h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Leech is the word.
Leech cone, eh? Well, the combination is obvious to any mind. As long as the mind is that of a Vogon.

While we´re on the subject: Nipple in Norwegian is "brystvorte". Yes, the wart-thing again. The word for bra is BH or brystholder. Brystholder means "holding breasts". By the way, I´m pleased to say I use a bra. I haven´t hired some poor young man to hold them for me... (I wouldn´t get much work done!) And hedgehog in Norwegian is "pinnsvin", which directly translated means "stick-pig".
It´s a wonderful language for those of us who are born into it. All the rest of the world can forget even learning this lingo. The immigrants are trying, but they never get the hang of it. Hell, I haven´t got the hang of it and I´m born here! (Maybe it´s my Italian genes...)

Thanks for the contributions, VikingLady....

...I can't imagine that a young lad employed as a breast holder in Norway would be considered "poor" by the rest of the male populous. "Lucky" and "sod" spring more readily to mind.

Woah! I'm gone only two weeks, and Olaf is making an adult forum! Olaf, you're getting worse by the minute! I'll admit contribution from other parties such as my self and Vikinglady, but still... Coor.

Duke, it is not my fault if young (Scandinavian, I might point out) girls post messages in our forum about whether or not they wear bras....

....I was merely being courteous....

No, but still...

Thank you so much for calling me a young girl.....
I take that as a compliment!

Compliments R US, Vikinglady!

Jeanie Mac! All this discussion about underwear and I haven't been involved!
I am in a slight underwear predicament myself as my home page illustrates so I can't really offer any spares to anyone - as was suggested earlier.

I hope you have had a good holiday by the time you read this Duke.

Vestie, dear fellow. I bow my head in thanks in your general direction. The holiday was splendid with sun, golf and fishing, barbequeing and whiskydrinking. That's about all I want from a vacation, really. As a counterpoint, things are beginning to pick up at work, which disables me to tend to my conversations here as much as I would like. I trust, however, that you and Olaf are uphlding the virtues of all that is good?

Welcome back Duke. By the way what are the words in these various languages for toe? I know in italian the word would translate as "foot finger."
And we have a gap in the English language. A missing word. Perhaps we could steal one from another language to make up the gap. The word is... well we haven't got it but I can explain it to you.

When you have a group of hungry people you can "feed" them. When you have a group of thirsty people we don't have a word that caters for them. You could use "water" but that really is more for livestock or plants and I think is very unsatisfactory. Maybe the word should come from "drink" as "feed" comes from "food". Drenk?

Can anyone help?

I think that should be "Dreenk" in that case. Like this:

"Our people starve, my lord."
"Well, feed them, then!"
"But they are thirsty too, my lord."
"Look, feed them and dreenk them and don't bother me with your futiles!"

Yes, you get the picture. But what is the word in Swedish, Norwegian, Tugnafian and so on?

Come to think of it, I can't seem to dig up a single standing word for it. "Feed" becomes "Mata" (Food = Mat). "Drink" as in "Let them drink" becomes "Dricka", but now single word for "Give them drink". Hmmm. And as for "Toe", it translates to "Tå", which is impossible to translate back to English.
Another curious thing is the swedish word "Lagom". That's the single word for, for example, when you've eaten just the proper amount of food to satisfy you. You're not too full, and you haven't eaten to little. That means you have eaten "Lagom". Incicentally, the word "Lagom" translates as "team-about". You see the logics spreading all around...

We have "sufficient" which is sometimes used, suffice it to say.
What is this problem with giving drink then. Is it an international conspiracy. Maybe we need to let the H2G2 Authorties know!

"Sufficient" would translate as "Tillräcklig(t)", which is not quite the same. Indeed it must be a conspiracy, and I for one think that Oliver Stone should look in to it.

And the Pope and the Dalai Lama!

Woah there! Do we really think it's a religious conspiracy with roots in federal governments? Don't you think it's a cosmic one, larger than life?

Eh? Oh yeah! Right. Who do we report it to then?

Well, we shall have to chose between David Letterman or Martha Stewart, I guess. But I'm thinking that maybe we could form some kind of front against lack of words...No. No, that's already been done. I mean we have "The meaning of Liff", don't we?