The story
In Rukwangali, spoken along the Kavango river in northern Namibia, the whole scene fits in one word: the quick, yelping dance across sand too hot to stand on. Every beach in August stages it. English can only hotfoot it, towel to sea.
hanyauku
hahn-yah-OO-koo[hanjaˈuku]
walking on tiptoe across scorching sand
Closest in English: tiptoeing, tiptoe, hotfooting. None of them covers it.
Watch the word
A real game of this word, in 20 seconds.
How it went in the game
Contains the answers. If you want to play the word yourself first, leave this closed.
- Which language is it from?Rukwangali (Namibia)
- Where would you hear it?Halfway between your towel and the sea
- When does it happen?At the blazing height of the day
- What does it mean?Crossing hot sand on your toes
How it went
Harder than most words so far.
Round one, language, was where most points went.
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