Almost everyone has tried at one point or another to unclog household plumbing using a plunger. Until now, though, Hebrew speakers have had to do so without a proper word for the tool they used.
The Academy of the Hebrew Language is asking the public’s help in finding a Hebrew word for the appliance.
For lack of a better word, Israelis usually call the common household device, which usually consists of a rubber cup attached to a wooden stick, a “Pompa”, which derives from various European languages’ word for a pump.
The academy is attempting to amend this linguistic deficiency, turning to the public for assistance.
According to a report in the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth Wednesday, there are four leading candidates, one of which is “Pampam” — a word meant to imitate the sound a plunger makes when it releases a clogged sink.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition
by email and never miss our top stories
By signing up, you agree to the
terms
In recent years, the Hebrew language academy has adopted the practice of accepting public suggestions for words it struggles to coin. Anyone with an appropriate “Pompa” alternative is invited to post their proposal to the Academy of the Hebrew Language’s official Facebook page.
We can't do this work alone.
The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident – ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded – I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.
There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.
As a Times of Israel reporter, I’m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit’s. But my colleagues and I can't do this alone. If you value work like this, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.
— Stav Levaton, military reporter
Yes, I'll join
Yes, I'll join
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
