Yaourter: Singing Lyrics Made Up Because You Don't Know Them - French
New words for old songs, and experiencing the ordinary miracles of life
There are some words that, with a single stroke, paint a picture of emotions that you know absolutely well but cannot name, or rather, cannot fully figure out because there is no word to express them.
Yaourter is one such word.
When I was a child, when the English language was still a distant climate for me, no matter how much I loved the English songs’s melodies, I couldn't get the words, so I would make up words and hum their melodies. Sometimes I would even take the my father’s microphone, who was very interested in sound systems and music, and sing loudly with made-up words.
Now, even though I have mastered English, when I don't understand or remember the words, I continue to hum my song by making up new words with an enthusiasm reminiscent of my childhood, each time with a nod to Gülsün, the child who wrote made-up lyrics to well-known songs with a microphone in her hand.
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It's ironic that the word yaourter is a homonym for yogurt, a food, which must be a reflection of the French's unique sense of humor. Yaourter is a French verb that means to hum along to song lyrics, usually in English. It means to make up words, not only when singing but also when speaking, but making up words is something that usually children do or something that happens quite rarely in adulthood's world, like when geniuses like Shakespeare added many new words to the English language.
My son likes rap music like a lot of 12-year-old boys. When we are in the car—usually on small trips to school—he is our DJ, and I am exposed to a lot of rap songs. I must say, by the way, that as soon as he gets out of the car, I immediately go back to my jazz songs so that I can return peacefully to my calm, meaningful, deep, and reasonable world. But when I am in the car with my son, he is usually the boss of the music, so these car trips are joyful and worth-remembering times for both of us, where we share common moments.
If you want to sing along to rap music, as we do in the car, it's impossible to do it without resorting to yaourter. I'm sure it's impossible for anyone to sing a rap song perfectly from start to finish except the one who writes the lyrics and the one who sings it. So if anyone listens to us singing in the car, it might take them two seconds to realize that the songs we are singing have nothing to do with the originals; it's quite funny, especially to me.
Imagine a middle-aged, small woman with short blonde hair singing rap songs quite loudly with made-up lyrics while driving. I remember a couple of times at a red light, I got weird looks from the cars next to us looking at us like we were weird. But I guess they don't know about yaourter, it's a pity. Yaourter is also a part of life, and it makes singing even more enjoyable and funny. I highly recommend it to anyone.
I wish everyone a weekend full of joy, and lots of hope for those who are not yet able to reach it.
With love,
— Gulsun
Thank you for taking the time to accompany me in the story of a new word. Every word of the world’s languages is also ours, belonging to humanity while giving us an essence of the culture in which it was rooted.
We are made of stories—that is, of words.