A.Word.A.Day --aroha

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Nov 11, 2024

This week’s theme
Words borrowed from Māori

This week’s words
aroha
tapu
korero
noa

Image: Curiouslittlekiwi / Etsy

Previous week’s theme
Idioms & metaphors

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

Earlier this month I was in Auckland, New Zealand, when I spotted a woman holding a sign that said:

The end is NOT near.

It brought a smile -- such a cheeky, unexpected twist to the classic “End is near” sign. I was running the Auckland Marathon and this was just a mile into the race.

Near the end, just a couple of miles before the finish line, another sign appeared:

There’s no refund. You might as well finish it.

I did finish the race. All along the course spectators were cheering, high-fiving, and bringing smiles to the runners. It takes two to run a marathon: the runner and the cheerer. Where should I run next?

Besides running, I made time to sightsee, take part in a haka performance, and meet my friend Julian Lofts. You may have seen his anagrams in AWADmail or on The Anagram Times.

I wanted to bring something from Seattle as a gift for Julian and his partner Nirmala. Boeing Dreamliners crossed my mind, but they seemed a bit oversized. In the end, I settled on some delicious chocolates from Seattle’s Theo Chocolate.

And what did I bring back for our readers? Words, of course. New Zealand English has a rich vocabulary of its own. For example, what I call hiking they call tramping. I also discovered words that English has borrowed from Māori. This week we’ll see five of them.

aroha

PRONUNCIATION:

(UH-ruh-ha, uh-RO-ha)

MEANING:

noun: Love, compassion, empathy, warmth of feeling.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Māori aroha. The Hawaiian word aloha is a linguistic cousin. Earliest documented use: 1846.

USAGE:

“‘When I broke my arm at the Commonwealth Games three years ago, I was advised that my sporting career had likely reached an end,’ [Laurel Hubbard] said. ‘But your support, your encouragement, and your aroha carried me through the darkness.”
Chip Le Grand; Olympics Face First Gender Test as Hubbard Gets Nod; The Age (Melbourne, Australia); Jun 22, 2021.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Brothers don't necessarily have to say anything to each other -- they can sit in a room and be together and just be completely comfortable with each other. -Leonardo DiCaprio, actor and director (b. 11 Nov 1974)

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