Wednesday, 3 February 2010

N words

never
no
need
nought
naught
nougat
neutron
neutral
nod
Noddy
noir
nuance
nonsense
nonsensical
nib
nibble
nibbler
noble
nobler
nitsy-witsy

nian

nian - refers to year in Chinese
Nian - (Chinese for Spring Festival)
Nian -  the name of a ferocious, savage, ugly, evil monster, like the dragon in CNY

Kong Hee Fatt Choy
Gong Xi Fa Cai (Mandarin; gong xi = congratulations)
Keong Hee Huat Chye (Hokkien)
Gung Hei Fat Choi (Cantonese)
Kung Hei Fat Choi (Hakka)
- congratulations and be prosperous

The Spring Festival is also called “Nian” which today means only one thing – year. But the term “Nian” was once the name of a ferocious, savage, ugly, evil monster, like the dragon or unicorn that reportedly terrorised and preyed on human beings. Legend had it that this monster regularly came down from the mountain each first and 15th day of the lunar month to hunt people. Terrified people would lock themselves in for days. But one old wise man in the village realized “Nian” was bold only because the people were afraid. Source: http://www.mohdshamsaiman.net/blog/2007/02/17/the-origins-and-meaning-of-gong-xi-fa-cai/

neologism
neologisms

Neologisms such as sa-o-jeong (사오정), o-ryuk-do (오륙도), yuk-i-o (육이오), i-tae-baek 다 (이태백), gwi-cha-nism (귀차니즘) were created in 2003, while nak-ba-seang (낙바생), cheong-baek-jeon (청백전), sam-il-jeol (삼일절), sa-i-jil (사이질) emerged in 2004. All of the above are new words that reflect social phenomena. Source: http://www.erudit.org/revue/meta/2006/v51/n2/013250ar.html

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