Language

What is the meaning of Ikigai?

Ikigai is a Japanese word which translates into meaning “a reason to live” or a “reason to get up in the morning”.

There is an island on Japan’s southernmost region called Okinawa, and here some of the longest living Japanese people live. The people on this island believe that if you keep yourself busy doing the things you love and asking questions of yourself, giving you a sense of purpose, it will lead to a more full filled and purposeful life.

Ikigai is broken down into four questions or areas of your life that you should ask yourself.

Firstly, what do you love? That is if you didn’t have to work and make money, which path would your heart follow?

Secondly, what are you good at? This for many is an easier question to answer as it is a practical question with less emotion attached. You may have a passion to create something or do a certain job which you believe you will be great at, but you may be better at organising or managing people to do the things you are passionate about and this would become your vocation.

Thirdly and this is where the question becomes more difficult is, what does the world need from you? How do you think you can contribute to the world and make it matter. Also, aking questions of yourself like why are you here on earth? can you achieve something that will help others and make you socially important, and help make the world a better place?

Sometimes others will see things in you and value them when you don’t see them yourself, so reflect on how others perceive you and how that may help your society.

Finally, the fourth question is probably the easiest to answer, what can you get paid for? What occupation have you got? What value do you bring to your job that helps and assists your company in working well.

These questions are set as a way of getting your “Ikigai”, which is an equal balance in your life, pursuing your passion, enjoying your life with the least stress and anxiety possible. If you find the right combination of doing what you love, being paid for it and helping other as well as yourself reaching where you want to be, it may enhance your life and your health for longer.

If you would like to learn more about the subject, then the excellent ‘Ikigai: The Japanese secret to a long and happy life‘ book is a great place to start.

Money Phrases

There are some quirky money related phrases that are used in the English language nowadays and the ones we’ve listed below relate to the more common ones you’ll hear when people talk about money.

What is a money grabber?
It is used to describe a person who is obsessed with the acquisition of money.

What does penny wise mean?
This term is used to describe people who are careful and spend their money wisely. This is usually used in the catchphrase “Penny wise and Pound foolish”.

What is meant when you describe something as twopenny-halfpenny?
This little saying means that the object is not valued, that it is unimportant and is used in a derogatory manner.

What is meant by the term ‘Money for Jam’?
This term is associated with a person who has achieved success of some kind with practically no effort whatsoever. Another saying is ‘money for old rope’.

What does ‘cash on delivery’ mean?
This simply means that when you order goods, you do not pay for them until they have been delivered.

What does the term ‘Penny pinching’ mean?
It’s associated with a person who is very careful, mean or stingy with their money. In Wales, people such as this are called ‘Cardis’. This originates from the old farming county of Cardiganshire – now called Ceredigion – whereby inhabitants were considered to be very prudent or “tight” with their money.

What does ‘Bob a Job’ mean?
Bob was the colloquial word for a shilling in Britain, and Boy Scouts used to call on people offering to do some chores for them in return for a shilling, which would then go into funding the Scouts activities.

What would you get if you were handed a ‘Penny dreadful’?
This saying referred to a cheap paperback book with stories about crime and horror. They were also sometimes referred to as ‘Shilling Shockers’.

What is meant by the phrase ‘A penny for your thoughts’?
It refers to a saying when you look as if you are deep in thought and someone wants to enquire if you are alright and what you are thinking about.

So next you overhear someone mentioning one of these phrases you’ll know exactly what they mean!

Image credit: Fotolia

What is a twat?

A ‘twat’ is a crude urban slang term used to describe female genitalia and is intended as a derogatory term when directed at an individual.

The plural version ‘twats’ is often used when referring to a group of idiots, cretins or imbeciles.

The term has risen to prominence as a result of England and Chelsea footballer Ashley Cole referring to the English Football Association governing body as a ‘Bunch of Twats’ in a tweet (shown below).

Ashley Cole FA Tweet

Some people might even suggest that Cole could be considered as one such individual himself!

Another extension of the word is ‘twatting’ or ‘twatted’ – which refers to the hitting of someone, e.g. “I twatted him in the face”.

What is a spoonerism?

A spoonerism is a where consonants and vowels are swapped in speech. They are named after the Reverand William Archibald Spooner, a nineteenth-century warden of New College, Oxford.

The reverend was prone to getting his words mixed up and many a spoonerism has been attributed to him.

Here are some of the more amusing spoonerisms that we know of:

We must drink a toast to the queer old dean [dear old queen]
We’ll have the hags flung out [the flags hung out]
It is kisstomary to cuss the bride [customary to kiss]
Cattle ships and bruisers [Battle ships and cruisers]
A blushing crow [crushing blow]
A well-boiled icicle [well-oiled bicycle]
The Lord is a shoving leopard [a loving shepherd]
You were fighting a liar in the quadrangle [lighting a fire]
Is the bean dizzy [dean busy]?

Why not send us your spoonerisms for inclusion in this list!

What is a pleb?

Andrew Mitchell Pleb The term “Pleb” has risen to prominence recently due to the well publicised outburst by the British Conservative Party member and serving member of parliament for Sutton Coldfield, Andrew Mitchell, referring to a police officer working outside number 10 Downing Street as a “pleb”.

Due to the derogatory meaning of the word pleb, the politician’s foul-mouthed tirade caused uproar.

The word pleb in essence refers to the class of common people but has far deeper meanings when referring to an individual, as in this case. In effect it refers to someone who is a member of a lower or despised social class, a vulgar commoner and even someone whom is undisinguished or from a poor family background.

The term originates from ancient Rome, where commoners were referred to the ‘Plebs of Rome’.

Given this context, you can now see why Andrew Mitchell’s outspoken view made the headlines – especially when aimed at the UK’s law enforcement officers!