As the Disney dolls say: “Our world is very small, our world is very small, our world is very small, the world is small. »
Now that you have it in your head, it’s time to take an interest in music in the words common to all languages. Do not thank me.
1. Huh?
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Or “huh”? It is the universal word par excellence, since it is found in all the languages of the world under slightly different but very similar exteriors. However, it is not an innate sound but an acquired word, whose extreme simplicity is at the origin of its universality.
2. Coffee
In Turkish, coffee is called kahve. Since then, almost all the countries of the world have adapted the word to designate this drink originating from the Persian Gulf and which arrived in Europe in the suitcases of Venetian merchants, around the 17th century. Coffee, caffe, coffee, kava, kofi… One of the few things you can ask for almost anywhere in the world and be understood.
3. Pajamas
The word comes from the Hindi pajama, a type of trousers that the Indians wore because they were fashionable and that the British colonists were quick to wear in turn, but to walk around their homes. Then, the concept was emulated and the word remained in almost all languages: pajamas in French, pajamas in English, bijama in Arabic, pizsama in Hungarian… In short, we will understand you if you are looking for one at the end of the world.
4. Chocolate
When the conquistadors landed in Central America, we cannot say that they correctly transcribed all the Aztec and Mayan words. But there is however a word that they reproduced almost well, it is the word xocolatl. The Spaniards began to use this word by taking it up with their sauce (chocolate), before exporting it to most European cultures. English: chocolate; French ; chocolate ; Norwegian: sjokolade; Uzbek: shokolad; hindi: chokalet…
5. Mom
Mom. Mom. Mummy. Mom. Eomma. Mami. In almost every country in the world, one of the very first words you speak is said to be the same. And this is undoubtedly the consequence and the cause of the universality of the word: it is one of the simplest words to pronounce when you are a baby. Simple sounds, open vowels and a mother who says “look, he said ‘Mom’! »
6. Guitar
Sitar, guitar: what do they have in common? The “tar” sound, which corresponds to the word string in Hindi. The Spaniards borrowed their guitarra from the Arabs who called a similar instrument gitara. Then, the wooden table with strings spread all over the world: kit’arr in Armenian, Gità in Japanese, gitara in Bengali… Surprisingly enough, only the Portuguese speak violao (but understand guitarra).
7.OK
Two universal syllables, a derivative of English whose origins date back to the 1830s without it being known exactly where the word comes from. In all the countries of the world, if you say OK we understand you. Everything is KO next.
8.Taxi
The taxi is also universal. From taximeter, they have simply become taxis in almost all countries of the world. Even the Japanese use a related word: takushii. Tacsay in Irish or taksi in Tajik. Fastoche.
9. Banana
Banana in French. Banana in English, Italian, Portuguese and part of the Spanish speaking world. Banaan in Dutch and Banan in Polish. Even Russian has a close sound. In the end, it is only in the countries where the banana existed before being imported into Europe that it bears another name, often with more constrictive sounds: cau, caulé, kolé…
10. Kaput
The word kaput, derived from the German itself from bonnet, is universal. We understand it in almost all the countries of the world where it has the same meaning: screwed up, tired, dead. Kaput what.