Hello and welcome to another episode of There's a Word for That,
Where in just a few minutes,
Each episode will uncover a word from somewhere in the world for a feeling you've had many times but never knew had a name.
And so without further ado.
.
.
Let's get right into it.
We've all been with someone when a moment happens in which we both want the exact same thing,
But neither one of us says it.
Neither person moves first.
It might be a kiss.
It might be as simple as waiting for someone else to open the door or answer the phone.
Whatever it is,
There's a word for that,
And it's called mami la piñata pae.
Quite the tongue twister.
Mami la piñata pae.
The commonly cited definition is a look shared by two people,
Each wishing that the other would offer to do something they both want,
But that neither is willing to start.
It comes from the language of Yagan.
It's a language belonging to an indigenous people from Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of South America.
And in 1994,
The Guinness World Records named Mami Lapignatapai as the most succinct word in the world,
Packing an entire shared unspoken moment into a single term.
And there's something moving about the language of Yagan itself too.
It's an isolated language,
Meaning it has no relatives anywhere in the world.
And today,
It has no fluent native speakers left at all.
The last one,
A lady called Christina Calderon,
Died in 2022.
So out of a language that's gone quiet forever,
It's this one word that's remained,
This one word that's travelled the world.
Maybe you've been in a mami la piñata pie yourself,
Across the table,
Across a pause that went on just a little too long,
With a loved one,
A friend,
Or even a stranger.
Whenever it may have been at least now you finally have a word for it mami la piñata pae Thank you so much for listening,
I hope you've enjoyed this episode and until next time,
Take care.
