కూపస�?థమండూకమ�?

cydonian commented on the word కూపస�?థమండూకమ�?

coz I got the spelling wrong earlier.

September 7, 2007

uselessness commented on the word కూపస�?థమండూకమ�?

Yeah, I thought it looked wrong. ;-)

September 7, 2007

cydonian commented on the word కూపస�?థమండూకమ�?

కూపమ�?, అనగా బావిలో, ఉన�?న మండూకమ�?, అనగా కప�?ప. "కూపస�?థ ఇతి మండూకః" అన�? సంస�?కృత మూలమ�?నక�? సమాసమ�?.

A compounded noun in Sanskrit1 (and by extension, Telugu) for 'a frog situated inside the well'. A frog inside a a well is figuratively so inward-looking that s/he doesn't know much about the outside world.

Similar to, or perhaps derived from, the Chinese chengyu about a frog and a turtle, supposedly composed by the ancient Taoist philosopher Zhuangzi.

Chengyu-related interpretations in other Asian languages:-

井底之蛙 -- Chinese

井�?�中�?�蛙 -- Japanese

우물 안 개구리 -- Korean

(source )

For a delicious multi-language irony, consider this rendition of the parable; the website in question, in turn, seems to be using the parable to train its readers in using the term abashed for their TOEFL test.

You could, therefore, say, that someone reading the parable there (and learning English) ironically will not be a frog-in-the-well anymore.

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1 - Contemporary writers usually use the Devnaagri script to write Sanskrit. Because I'm lazy, and because my mastery over the Devnaagri script has been diminishing over the past few years, and more importantly, because I'm more at home in the Telugu script, I had chosen to write this word here in the Telugu script. Here's how you write it in the Devnaagri script:- कूपस�?थमंडूकमं

I think.

September 7, 2007