Month: May 2025

Star Trek nerds make a big deal about making utterances in Klingon, but did you know that there are at least twenty-seven known languages in the Star Trek universe? The ‘Federation Standard’ is (conveniently) American English, but others speak languages including: Tamarian, which relies heavily on metaphor and allegory; Vulcan, whose writing system resembles musical notations on earth, and Ferengi, from the wet, humid planet of Ferenginar, in which there are said to be 178 words for rain. 

The baby-jumping festival takes place in Sasamón in the Spanish province of Burgos, where it’s been celebrated since the early 1600s. Babies born over the previous twelve months are lain on mattresses in the street, and men dressed as devils and carrying whips and castanets jump over them. According to tradition, the ‘devils’ carry away the babies’ original sin. 

While nobody takes the festival very seriously, Pope Benedict XVI instructed Spanish priests to distance themselves from the tradition, citing the Church’s teaching that original sin is cleansed by baptism.

You’re probably familiar with the fictional Smurf community invented by Belgian cartoonist Pejo in the 1950s and the subject of many filmed adaptations, but perhaps you are unaware of a raging linguistic debate between two rival camps of the mostly-male, all-blue society. 

Smurf language is characterised by the use of the word ‘smurf’ in place of many common nouns and verbs. For example, one smurf might say to another: ‘Let’s go smurfing in the smurf,’ and the other will, apparently, understand. Context means everything. 

However, in what might or might not be a parody of tensions between French- and Flemish-speaking communities in Belgium, a 1972 publication, Smurf Versus Smurf, revealed that residents in the north of the village and those in the south frequently argue over precisely how the term ‘smurf’ should be used in language, claiming not to understand one another’s usage. 

Linguistics is truly everywhere!

Speaking backwards has been associated at various times with witchcraft and other nefarious purposes: spells often incorporate words uttered backwards. 

In an area of Argentina and Uruguay, locals use a type of slang called Lunfardo, which uses backwards words from the various languages spoken by immigrants to the country. These are used in tango lyrics and in everyday speech and can be utilised in creative writing to evoke the atmosphere of the street. Similar slangs are found in other countries, including France, where speaking backwards is known as “Verlan”.  In San Cristóbal de la Laguna in the Canaries, enthusiasts campaign to have their local version of speaking backwards recognised by UNESCO as an example of “intangible cultural heritage of humanity.”

Yrev gnitseretni!