Some people have been wondering which jobs have the most social status in Hoobah Boobah Land. Here is a partial list:
HIGH STATUS PROFESSIONS (MOST RESPECTED):
king; oceanographer; veterinarian specializing in avian diseases; grass cutter (many H.B. ceremonies involve cutting grass with ornamental scythes); large-scale goose farmer (see entry on H.B. economy); translator (see entry on difficulty of H.B. language)
MEDIUM STATUS PROFESSIONS (SOMEWHAT RESPECTED):
medium-scale goose farmer; goose herder (works for goose farmers); tennis coach; judge (though judges have slightly more status than people in the other professions listed here)
LOW STATUS PROFESSIONS (NOT RESPECTED):
Surprisingly, the professions and walks of life that have low status in Hoobah Boobah Land are, by and large, the same ones that have low status in the United States.
If you read the entry on the Hoobah Boobah Language, you will see that your social ranking, along with the social ranking of the person you are addressing, will determine the form of the nouns you use in your sentences.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
2 out of the thousands of interesting facts about Hoobah Boobah Land
Fun facts about Hoobah Boobah Land:
1. The word for the number "1" is "ek", which is similar to the Bengali word for "1". Sailors from what is now Bangladesh were shipwrecked in Hoobah Boobah Land around the year 1500. The Hoobah Boobah language did not have a word for the number 1; the Bengali sailors gave the Hoobah Boobah people their word for "1" out of gratitude for Hoobah Boobah hospitality.
2. Hoobah Boobah Land lost a major naval battle with a Danish expeditionary force in 1792.
1. The word for the number "1" is "ek", which is similar to the Bengali word for "1". Sailors from what is now Bangladesh were shipwrecked in Hoobah Boobah Land around the year 1500. The Hoobah Boobah language did not have a word for the number 1; the Bengali sailors gave the Hoobah Boobah people their word for "1" out of gratitude for Hoobah Boobah hospitality.
2. Hoobah Boobah Land lost a major naval battle with a Danish expeditionary force in 1792.
The Hoobah Boobah Language -- It's Challenging!!
The Hoobah Boobah language is very difficult. The few foreigners who have attempted to learn it have quit in frustration. The following is an example of its difficulty.
The basic H.B. word for "peanut butter sandwich" is 'nurskbeglaya'. Hoobah Boobah land is a very heirarchical society (meaning that people are ranked very strictly according to profession, age, and other measures); there are over 100 social ranks in formal, written Hoobah Boobahn -- though there are fewer ranks in regions that are remote from the coast. However, since the economy relies on goose farming almost exclusively (see the other entries on H.B.L.), the people enjoy, for the most part, equality of wealth; personal wealth is not a measure of status in Hoobah Boobah Land, as it is in some other countries.
'Peanut butter sandwich' is obviously a noun, and in the H.B. language, a noun changes form radically depending on what kind of person you are connecting with that noun. If you translate 'I made a p.b. sandwich for the judge', the word for 'p.b. sandwich' is 'nurskbeglinglaya'; in this sentence: 'the tennis coach ate a p.b. sandwich', the word becomes 'nurskaburskabeglaya'. Even native speakers of Hoobah Boobahn avoid saying the equivalent of 'the oceanographer is making a p.b. sandwich for me', because you have to include your own social rank, along with that of the oceanographer (oceanagraphers have very high social status in H.B.L.); in that sentence, 'p.b. sandwich' becomes 'nurskaburskabeglingyayazeenshtebyn'. That is, this is how you would write 'p.b. sandwich' if you are a student of nursing; it would change if you were in a different profession.
If you think this is confusing, then just try to figure out verbs in Hoobah Boohban (there are over 15,000 irregular verbs, and dozens of tenses). Believe me, you don't want to know!
The basic H.B. word for "peanut butter sandwich" is 'nurskbeglaya'. Hoobah Boobah land is a very heirarchical society (meaning that people are ranked very strictly according to profession, age, and other measures); there are over 100 social ranks in formal, written Hoobah Boobahn -- though there are fewer ranks in regions that are remote from the coast. However, since the economy relies on goose farming almost exclusively (see the other entries on H.B.L.), the people enjoy, for the most part, equality of wealth; personal wealth is not a measure of status in Hoobah Boobah Land, as it is in some other countries.
'Peanut butter sandwich' is obviously a noun, and in the H.B. language, a noun changes form radically depending on what kind of person you are connecting with that noun. If you translate 'I made a p.b. sandwich for the judge', the word for 'p.b. sandwich' is 'nurskbeglinglaya'; in this sentence: 'the tennis coach ate a p.b. sandwich', the word becomes 'nurskaburskabeglaya'. Even native speakers of Hoobah Boobahn avoid saying the equivalent of 'the oceanographer is making a p.b. sandwich for me', because you have to include your own social rank, along with that of the oceanographer (oceanagraphers have very high social status in H.B.L.); in that sentence, 'p.b. sandwich' becomes 'nurskaburskabeglingyayazeenshtebyn'. That is, this is how you would write 'p.b. sandwich' if you are a student of nursing; it would change if you were in a different profession.
If you think this is confusing, then just try to figure out verbs in Hoobah Boohban (there are over 15,000 irregular verbs, and dozens of tenses). Believe me, you don't want to know!
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