Talk:mamihlapinatapai

Is this real? Seems like one of those "book words". Equinox ◑ 22:30, 24 January 2011 (UTC)

Yámana
The RFV-failed Yámana word had the alternative form "mamihlapinatapei", and was defined as "a look shared by two people with each wishing that the other will initiate something that they both desire but which neither one wants to start". The Etymology given was: ma- (mam- before a vowel; reflexive/passive) + ihlapi (to be at a loss as what to do next) + -n (stative) + -ata (achievement) + -apai (dual, which in composition with mam- has a reciprocal sense). - -sche (discuss) 07:44, 18 March 2012 (UTC)

RFV
See Special:PermanentLink/22590664. - -sche (discuss) 20:30, 23 March 2012 (UTC)

Three citations of usage please. SemperBlotto 15:23, 25 January 2012 (UTC)
 * Ha Wikipedia says that this language has just one native speaker (no year given) so it's not a dead language, but if that native speaker dies and there are no other native speaker, this will be a dead language and only one citation will be needed. Mglovesfun (talk) 16:57, 25 January 2012 (UTC)
 * Haha. Has he written any books, or does he keep a blog? SemperBlotto 17:00, 25 January 2012 (UTC)
 * Well there have been other native speakers in the past, too. Mglovesfun (talk) 17:06, 25 January 2012 (UTC)
 * With whom does he speak? --Hekaheka 19:51, 25 January 2012 (UTC)
 * There may be some non-native speakers too. Mglovesfun (talk) 10:49, 26 January 2012 (UTC)
 * He speaks with himself. I guess. -- Liliana • 19:12, 27 January 2012 (UTC)

@SemperBlotto. Haha yourself. Yes, she has written a book Hai Kur Mamashu Shis (I want to tell you a story) and she has a Facebook page. I don't know if she has a blog, but her English translator has one. Spinning Spark  14:34, 31 January 2012 (UTC)


 * The idea was that these two girls met, shared that moment of﻿ mamihlapinatapai, started talking and the video went on to show what could have happened--they became best friends and had all these amazing moments together.
 * When is the last time you were involved in an epic mamihlapinatapai? Will you please describe this encounter for science?
 * I don't think this one counts, or even makes any sense, but I give it to you anyway for your amusement;
 * A heavily face-painted Stumbler appeared before him and waved for his attention. "I am Voodoo Master Moon Unit Mamihlapinatapai Von Zubenelgenubi.  Come with me."
 * In my opinion it would be reasonable to treat this as an extinct language, which it virtually is, especially as the speakers, when they lived, were preliterate. Spinning Spark  18:15, 31 January 2012 (UTC)

I agree that it would be reasonable to treat this as an extinct language requiring only one citation, but it had none, so I have deleted it. Please restore it if you can cite it... - -sche (discuss) 07:45, 18 March 2012 (UTC)

RFV 2
From mamihlapinatapai at Requests for verification:

Rfv-sense: (English) A look shared by two people, each hoping that the other will do something that both wish to be done but neither wants to do.

All I can find are mentions of this as a Yámana (most sources referring to it as Fuegian) word with that definition, non-durable uses and uses of sense 2. The Yámana term itself failed RFV last year and is possibly fake or exaggerated. — Ungoliant (Falai) 09:22, 26 October 2013 (UTC)
 * This was in the Guinness Book of World Records in the 1980's, so it's got a long history of being passed around as the world's most succinct word (meaning, hardest to translate in a short sentence, but nevertheless having a firm definition all can agree on). If it's originally fake it's fooled a lot of people and may have now reached the point where the originally false definition has become true after all.  Definition 2 seems to be just a variant of definition 1. Soap (talk) 15:31, 29 October 2013 (UTC)
 * After some searching, I think sense 1 probably is unattestable, but because sense 1 is the definition that's usually given (by Guinness World Records as well as various collections of "untranslatable words"), I think it's relevant, and I'd like to find a way to include it in the entry somehow if we can (maybe in the Etymology section?) Mr. Granger (talk) 02:43, 30 October 2013 (UTC)


 * RFV failed. —Mr. Granger (talk • contribs) 03:31, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

1998 citation looks like verb but is listed as noun
Equinox ◑ 02:20, 11 June 2017 (UTC)