New words in Inuit

Iktsuarpok fever!

#5. Iktsuarpok (Inuit)

Means:

To go outside to check if an expected visitor has arrived, over and over again.

For lonely people eager to find new ways to express their loneliness, there is a new word that perfectly sums up the feeling of waiting for someone who, as time goes on, you realize probably isn’t coming. We’ve all been guilty of “iktsuarpok” at one point or another, whether it’s waiting for a prom date or waiting for a concealed-weapons permit in the mail after that prom fiasco. Time can seem to stretch on for eternity in moments that require you to wait on someone else, glancing out the window again and again, waiting for their car to pull into the driveway. The Inuit know the feeling so well they developed a word for it.

Wikipedia
They have 40 words for “sudden onset cannibalism,” too, if you’re thinking of visiting.

The fact that iktsuarpok even exists as a word offers us all a sense of exactly what kind of isolation the Inuit people are subjected to every day. They will get all iktsuarpok-ed for the prospect of a guest like a kid for Santa Claus. So the next time you’re feeling sick to death of all the people around you, remember that somewhere there’s a group of people disconnected from civilization in subzero temperatures, just waiting for some hypothermic company to stumble past.

Getty
“Just chopping up some nice ice logs for the ice fire.”

Psst.. did you catch the “100 words for snow” reference?  Sneaky!!

STOP THE PRESSES!

I’ve been attempting to keep in the holiday spirit by providing you with a daily dose of Christmas-sy-Eskimos… but something has come to my attention which is pretty much earth shattering-ly AWESOME!

I present to you…

Iktsuarpok (T.O.K. Blog)

December 12, 2012

For our Emotion Case Study in TOK class, I chose the emotion Iktsuarpok.

What it is: The eskimo word for the feeling of anticipation when you are waiting for someone or something to arrive, and constantly checking if it has

2-3 Articles Discussing The Emotion:

1. http://www.cracked.com/article_19695_9-foreign-words-english-language-desperately-needs.html

2. http://nunawhaa.wordpress.com/2011/08/17/iktsuarpok

Photo of Somebody Enacting Emotion:

2-3 Knowledge Issues Related To My Emotion:

1.Why do we as people need other people’s company? Do we?

2. Can one be happy if they are lonely?

Activity: Hold a Secret Santa, everybody in the room has to get someone a gift, there will be no deadline in giving the gift but they must give it by the end of the year. This will build feelings of Iktsuarpok.

Big Questions: Why do we have this emotion and what value does it have for Humans? What can we learn from this emotion?

I found this emotion when my penpal in America sent me a letter in which was enclosed a card with the word “Iktsuarpok”, captioned constantly waiting–and checking. It really summed up the whole time waiting for the letter to come, since I didn’t know when the letter had been sent, and was checking my mailbox everyday. I really love the word, and how it can be used in a melancholic way but also in a happy, anticipating way. I think the feeling of iktsuarpok is felt by everyone, and we have it because human beings evolved to crave on another’s company, since we survived better in groups and when we helped each other, as opposed to being okay alone. This is why we don’t like to be lonely. Also, we like to anticipate things because this gives us hope, and hope is arguably an evolutionary trait that allows humans to not get depressed and lethargic, and thus not be able to survive by not trying to.

nuna… WHAA is serving an educational purpose.  Way to go, Jun Sekiya!

Suzuki “Sled” 2012 Super Bowl Bowl Ad

MORE words for snow???

Waste of Time!

I stole this from The Snowclones Database.

Cultural Importance

1000 words for Meh

From Dinosaur Comics.

Spell-Check

Found at Eons.  Pretty awesome.

 

Qaggiavuut!

 This qaggiq is ready to welcome one and all!!