# eenheidsworst (boring uniformity)



## ThomasK

Would you have a term to describe that? It refers to uniformity, loss of particularity, in a negative sense. 

In Dutch :
- *eenheidsworst *(unity sausage, which could be translated as uniformity, but especially boring uniformity)
- *één pot nat *(lit. one pot [of] wet [things]), everything mixed together,more like a collection of similar things or people, in some negative way again - like 'one bunch/gang of Xs' perhaps, all "tarred with the same brush"...


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## arielipi

Follow the herd - lalechet im ha'eder(and some more variations of that) - means that one is doing what the majority is doing.


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## ThomasK

I recognize our *kuddegeest *(herd spirit) in that, but would you consider the meaning the same? I am referring to the result rather: when everyone follows the herd, then there is little difference - or a unity sausage. You see ?


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## arielipi

Oh, theres a word for that, but i cant think of it right now, maybe edriyut(herdness or something alike),  yet again, the term describes a person following the herd in a bad connotation.


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## aruniyan

*"één pot nat"
*
In Tamil something similar "_Ellaam OrE kuttaiyil oorina mattai_" Literally meaning

"*wooden logs socked all in the same pond*(dirty)" said about some things that never change in its original characteristics(negative sense).


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## ThomasK

Great, that is what I was looking for. 

As for 'herd': I just thought that strictly speaking the idea/ concept of 'mass' (as in 'the masses') has that same connotation, but let's stick to denotation.


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## mataripis

In Southern Tagalog, uniformity in the way how they decide is sometimes called " Kuyog" (by group/clan).


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## arielipi

Which is very similar to edriyut.
Eder is herd, edriyut is the outcome of that.
Mostly words that end with 'ut describe the thing/outcome.


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## ThomasK

I just come across a list of related words, though not that negative (focus on diversity, I think, not so much on the uniformity beyond diversity) at visualthesaurus.com: 


> a p*otpourri w*as originally a *medley *of meats cooked in a st*ew, *later on a bl*end  l*ike this one and, eventually, a m*ix o*f anything. On the board I placed synonyms  I knew they'd enjoy, like *pastiche, olla-podrida *and *salmagundi*, but told them they only need write _potpourri_ and  its definition in their notebook



I think there is an interesting link though:  *stew should not be 'stewed' too much, otherwise it becomes eenheidsworst, well, 'unity stew',* whereas the very quality of stew is that the ingredients keep their soul ;-) but mix with the others. I suppose it is a matter of balance (yin and yang, not yiang, or yain ;-).


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## tFighterPilot

התקרנפות Hitkarnefut from the word קרנף Karnaf which means Rhino. You might say it literally means "Turning into a rhino".


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## ThomasK

That's funny, to say the least. I suppose it is the negative meaning of mash, all things together, without the fresh confrontation of the differences (aaarrrhhh, this sounds awkward).


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## arielipi

I object that sire, hitkarnefut is like keeping hard to your stand.


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## tFighterPilot

Look it up on Google, I know what I'm saying... Apparently the origin of the word is from this play Rhinoceros (play) - Wikipedia


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## arielipi

I know what im saying, thats how we use it in israel, israeli. its actually the opposite of following the herd( with this, you go by what you think is right)


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## tFighterPilot

You've been living a lie your whole life then. Here from wikipedia


> המונח "התקרנפות", במשמעות של בגידה בעקרונות ונטישתם, נכנס לשפה העברית החל משנות ה-80' של המאה העשרים, בהשראתו הישירה של המחזה. בתחילה השתמשו בו בעיקר אנשי שמאל, כגון העיתונאי חיים ברעם, בהתייחסם במיוחד לאינטלקטואלים שמאליים-לשעבר שנתפסו כמי שנהפכו ל"משרתי הכיבוש". בתקופות מאוחרות יותר החלו להשתשמש בו גם אנשי ימין, למשל בהקשר של מנהיגי ימין שעברו לתמוך בהתנתקות מרצועת עזה בשנת 2005.


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## arielipi

Apparently there are two uses and opposite ones for that then.


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## apmoy70

All I can think of in Greek is:

1) «Ακολουθώ την πεπατημένη (οδό)» 
/akolu'θo tin pepati'meni (o'ðo)/
lit. "to follow the well-trodden (_way_ is omitted)" 
2) «Ακολουθώ το κοπάδι»
/akolu'θo to ko'paði/
lit. "to follow the herd"


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## ThomasK

Could you not use something like stew, Apmoy, where all the ingredients have been mixed and have even lost their 'soul', their specific taste?


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## apmoy70

Well, we do say:
1) «Βράζουμε όλοι στο ίδιο τσουκάλι/καζάνι»
/'vrazume 'oli sto 'iðʝo tsu'kali/ or /'vrazume 'oli sto 'iðʝo ka'zani/
lit. "we are all boiling/boil in the same pot" (τσουκάλι) and "we are all  boiling/boil in the same cauldron" (καζάνι); also
2) «Βράζουμε όλοι στο ίδιο ζουμί»
/'vrazume 'oli sto 'iðʝo zu'mi/
lit. "we are all  boiling/boil in the same broth"
but I don't think the meaning is the same


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## ThomasK

The words are interesting, but I am not quite sure I can judge about the meaning:doing the same thing, fishing in the same pond? That would be different indeed. We mainly mean that things
 or people are too much alike, or all the same in a negative sense ("één pot nat") - like the way some people judge politicians: _they're all ... (one bunch of the same_), they say.


