Zarrar Khuhro

Everyday words carry histories of trade, migration and cultural exchange, revealing how languages evolve as people and ideas travel.

Small protests can expose deep grievances, but state overreaction can transform a limited demand into a wider revolt.

At the risk of outing myself as a Zionist agent, I have to confess that one of my favourite words is “chutzpah”. It's a Yiddish word—a language that was used by Jewish communities in central Europe. As with most such words, something is always lost in translation, but it roughly translates as “gall, brazen nerve, effrontery, incredible 'guts', presumption plus arrogance.”