Like that one time, Kosh and I hopped in the [empty] elevator together, paused, and in tandem turned to each other with these horrified looks on our faces - someone musta let a HUGE one rip just seconds before, because, oh man! Nasty!
And today? Got into an empty elevator car just minutes ago, and I smelled toothpaste [i.e. someone who'd brushed their teeth - perhaps, *really* brushed their teeth? otherwise why would the smell of toothpaste be so strong?] PLUS a majorly unwashed body. Ugh, what a combination!!
Reminded me of two kinda cool aspects of the Malay language:
1. Depending what word you use, the probable source of a bad odor is already provided.
hapak - usually for unwashed bodies / very "ripe" clothes
hanyir - that "fishy" smell, usually indicating it's starting to go bad
hancing - related to "kencing", i.e. indicating the smell of urine
2. Notice they all start with "ha..."? Yep, that's cool, ainnit? I used to know more of these odoriferous "ha" words, but came up blank while typing this out. Anyone wanna contribute more?
I think I could use hapak in my vocabulary!
ReplyDeletehamis - stink!
ReplyDeletekim> heehehee! feel free! and chalk it up to the wonders of the internet :-)
ReplyDeleteneome> errr, okayyy, but what I was getting at is each has a specific type of stink... so "hamis" tu, does it refer to something specific, or is it just a substitute of "busuk"?
1)"hamis" is more the smell of sweat or body odour and has a tint of "hanyir" attached to it....so, badan dia hamislah.
ReplyDelete2)"hangit" smell of something burning normally foodstuff. e.g. burnt rice...nasi hangit
3)"hangus" also smell of burnt food normally related to overfried dishes....goring ikan sampai hangus
hangit!!! yup!! that's the onther one one i'd forgotten! thanx, anonymous-whoever-you-are, for the additions *and* explanations! :-)
ReplyDelete