Mallorcan words that most young people no longer know: "I have no idea."

PalmFewer and fewer young people know what words like 'estiregassar,' 'chicra,' 'tiberi,' and 'mariolo,' among others, mean. Words that once filled conversations in town squares and schoolyards are rarely or never heard today. Globalization, the constant influence of the media and social networks, and the increasingly widespread use of Spanish or English have gradually pushed aside a vocabulary that is part of Mallorca's identity.

The Mallorcan communications agency Ximbomba has taken to the streets to ask Mallorcans if they knew these words, and conducted a survey to ask them what they thought they meant. The older people in the video guessed all (or almost all) of them. Younger people, on the other hand, guessed almost none, and those they do guessed were more by luck or chance than by knowledge. "I have no idea," says one interviewee when asked if she knew the word 'estirregar'.

This erosion isn't just linguistic: it's cultural. Every word that falls into disuse takes with it a piece of our ancestors' way of seeing and understanding the world. Experts warn that the loss of our own vocabulary also means a loss of intangible heritage, as valuable as windmills, possessions, or folk songs.