Tuglool

Tuglool:  A mild pejorative in the Arab Magreb.  It is used for a person who doesn’t react to a taunt, and means “bump on a log.”  When I was taunted in this interactive Mediterranean culture, my German-Scottish reaction was to “rise above” and not “lower myself” to the level of the person teasing me.  While I may be slower than most Americans at the quick retort, and don’t think that retorting is necessarily un-Christian, in my bruised state I defended my nonreaction as “turning the other cheek,” thus theologizing what could be viewed as a simple cultural difference.  Still, the issue recurs from time to time, and I defend my gullibility as an indication that I don’t carry a chip on my shoulder.