In many countries, languages ebb and flow as generations replace generations and new words replace old words. In Taiwan, where 23 million people live on a tobacco-leaf shaped island where several languages mix on a daily basis — from Mandarin Chinese to Hoklo Taiwanese to Hakka and over 12 Aboriginal languages dating back 10,000 years or more — one word that has disappeared is the Hoklo term “lo lat.” It means thank you. It is spoken today by almost no one under the age of 60. Most children and teenagers have never heard the word.

Enter an eccentric Westerner who washed up on the island nation’s shores some years ago and has learned to appreciate the various cultures of the Taiwanese people,
even though by his own admission he still cannot speak the language –any of the languages!  When he overheard some elderly people saying “lo lat” to each other this year, he asked what the word meant and why it has mostly disappeared. So his personal search for the origins and meanings of lo lat began in earnest and he recently appeared on a national TV show as a guest to talk to well-known show host Mr Ju Ger Liang.

Meet Danny Bloom, or “Mr Lo Lat” as some in the Taiwanese media have dubbed him. And just for few chuckles and laughs — and laughter is of course a global language — check out a video of his recent TV appearance on cable television there.

This post was submitted by Max Epstejn.

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