The Warlpiri people, a group of Indigenous Australian, teach a strange language called Tjiliwirri to their boys who go through an initiation rite. Tjiliwirri literally means “funny’ or “clown”. The peculiar thing about this language is that it expresses every idea as its opposite. For instance, if you want to say “It’s hot”, you have to say “It’s cold”. It can quickly get complicated. Saying “I bought an apple” would mean “You sold an apple”.
SpongeBob would have been thrilled to know that the boys of Warlpiri celebrate “Opposite Day” every day:
Reference (Click to Show)
Harold Koch & Rachel Nordlinger (2014). The Languages and Linguistics of Australia: A Comprehensive Guide
I didn’t get anything new out of this one 😂
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That is even funnier, even the thought that these people exist is thrilling.
Thanks for sharing, Edmark!
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Is this a variation of Cockney backslang where the front of the word is moved to the back in an effort to confuse any outsider eavesdropping. Before that they had rhyming slang which has now seeped into the mainstream, so isnt as effective in keeping the outsider out.
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Unfortunately, the “video is unavailable in your country” — or should I say
Fortunately, the “video is available in my country” ( I wish).
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Someone should explore the possibility that an undiscovered community of Tjiliwirri-speakers is living in our nation’s capital.
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Reminds me of a game my mates used to play, which they called Dormal Nominoes. It was essentially Dominoes, but you played a right domino on the wrong end. It got confusing very quickly.
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Sounds like the “contrary people” from the movie “Little Big Man”…
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I don’t like this post.
You know what I mean to say. 😁
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