Yakshimisiz (yahk – shee – mih – sihz)
Language: Uzbek
Meaning: How are you?
There are a couple of ways to say “how are you” in Uzbek (another popular one is “qandaisiz” (kahn-da-ee-seez)). Yakshimisiz seems to imply a positive outcome of the question: Yakshi means “good” and misiz makes it questioning (in the singular formal tense) making it literally “Are you well?” The appropriate answer would be “yakshi” (I’m well) or “chok yakshi” (I’m very well). For those Borat fans out there, notice Yakshimisiz sounds kinda similar to what Borat says as a greeting. I hear that’s more a mispronounciation of the Polish, but still, they could be related. After all, the Golden Horde invaded Poland a number of times in the mid to late 13th century, so you never know – there could be some linguistic legacy still floating around.