Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
25 handy words that simply don’t exist In English
"Age-otori" is Japanese for looking worse after a haircut
I loved this find on the So Bad So Good website via yesterday's Metro - 25 words that don't exist in English.
Although English is the world's most widely spoken language, there are some words we just don't have. Many of those reflect particular facets of other cultures that I suppose we just don't feel it's important to recognise. Perhaps, the most famous example is the clutch of a dozen or so words in the Innuit language for snow versus our own single word (or two if you count sleet).
So Bad So Good came up with a serious but entertaining list of twenty five words, but I'm going to start off with my own contribution.
Lagom: Swedish word reflecting an important strand in Swedish culture, meaning just the right amount, not too much and not too little, without extremes. In a single word, lagom is said to describe the basis of the Swedish national psyche, one of consensus and equality. Despite a shift towards individualism and risk-taking in recent years, it is still widely considered ideal to be modest and avoid extremes.
Now here's a selection SBSG's 25:
Age-otori (Japanese): To look worse after a haircut .
Arigata-meiwaku (Japanese): An act someone does for you that you didn’t want to have them do and tried to avoid having them do, but they went ahead anyway, determined to do you a favor, and then things went wrong and caused you a lot of trouble, yet in the end social conventions required you to express gratitude.
Backpfeifengesicht (German): A face badly in need of a fist .
Bakku-shan (Japanese): A beautiful girl… as long as she’s being viewed from behind .
Forelsket (Norwegian): The euphoria you experience when you are first falling in love .
Gigil (pronounced Gheegle; Filipino): The urge to pinch or squeeze something that is unbearably cute.
Ilunga (Tshiluba, Congo): A person who is ready to forgive any abuse for the first time, to tolerate it a second time, but never a third time .
L’esprit de l’escalier (French): usually translated as “staircase wit,” is the act of thinking of a clever comeback when it is too late to deliver it.
Litost (Czech): a state of torment created by the sudden sight of one’s own misery .
Mamihlapinatapai (Yaghan): A look between two people that suggests an unspoken, shared desire .
Nunchi (Korean): the subtle art of listening and gauging another’s mood. In Western culture, nunchi could be described as the concept of emotional intelligence. Knowing what to say or do, or what not to say or do, in a given situation. A socially clumsy person can be described as ‘nunchi eoptta’, meaning “absent of nunchi” .
Pena ajena (Mexican Spanish): The embarrassment you feel watching someone else’s humiliation .
Pochemuchka (Russian): a person who asks a lot of questions .
Schadenfreude (German): the pleasure derived from someone else’s pain .
Sgriob (Gaelic): The itchiness that overcomes the upper lip just before taking a sip of whisky.
Taarradhin (Arabic): implies a happy solution for everyone, or “I win. You win.” It’s a way of reconciling without anyone losing face. Arabic has no word for “compromise,” in the sense of reaching an arrangement via struggle and disagreement .
Tingo (Pascuense language of Easter Island): to borrow objects one by one from a neighbour’s house until there is nothing left
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on
-
Any chance it's a cousin of that other put-down, dreck? So maybe a German or Yiddish link, meaning just rubbish or sh*t.
-
Permalink Reply by Hugh on
-
Here's what the Urban Dictionary says:
Dreich (Old Scots origin) A combination of dull, overcast, drizzly, cold, misty and miserable weather. At least 4 of the above adjectives must apply before the weather is truly dreich
-
Permalink Reply by John D on
-
No, no Hugh. The scots word for that would be " normal " or possibly " summery "
-
Permalink Reply by StephenBln on
-
The Germans do use the term 'Dreckiges Wetter' for nasty weather .. Mistwetter too.. but that means shitty weather..
-
Permalink Reply by Hugo Read on
-
As a wine guy, I feel the need to add the french word terroir to this list. It is always used by wine people and professionals in the french, as there isn't an English for it. The closest is something like "somewhereness" or "a sense of place". Basically it's the unique combination of the soil, the subsoil, the exposure, the slope, the general topography and the specific microclimate of the zone (encompassing sun wind, rain etc) that make a particular site unique. The usual aim of fine wine is to express a particular terroir. Very french!
-
Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
-
Thérèse I wonder if you'd accept that the only thing missing from liberté, égalité, fraternité, are the last two concepts?!
-
-
Well Thérèse, where I come from, the national motto is "She'll be right mate"
The opposite of this thread's listing is the interesting list in the Guardian:
Which English words do not have equivalents in other languages?
[Sadly, its an urban myth that George Dubbya Bush ever said "the problem with the French is that they don't have a word for entrepreneur", but it was always a good line.]
- ‹ Previous
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- Next ›
© 2024 Created by Hugh.
Powered by