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## ThomasK

Could it refer to concepts like 'jumble', 'melee', 'medley', 'hodgepodge', etc., all mixtures causing the ingredients to lose their specific taste (that's what I think)?


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## apmoy70

Yes, exactly.
Now after almost four years let me add some etymology:

MoGr v. *«βράζω»* [ˈvrazo] --> _to boil_ < Classical v. *«βράσσω» brắssō* --> _to shake violently, agitate, boil (up), winnow_ (with uncertain etymology).
MoGr neut. noun *«τσουκάλι»* [ʦ͡uˈkali] --> _cooking pot_ < ByzGr neuter diminutive *«τσουκάλι(ο)ν» ʦ͡oukáli(o)n* --> _cooking pot, cauldron_ < Italian zucca, _pumpkin_.
MoGr neut. noun *«καζάνι»* [kaˈzani] --> _cauldron_ < Ottoman Tur. قزان (kazan), _kettle_.
MoGr neut. noun *«ζουμί»* [zuˈmi] --> _broth, sap_ < ByGr neut. diminutive *«ζουμίν» zoumín* < Classical masc. noun *«ζωμός» zōmós* --> _juice, sap, broth, sauce, soup_ (with unclear etymology, possibly connected to *«ζέω» zéō*
--> _to boil, seethe_ (PIE *i̯es- _to boil, foam_ cf Skt येषति (yes̩ati), _to boil up, bubble_, Alb. ziej, _to simmer, boil_) but the evolution *i̯es- > *i̯os-mo- is problematic).


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## ger4

ThomasK said:


> *één pot nat *(lit. one pot [of] wet [things]), everything mixed together,more like a collection of similar things or people, in some negative way again


 German has the expression _*Einheitsbrei*_ (_Einheit_* 'unity' + _Brei_ 'porridge, pulp'). 

* cf. _einheitlich_ (adjective) 'uniform'
_Einheitlichkeit_ (noun) 'uniformity'


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## ThomasK

There is a link with my _in de puree_, I think, as we are talking about mashed food or something the like. All those dishes are considered "unrefined", I suppose, and can therefore also refer to trouble...


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## ThomasK

I have just been thinking of similar words: _*amalgaam*_ for example, which, I think, has a meaning comparable to what I suggest in #9.


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## eno2

eenheidsworst = standard saucage

Υπάρχει κάτι με λουκάνικο;

στολή λουκάνικο;


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## ThomasK

Is that a Greek idiom? Google T sees the sausage(s), but the translation sounds awkward...


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## eno2

I don't know for sure.
I also don't know for sure if standard sausage is right

As for 'amalgaam'. as far as I'm concerned, I use that in French mostly, but also in Dutch, with the meaning of 'alles of allen over dezelfde kam scheren'. In my opinion that's very close to 'eenheidsworst'. I hope I'm right in that one.


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## apmoy70

ThomasK said:


> Is that a Greek idiom? Google T sees the sausage(s), but the translation sounds awkward...


No it's not, *«λουκάνικο»* [luˈkaniko] (neut.) is simply the literal translation of eenheidsworst into Greek. 
MoGr *«λουκάνικο»* [luˈkaniko] (neut.) --> _sausage_ < ByzGr *«λουκάνικον» loukánikon* (neut.) < Lat. lucanicum, _pertaining to, belonging to Lucania_, a region in Italy from where the delicacy was brought over to Byzantium.


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## ThomasK

But then *λουκάνικο* is something real, edible, I gather!!! Noone has ever been served 'eenheidsworst' in the Dutch-speaking region, as far as I know; it is an abstract word, having no connection with _worst_/ sausage. --- Or no, I seem to be mistaken: in Holland there was a sausage called like that, when food was rationed, but it tasted bad, due to the bad meat used!!! Not a delicacy...


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## apmoy70

ThomasK said:


> Or no, I seem to be mistaken: in Holland there was a sausage called like that, when food was rationed, but it tasted bad, due to the bad meat used!!! Not a delicacy...


Exactly what I had in mind, Folkert Posthuma's "Eenheidsworst" (made of meat, fish waste, and bone marrow )


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## ilocas2

Czech:

*na jedno brdo* - on one heddle(?) (a part of a loom)
*na jedno kopyto* - on one hoof


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## Määränpää

In Finnish, we use the adjective _*tasapaksu*_, literally "of even thickness/width", to refer to boring, uniform things. I guess it's something that could be said about a sausage, too, but I've never thought of that.


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## SuperXW

Chinese (Mainland Mandarin)
To describe the act of a particular person:
随大流 "go with the mainstream" (colloquial saying)
从众 "follow the mass" (formal term)

To describe a general phenomena that every unit is similar:
千篇一律 “thousands articles, one tone” (formal idiom)


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## ThomasK

So no metaphors, I guess, or fig. expresssions. No reference to food when referrring to negative things, like a mix-up or something tasteless?


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