We got dictionaries a couple of weeks back, and they have rewarded us with some hilarious new additions to our vocabulary (see “A Pohnpeian joke” and use your imagination for the types of words you might find in a Pohnpeian-English dictionary). Here’s a favorite new word of a different variety [linguistic note: “Mw”s are pronounced like a deeper, longer “m” sound; same with “pw”s]:
mwenemwenei – to jiggle up and down like the fat on a fat person.
An explanation here is that it is considered beautiful and healthy to be “fat” (mworourou), which is anywhere from pleasantly plump to obese. So this word makes sense in the cultural context. And it’s an onomatopoeia, which I love.
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