Have you ever heard a word translated from another language that is so descriptive, evocative, beautiful, or useful that strangely doesn’t exist in your native one? Redditor oliviamonet asked, “People who are bilingual in English and another language, what’s a word that exists in your other language that you are surprised doesn’t exist in English?” Here are words from languages around the world with no English equivalent.
1.
“In Italian we have abbiocco, which is the drowsiness you experience after a big meal. It is a tiredness and brain fog exclusively associated with a full belly. Very useful in Italy.”
2.
“In Irish, beochaoineadh. It translates to ‘alive crying.’ It means a lament for those who still live, but you know you may never see them again, or are otherwise lost to you in a permanent, painful, and irreversible way.”
3.
“In Korean 눈치 (noon-chi). It means the ability to notice other people’s subtle emotions or thoughts. For example, if someone kept talking about something that clearly bores the other person, who is too polite to leave the conversation, you’d say that that person doesn’t have noon-chi, or the ability to notice (that they want to talk about something else).”
4.
“Friolento! It’s a Spanish word, meaning somebody who is too affected by the cold weather or is constantly feeling cold.”
5.
“Flâner in French. That’s when you stroll aimlessly through a city, just enjoying the surroundings without a set destination.”
6.
“In Polish, we have kombinować. You can’t really understand Polish culture unless you grasp the whole meaning of this word. It means to find a way around something, find a solution to some problem, but in a slightly mischievous, not always legal, way.”
7.
“口寂しい or Kuchisabishii in Japanese. It translates to lonely mouth, and it’s stress or boredom eating like eating out of habit, or chewing on something to have something to do.”
8.
“Finnish language is famous for kalsarikännit (getting drunk in your underwear), so I wasn’t surprised it doesn’t exist in English. But I was gobsmacked when I found out English has no casual word for tuuletus/tuulettaminen (a gesture for ‘yay!!!’ or ‘wooo!!’). They just call it ‘goal celebration’ or celebrating…Seems wild.”
9.
“A beautiful expression we have in Italian is ‘arrangiati.’ There do exist turns of phrases in English that mean more or less the same thing, for example, ‘do it yourself’ or ‘you’re on your own,’ but ‘arrangiati’ is the imperative and reflexive of ‘arrangiare’ (to organise, arrange, make do, manage) — basically ‘sort yourself.’ However, arrangiati has the same heft and directness, and general sentiment, of basically telling someone to go f*** themselves. No direct English translation leaves me satisfied as telling someone ‘arrangiati!’
10.
“A Filipina lady said ‘I was talking to my…’ and stopped and asked me what the English word is for a parent of the person your kid married (aka the parent of your son or daughter-in-law). It’s a relationship that we have no word for in English.”
11.
“Kummerspeck in German, which is grief (or worry) bacon. It’s the weight you gain from emotional eating.”
12.
“My favorite is the Japanese word tsundoku, which describes one who acquires more books than they could possibly read in a lifetime.”
13.
“In Portuguese, saudade, or a feeling of homesickness for something or someone.”
14.
“Døgn, the Norwegian word for the 24-hour period between midnight and midnight.”
15.
“Sobremesa. It’s the period of time you stay seated at the table talking after you’re done eating.”
16.
“Prozvonit, a Czech verb which means to call someone and let it ring very briefly with the intention of them not picking up the call.”
17.
“Icelandic has gluggaveður (window weather), aka weather that looks sunny and warm when looking at it out of the window, but it is actually bitterly cold when you go outside.”
18.
“In Swedish, we have lagom. It means ‘the right amount.’ For example, ‘How many cookies do you want?’ ‘Lagom.'”
19.
“In German, we have backpfeifengesicht. In English, this means a face badly in need of punching.”
20.
“The Welsh word hiraeth is my all-time favorite. Basically, it means a longing homesickness for a place you have never been, perhaps a place that doesn’t even exist.”
Do you have one to add? If you speak another language, what is a beautiful, evocative, specific, or useful word that exists in that language that does not exist in English? Tell us in the comments or in this anonymous form.
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