Popagandhi

There is a Hokkien term that I’ve found to be most handy in describing my current disposition, yet for which I can find no alternative in any other language. It is the word nua.

In English, words which come close include terms such as “sloth”, “bum”, “idler”, “slacker”, and certainly “lazy”, but I’ve found them to be utterly inadequate. The Hokkien word nua on the other hand, encapsulates all those concepts of laziness and idling, but on a completely superior dimension. There is the element of “bumming until you turn to goo”, that this one word alone manages to convey. Think: not merely a couch potato, but mashed potato spread all over a couch. How powerful is the Hokkien dialect?

My parents will say, my goodness, you woke up at 4pm, it’s already 10 and you haven’t done anything, and haven’t even bathed.. how nua of you! People who have anything to do with my academic endeavours frequently lapse into swearing at me / about me in Hokkien, and of course the word nua is often invoked.

My exams are in two weeks, and I can feel it in my bones. This nua-ing effect taking hold.