress.

Make an impulsive decision and run with it.

Breathe.

You’ve got the day (and a half).

Just write.

(Picture above, goes with:

1. Waldeinsamkeit (German)
“The feeling of solitude and connectedness to nature when being alone in the woods.”)