A few words have enjoyed cameos in the news recently, thanks to their skills — or lack thereof — in crossing borders. Donald Trump should take note. But beware: the Swede is a little saucy …

Moai is an Okinawan term for a circle of people who purposefully meet up and look out for one another. New York Times food writer Jeff Gordinier discovered and reported this when he recently interviewed longevity expert Dan Buettner, who referred to a group of his culinary pals as his “New York moai”.

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There is no Burmese word for “democracy”, even though Myanmar is marching towards it. Well, that’s not entirely true: the English word has been absorbed into the language — as is, and phonetically intact (“dee-mock-rah-SEE”) — but few Burmese people understand the foreign word or concept. The New York Times explored this and other gaps in the language last month.

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Snippa is a nickname for girls’ genitals, used throughout Sweden. Why do those Scandinavians get to enjoy gender equality when it comes to naming their privates? While we English-speakers have willy and a myriad of monikers for male members, we’re at a loss when it comes to the female form. The Guardian reported recently how the relatively young but precocious word was actually a feminist invention, but it stays put in its birthplace.

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Now here’s a word that has traveled well — over time, rather than to new places. In a New Yorker article this week about the new movie Best of Enemies, which documents the televised 1963 debate between William F. Buckley, Jr. and Gore Vidal, Hendrik Hertzberg took a look at the word queer. Hurled as an insult by Buckley at his opponent during the debate, this once offensive term has been transformed and rehabilitated, reinventing itself for the modern age. (See also Glossophilia’s earlier post on queer‘s colorful history.}

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And finally, a word without a passport: this still youngish word is missing its papers, according to the Washington Post: e-mail — as in, electronic mail. No-one seems to be able to find any suggestion of the time or place of its first appearance in writing. We only have a vague idea about its birthplace and birth-date. Can you help?

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