We all know words like "schadenfreude": sentiments that cannot be directly translated from their sentiment into English.
Other languages sometimes have more expressive ways in which to dish their sentiments. English, being Germanic, tends to be very concrete.
Knowing this, u/Sashimi_Rollin_asked:
What is something in your language that there is no English word for?
Here were some of the coolest answers.
Nom Nom Nom
Giphy
Shemometchama -georgian it means that you accidentally ate all the food while bringing it to someone
Like Winnie the Pooh eating all the honey on the way to Eeyore's birthday party.
Another Friday Night
Kalsarikännit - Finnish word for getting drunk alone, at home, in your underwear, with no intention of going out.
This word can be used in a sentence to express a feeling of wanting to get go home and get drunk or to explain what we're you at last night.
Pronunciation is available here: https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/kalsarik%C3%A4nni
And for those of you who are interested, there are few quite catchy songs, by the same name (of course) :D
So Cozy, So Happy
'Gezellig' is a Dutch word which describes a pleasant experience with friends or family.
It's often translate to nice or cozy. But most people agree that those translations don't really do the word justice.
Yeah it translates terribly.
Gezellig can be a chill birthday party, but if you're on your way to the supermarket and someone decides to tag along then that's gezellig as well.
Alone, Content, Happy
The German word Geborgenheit. It basically describes the feeling of being safe from any harm, relaxed and happy at the same time.
Thank you so much /u/no_nick for helping me out. The linked a blog post, just as I said before, does a great job describing the feeling. It is hard to describe for me, so I highly appreciate the help. :)
I recommend reading it, for an better example.
I hope I didn't cause too much bafflement. Tho, it's a bit to expect that some confusion arise.
Relationz
We have a lot of words for a specific relationship. Like in English, "aunt" could mean a lot of things but in Urdu, "pupi" means your dad's sister, "Khala" means your mom's sister, chachaa means your dad's younger brother and chaachi would be his wife, Nani vs daadi distinguishes your maternal and paternal grandmothers, etc.
Can't Fight This Feeling
มันเขี้ยว mankhiew in Thai refers to feeling you get when something is just so cute you NEED to squeeze it tightly and bite it and love it as aggressively as you can skdsksjdifjd
Just A Modifier
In Irish we have Tá. A lot of people seem to think it means yes but that's not the case. Tá is used as a way to make a sentence positive.
So 'An bhfuil sé anseo?' means 'Is he here?'
But you'd use 'Tá sé anseo' to make it positive and say 'He is here'
Congratulations, You Suck
Already wrote that ...
Verschlimmbessern.
To make something worse while repairing it.
Is/Isn't/Might Be
There's a quite a few:
- We have words for older/younger sister/brother. Many languages have that, but English doesn't and it's annoying.
- Megcsörgetni - When you call someone and cancel the call before they pick up so they'll call you back and you won't have to spend any money.
- Elvágyódás - The desire to be somewhere else.
- Káröröm - When you are happy that something bad happened to someone else.
- Different words for romantic and platonic love, (Szerelem and Szeretet)
- There isn't is simply 'nincs', there isn't either is just 'sincs'
Definitely A Germanic Language
Giphy
The screw of the rearview mirror of a truck that keeps it connected and in place would be "vrachtwagenachteruitkijkspiegelbevestigingsschroefje".
But it is dutch and we can artificially elongate a noun just like in german.
Ah yeah, the Lastkraftwagenrückspiegelbefestigungsschraube. We have that one, too.
I think the Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitänsmützenhinterherträgersgeselle stole mine.
