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Understanding each other is important for Harmony, one of the pillars of Sustainability.

This article is inspired by a post by the fiery Olivier Malinur: 

https://plus.google.com/u/0/107406362655011292240/posts

There are many single word concepts in one language that often require multiple phrases to explain the same in others.

Zeitgeist is one of these as in "spirit of the times".

Along with these words also come different customs.

In South Africa one of the least understood was the custom of indigenous cultures to look down and not respond whilst being admonished by say an employer.

The act of looking down and not responding is an act of politeness often interpreted as 'insolence'! 

Yet good manners in indigenous customs however require that you listen without interrupting!

In South Africa we have this indigenous spirit of Ubuntu which roughly translates into "I am a person because you are a person ...".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_(philosophy)

Sometimes it may even be that the equivalent in any language defies multiple phrase translation. At best only an approximation is possible!

The link below takes us to 20 'untranslatable' words:

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2fZGe2/matadornetwork.com/abroad/20-awesomely-untranslatable-words-from-around-the-world/2/

See the comment by Sbpnli:

"I've always loved the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which proposes that the structures and vocabulary that make up a language reflect the mentality and thought processes of the people who speak that language. So, according to the hypothesis, the fact that the word "esperar" in Spanish serves for the concepts of "wait", "hope" and "expect" would infer something about the Spanish mentality, would imply that those three concepts (which are very different in the mind of an English speaker) are somehow much more similar in the mind of a Spanish speaker. "

To understand each other we should keep Sapir-Whorf in mind.

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  • Home
  • About Us
    • History
  • Imvelo GreenIt!
    • Products & Services >
      • GreenIt! Scorecard Engine
      • ReCycling
  • News
  • Articles
    • Sustainability Metrics
    • The UnSustainability Of Municipalities
    • Saving The Bees
    • The Sustainable Energy Of Creative Commons
    • Lessons From Sandy
    • The Tao of Small World
    • Pride And Sustainability
    • The Venus Transit
    • From Silent Spring to a Green Spring?
    • Max Keiser's War On Financial Terrorism
    • Earthship Titanic?
    • Understanding Each Other
    • Greener Corporates and Fairer Taxes
    • Of Cavemen and Obamamobiles
    • Chocolate Slavery
    • Green Metrics
    • The "Subversive Doctrine of Social Responsibility"
    • GM Labelling Not Yet Being Complied With In South Africa
    • Al Gore
    • Total Recall
    • Sustainability >
      • Income Through Recycling
      • Measurement Is Key For Sustainability
      • Sustainability In A World Of 7 Billion Plus
      • For Sustainability We Need Freedom
      • Why Waste?
      • Flushing Sustainability Down The Toilet!
      • Green Collars
    • Poodwaddle World Clock
    • Philosophy >
      • The Wonderful Ancient Wisdom Of Wu Wei
      • Small Is Beautiful
      • Green Is Gentle
      • Serendipity
      • Staying On The T, Working Creatively With The Flow
      • Embracing The Human Family
      • Mercy - Sustainability Promoting
    • Leadership >
      • The Emerging Boss Less World
      • Leadership In The Age Of Green
    • Justice >
      • Sustainable Justice
      • Of Vlad The Impaler (The Unsustainability Of Our Justice System)
  • Resources
  • Green Zeitgeist
    • Visually Green
    • YouTube Green >
      • Canto Della Terra
      • Earth Song
      • Woodstock
      • Imagine
      • San Francisco
      • Dust In The Wind
      • Guinnevere
      • Perfect Day
      • Nice To Be Here
    • Green Poetry >
      • Passage To India
      • Leaves of Grass
      • Earth As We Knew It
      • Joy Shipmate Joy
      • Blue Daze
      • The Silent Village
      • Midori's Frog
      • Poems By Midori Chan >
        • Autumn
        • Reflections
        • Love Poem
        • Friendship
        • Tribute To Mika Yamamoto
      • Poems By Miry Allegri >
        • La Magia Dell' India
        • The Sparrow
      • Poems By Mike Shaw >
        • Looking Back ...
        • The Hidden Sun
        • No Man's Land
      • The Light Of Dawn
      • Poems By Mary Montalvo >
        • Mother Earth
        • Water
        • An Indigo Sky
        • The Fire Within
        • Waterfall
        • The River
        • Mountains
        • Clouds
        • Trees
        • Nature
        • Cosmos
        • The Fawn
        • Butterfly
        • The Coming Storm
        • The Painting Poet
      • Poems By Marie Hélène Visconti >
        • Seasons Of Haikus
        • Spring Haiku Bouquet
      • Poems By Claudine de Fay >
        • The Lament Of The Earth Dreamers
      • Marie Colvin
      • Poems By Ando Perez >
        • A Handful Of Haikus ...
      • Poems By Julian Carmichael >
        • Om Mani Padme Hum
        • The Green Forest & The Moon
        • Dandelions
        • Le Malge (Meadows)
        • The Snow God
        • Madonna Dei Sassi
        • To Chop Or Not To Chop
        • The White Butterfly
        • Green Spirit!
      • Poems By Paula Josa-Jones >
        • The Buddha
        • The Edge And The Sea
    • Green Quotes
    • Green Design >
      • Deep Green Design
      • California Cooler
      • Inhabitat
      • Inhabitat Links
    • Paradigm Shifters >
      • Food Gardens
      • Why Plastic Recycling!?
      • Soda & Health
      • Hidden Costs Of American Apparel
  • Contact Us