Please. Thank you.

The most untranslatable word: Ilunga.

Articles are always more fun when you add in a crack about cricket.

There are some words in Farsi that I'd put on that list, most having to do with politeness and selflessness. One in particular, "tarof" (pronounced taa-ROHF), I've never been able to quite explain - it's like an island can only be found by those who already know where it is.

For example, if I were to go over to a friend's house, her parents would offer me food, drink, cab fare home, gifts, etc. Now, it's obviously not appropriate for me to take gifts and money from people, and in general, unless I'm VERY hungry or thirsty I'll refuse food and drink. In this case, there would generally be a small yes-no battle, won by the strongest-willed. The act of offering things out of politeness only, and also the act of refusing things out of politeness only, is one aspect of "tarof."

It also involves other things, some of which are amusing. Take, for instance, a cab ride, or buying a shirt in a store. At the end of the ride, you ask the cabbie how much it is, and he says "ghabel nadare," which means something like "it is nothing in comparison to your value." Then you say "khahesh mikonam," which is like a combination of "i appreciate your compliment" and "please, don't say such things." And then he tells you how much it is, and you pay.

What is the point of all that? What do those things even MEAN?!? What would be lost by taking out that whole exchange, and just leaving it at "$4, please"?

You can feel a difference, though, between Iran and the US, which I can't really explain. And I can't tell if the idea of "tarof" is a cause of that difference, or if it's a consequence of something deeper, some ingrained value, that is missing in US culture (if you can even call it that - I'd have a hard time putting US culture into words). I do know that, unless you grow up like that, it's almost impossible to pick up. I mess up all the time when I'm in Iran, but it's okay, because I'm That American Girl. I can get away with a lot.