Blahbarian
Write a scene that includes a character speaking a different language, speaking in a thick accent, or otherwise speaking in a way that is unintelligibe to the other characters. (Note: You don’t necessarily need to know the language the character is speaking—be creative with it!)
Did you know that the word "barbarian" comes from the Medieval Latin barbarinus, meaning "foreign, of another nation or culture"? The Latin word is from the root barbar-, which was used to imitate the unintelligible speech of foreigners, originally from the Sanskrit barbara-, meaning "stammering." In fact, originally the word barbaroi meant "all who are not Greek," but after the Romans took over much of the world, they started applying it the term to non-Greeks and non-Romans—although by the Greek definition, they themselves were actually barbaroi themselves. (This is also the etymological source of the name of the Barbary Coast, the Berber people, and other similar terms as well.)
But what all this means it that essentially, the English word "barbarian" means "a person who says blah, blah, blah."
Writing Prompt
Write a scene that includes a character speaking a different language, speaking in a thick accent, or otherwise speaking in a way that is unintelligibe to the other characters. (Note: You don't necessarily need to know the language the character is speaking—be creative with it!)
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Jess Zafarris is the Executive Director of Marketing & Communications for Gotham Ghostwriters and the former Digital Content Director for Writer’s Digest. Her eight years of experience in digital and print content direction include such roles as editor-in-chief of HOW Design magazine and online content director of HOW and PRINT magazine, as well as writing for the Denver Business Journal, ABC News, and the Memphis Commercial Appeal. She spends much of her spare time researching curious word histories and writing about them at UselessEtymology.com. Follow her at @jesszafarris or @uselessety on Twitter.
