A few things that clearly say you’re a Melbourne hipster; eating organically grown freekeh, walking down Smith Street with a three-legged dog – and ensuring that there’s a massive beard attached to your face.
Believe it or not, beards are not just a hipster phenomenon, they are well and truly a global fixation, and have been for quite some time. The Arab exclamation ‘God protect us from hairy women and beardless men’ pinpoints the importance of facial hair as a mark of rank, experience and attractiveness.
This insightful saying comes from one of our favest books ever – ‘The Meaning of Tingo’ by Adam Jacot de Boinod. If you ever wanted to find a word that says it exactly like it is, this is the book for you.
So seeing we’re going to be living with face fungus for at least the next few millennia, us chicks are equipping you with some words to describe the ol’ brush and bristle in all its glory. Go forth and make furry fun!
gras bilong fes (Tok, Pisin, Papua New Guinea) a beard (literally, grass belonging to the face)
hemigeneios (Ancient Greek) with only half a beard (George Michael maybe?)
qarba (Persian) white hairs appearing in the beard (wonder what ranga hairs in the beard are called)
poti (Tulu, India) a woman with a beard (and we all know one of those)
Reference: Adam Jacot de Boinod (2005). The Meaning of Tingo. Victoria, Australia: Penguin Group. p.20.
