Welcome to those searching for “Nothing”! If you like this post
about “nothing,” you might enjoy some of this blog’s other posts
about “something” else… This week’s Wednesday word is not
“nothing.” But I want to point out a fallacy in the thinking of
many language learners: Sometimes you should not say anything.
So often, people think that a language learner’s mantra should
be, “How do you say ___ in your language?” Sounds good, doesn’t
it? So what’s wrong with that? Actually, a better question would
be, “Would they say ___ in the first place?” When people have
visited us where we lived with the Palawanos, they almost always
asked us, “How do you say ‘Good Morning!’ in Palawano?” The
trouble is, “good morning” is menungang mesubo , but NO ONE SAYS
THAT. When I explained this to our visitors, they would look
shocked and stammer, “Okay, um, what should I say, then, you
know, to say hello or greet someone?” Better question! “What is
the proper thing to say in situation x?” They never liked my
answer, though. You