kunlangeta

English edit

This English term is a hot word. Its inclusion on Wiktionary is provisional.

Etymology edit

Possibly borrowed from Yupik.^[1]^[2] This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Noun edit

kunlangeta (plural not attested)

Among the Inuit, a malicious troublemaker or sociopath.
- [1996 March, David J. Cooke, quoting Murphy (1976), “Psychopathic Personality in Different Cultures: What Do We Know? What Do We Need to Find Out?”, in Journal of Personality Disorders, volume 10, number 1, pages 23-24:
  The equivalent Inuit construct is kunlangeta, which they define as “his mind knows what to do but he does not do it.”]
- [2006 March 26, Erin Miller, Chris Gautz, Margaret Fosmoe, Sue Lowe, Jim Wensits, “Well, we have a word for that in English, too”, in South Bend Tribune, South Bend, Indiana:
  Walt Buras had an Inuit word for the unwise at last week's School City of Mishawaka budget work session.
  The word “kunlangeta” means “someone whose mind knows what to do but won't do it,” Buras said, citing sociologist Jane Murphy. “I'm hoping this board will not pick up a nickname of ‘kunlangeta.’”]
- 2022 January 24, Wee Ginger Dug, “The REAL Scottish Politics: Why ‘kunlangeta’ is perfect word for Tories”, in The National, Glasgow, Scotland:
  Given the constant drip-drip of damaging stories in the press in recent days, it appears that there are indeed many in the Conservative Party who seek to push the kunlangeta off the ice. However, the problem for the rest of us is that they only seek to push the kunlangeta off the ice because they too are kunlangetas. The Yupik push the kunlangeta off the ice for the good of the village; the Tories are doing it because Johnson is now impeding their own ability to act in their selfish self-interest and to continue to screw over the rest of us.

References edit

^ Murphy, Jane M. (1976 March 12) “Psychiatric Labeling in Cross-Cultural Perspective”, in Science, volume 191, number 4231, American Association for the Advancement of Science, →DOI, page 1026: “the Eskimos have a word, kunlangeta, which means “his mind knows what to do but he does not do it.””
^ Lilienfeld, Scott O., Arkowitz, Hal (2007 December 1) “What "Psychopath" Means”, in Scientific American Mind, volume 18, number 6, London, England: Nature Portfolio, →DOI, pages 80–81:
In a 1976 study anthropologist Jane M. Murphy, then at Harvard University, found that an isolated group of Yupik-speaking Inuits near the Bering Strait had a term (kunlangeta) they used to describe “a man who … repeatedly lies and cheats and steals things and … takes sexual advantage of many women—someone who does not pay attention to reprimands and who is always being brought to the elders for punishment.” When Murphy asked an Inuit what the group would typically do with a kunlangeta, he replied, “Somebody would have pushed him off the ice when nobody else was looking.”

[1] Murphy, Jane M. (1976 March 12) “Psychiatric Labeling in Cross-Cultural Perspective”, in Science, volume 191, number 4231, American Association for the Advancement of Science, →DOI, page 1026: “the Eskimos have a word, kunlangeta, which means “his mind knows what to do but he does not do it.””

[2] Lilienfeld, Scott O., Arkowitz, Hal (2007 December 1) “What "Psychopath" Means”, in Scientific American Mind, volume 18, number 6, London, England: Nature Portfolio, →DOI, pages 80–81:
In a 1976 study anthropologist Jane M. Murphy, then at Harvard University, found that an isolated group of Yupik-speaking Inuits near the Bering Strait had a term (kunlangeta) they used to describe “a man who … repeatedly lies and cheats and steals things and … takes sexual advantage of many women—someone who does not pay attention to reprimands and who is always being brought to the elders for punishment.” When Murphy asked an Inuit what the group would typically do with a kunlangeta, he replied, “Somebody would have pushed him off the ice when nobody else was looking.”

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