Tubli
How nice, to be a tubli person:
Estonians are generally not very outspoken in offering praise or recognition of others’ achievements, but one utterly complimentary attribute can be heard from their lips almost every day: the word tubli. This adjective of wide and flexible application can express a range of positive personal qualities and behaviours - from “goodâ€?, “orderlyâ€?, “strongâ€?, “capableâ€?, “hard-workingâ€?, “persistentâ€?, and “productiveâ€?, to “setting an example or model to othersâ€?, “behaving properlyâ€?, or “having will-powerâ€?.This small Baltic nation’s Finno-Ugric tongue has a rich folklore in which tubli features prominently. One proverb emphasises perhaps the word’s most important aspect, work: Tublidus ei tule tööta, osavus ei hooleta (Being tubli will not come without work, nor skill without care).
Tubli or not tubli, that is the question.
Comment by Dilip D — July 31, 2006 @ 3:52 am
Tubli or not tubli, that is the question.
(Didn’t I already say that?)
Comment by Dilip D — July 31, 2006 @ 12:37 pm
Dilip, I think you should stick to writing limericks :))
Comment by Uma — August 1, 2006 @ 12:44 pm