Hello peeps! @ailindigo here :)
We're now on week 8 of Untranslatable Words and for this ocassion we're moving to Africa! This is our first time talking about a word/phrase from this continent, from a group of languages I didn't even know existed and have kind of complex origins since they are a large family of languages spoken throughout sub-Saharan Africa.*
This week's word is the Bantu phrase: bilita mpash
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bilita mpash
When I was looking for a word for this week edition and saw this phrase I really felt like talking about it because I've been surprisingly dreaming a lot this week, today I woke up after having a very good and interesting dream, even though I don't consider it a bilita mpash and I forgot what it was about, that little sensation of blissfulness still remains.
bilita mpash means the opposite of a nightmare, having an utterly amazing, fantastic dream. *
So, I think this phrase not only refers to the remarkable dream itself but also to the sensation you have right after you wake up, that lingering bliss left by the dream, a sensation that might remain even if the night has come again already, a sensation I think rarely lasts more than one day.
This is something I find very interesting, and it happens to me that when I have a dream the sensation lasts way longer than the memory of the dream, I forget it in a few hours or even minutes (if it wasn't a remarkable one) but I cannot forget the sensation. I know this is the common case, but I still consider myself more of a feeler rather than a thinker, I remember feelings more than the events or words said, I guess I'm more emotional than rational.
And even though since I was a kid I've always been told to write down my dreams so I don't forget them, I never do it and always regret. However there are a few dreams I never forgot and some of them were bilita mpash.
Things That Are Not Aesthetic
These dreams I never forgot were very meaningful and weird (they're always weird though) and only a few of them have been bilita mpash, the ones who gave me a very beautiful sensation I never forgot. The last bilita mpash I had was a few weeks ago and it was that I dreamed of my internet crush lol, we weren't getting married but he noticed me!
This week I had an interesting dream I actually didn't forget, it seems that my constant failed trust on my memory didn't fail this time, this wasn't a bilita mpash but it was very interesting indeed, I dreamed of a love story in the woods, Blackpink and me discussing involutive reincarnation with professor X from the Xmen, lol.
This is good if looking into my past, long ago my dreams always twisted into nightmares, and I think because of this every time I had a total opposite of my usual nightmares, a bilita mpash itself, it made me appreciate them even more. That legendary sensation a true good dream gives you is really beautiful and can even make your day, those seconds after you wake up are the best and most beautiful moments in life.
What do you think? Do you usually have bilita mpash's or weird dreams? Tell me your dreams! :D
Thank you very much for passing by! And if you have an Untranslatable Word you'd like to suggest, please don't hesitate to do so! :)
Previous Untranslatable Words:
#1: Torschlusspanik
#2: Mono no aware
#3: Rasāsvāda
#4: Cavoli riscaldati
#5: Nefelibata
#6: Sturmfrei
#7: Jootha
This content is part of a new series to get more people interested on languages and how they, perception and culture are related!
Exclusively for the Hive Cross Culture Community, the community for language exchange or cross-cultural purposes.
If you'd like to be part of the discussion don't hesitate to hop into the Hive Language and Culture Exchange Discord server! As well as subscribing to the Hive Cross Culture Community so you don't miss any new word comming ;) We'll be sharing a new Untranslatable Word each week!
