“Resiliência” is the ‘Word of the Year’ chosen by Mozambicans

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“Resiliência” is the ‘Word of the Year’ chosen by Mozambicans

10:38 CAT | 12 Dec 2018

File photo: DW

The ‘Word of the Year’ chosen by Mozambicans in an online poll of around 5,000 Internet users is “resiliência” it was announced on Thursday.

The poll was organised over the month of November by the site www.palavradoano.co.mz and “resilience” obtained 38% of the votes. According to Plural Publishers Mozambique, who organised the initiative, it was “the ability to face adversities” that won the favour of the majority of voters.

In the second place is “marandza” with 37% of the votes. “This term is increasingly used in social networks to designate a woman who relates in a self-seeking way, with her partner or partners, in order to gain advantages,” Porto Editora group’s Plural Editores explains.

The podium ends with “terrorismo”, with only 8% of the choices. The term was selected for the list of finalists for “this year several terrorist attacks have been committed in towns and villages in the districts of Palma and Mocímboa da Praia, in the province of Cabo Delgado,” in the extreme northeast of the country.

“Autárquicas” ranked fourth, with 6% of the vote, in a year in which “local elections were the big subject of the political agenda”, and in the fifth, “selecção”, with 3%, a word which relates directly to football. “After a promising start, in the qualifying phase for the African Nations Cup, the ‘Mambas’ [as Mozambican footballers from the national team are called] have been presenting a fall-off in their delivery, which puts in risk the qualification of the national team for the final phase of CAN.”

In sixth place, with 2% of the choices, were “reassentamento”, “gás” and “SIDA”.

“International investment in natural gas exploration in the north of the country has led to the development of multiple local community ‘resettlement’ projects, a constant theme in the national media,” the Mozambican publisher said.

As for “gás” – “the exploration of one of the largest natural gas reserves in the world has motivated several agreements between the state and different multinationals in the sector.”

“SIDA” (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) “is a serious public health problem in Mozambique and the leading cause of death among citizens of working age.”

Finally, in the tenth and last place, were the words “desbarato” and “acidente” .

“Many farmers have complained about the sale of the products they harvest on their farms ao “desbarato”, meaning at low market prices.

“Acidente” was part of the list of finalists, given “the numerous road accidents with fatalities, frequent in Mozambique, which are real tragedies, and there is a recurrence of accidents with collective transport,”-

4,700 Mozambican citizens participated in the vote, according to Plural.

The ‘Word of the Year’ is supported by the Camões Institute in Mozambique, and “aims to draw attention to the importance of words in everyday life, underscoring the richness and dynamism that Mozambicans give to the Portuguese language”.

Source: Lusa