I just discovered my new favorite word.

At the risk of coming off as culturally insensitive, something I strive to avoid, I just discovered a non-English word that genuinely makes my heart glad. I plan to use it every day for the rest of my life.

One of our local supermarkets is owned by the local Ojibwe band. The market is going through a major expansion and remodeling, and features signage that displays the department names in both Ojibwe and English. And as it turns out, the Ojibwe word for “dairy” is “Doodooshaabooniwang.”

Image from me

Image from mytvfez.wordpress.com

Yup, that’s right. “Doodooshaabooniwang.”

This is now my all-time favorite word. This replaces my previous favorite word, “dondurma,” which is Turkish for “ice cream.” Good thing I’m not lactose-intolerant.

Dondurma image from The New York Times

I can’t tell you how happy I am to have learned this awesome word.  It’s like the chorus from a 1960s girl-group song:

“I’m in love with the neighborhood milkman..
Doo-doo-shaa-boo-ni-wang..
He delivers every morning like no one else can..
Doo-doo-shaa-boo-ni-wang..”

And of course the fact that it features both “doo-doo” and “wang” greatly amuses the eleven-year-old kid inside my head.

I can’t wait to use it. “Honey, do we need anything from the doodooshaabooniwang?” “Yes, dear, please pick up some dondurma..”