Eight Untranslatable Words

[carlos]

I found this article interesting. It lists and explains the meaning of some words that express very concrete ideas for which there is no specific word in English or other languages. There are brothers here at JWTalk that speak most of those languages:

 

http://www.babbel.com/magazine/untranslatable-01?slc=engmag-a18-vid-in3-untranslatable1-ob

 

It often happens to me that I don't find a word in English that conveys the exact meaning I have in mind, while there is a word in Spanish that expresses it perfectly. And also the other way around.

 

[GrumpysWife]

Wow, that's interesting Carlos. 

[jayrtom]

I found this article interesting. It lists and explains the meaning of some words that express very concrete ideas for which there is no specific word in English or other languages. There are brothers here at JWTalk that speak most of those languages:

http://www.babbel.com/magazine/untranslatable-01?slc=engmag-a18-vid-in3-untranslatable1-ob

It often happens to me that I don't find a word in English that conveys the exact meaning I have in mind, while there is a word in Spanish that expresses it perfectly. And also the other way around.

Loved to see the "desenrascanço" word, lol... We try to combat that all the time but sometimes it's the best ability at work

Carlos, "sobremesa" in portuguese exists also, but with other meaning: "postre" in spanish and desert in english

[Fiona]

I don't get why we don't just adopt those words?

We adopted

French words for things for example entrepreneur. Cause we didn't have a word for that. So we should just use theses others if we don't have words

[LoneWanderer]

Swedish 'fika' -- a sort of coffee/tea break. Can be had many times a day. Usually accompanied by a 'bulle', a wheat bun (typically with cinnamon)

Example: "Perhaps we can go for a FIKA after finishing this territory, or what do you think?"

Swedish 'lagom' -- a bit like Danish 'hyggelig' mentioned on that page. Possibly with further connotations, since LAGOM is something that is just right, not more or less

Example: "Yeah, a fika then would be quite LAGOM"

Finnish 'sisu' -- the mythical attribute of bravery, industriousness and endurance possessed by Finns of the older generation. Not this TV watching crisp-eating spoiled generation.

Example: "When I was at school, we really had 'sisu', cross-country skiing 50 km to school while at the same fighting tne Russkis in WWII!!11"

[LoneWanderer]

Oh, and the Italian 'abbiocco' has come to be used in spoken language in Scandinavia. Or at least among young people. Here that food-induced comatose state I've become accustomed to call (after finishing a meal with plenty of fats) for instance "kebabkoma", "pizzakoma" or "injerakoma".

[carlos]

Carlos, "sobremesa" in portuguese exists also, but with other meaning: "postre" in spanish and desert in english

 

"Sobremesa" in Spanish is anything that goes after lunch. So it ideally includes dessert, a coffee, and a long and nice conversation. I never realized there is no word for it in other languages.

 

 

I don't get why we don't just adopt those words?

We adopted

French words for things for example entrepreneur. Cause we didn't have a word for that. So we should just use theses others if we don't have words

 

I agree, Fiona. When you don't have a word for something, just borrow it from other language. That's what all languages do, anyway. Spanish comes from Latin, but 20% of our words are borrowed from Arabic.

 

Wow, Julius, I think it's just lagom to beging doing fika more often.

 

Romanian is a nice language, but it is so poor. Or maybe it is my Romanian vocabulary what is poor, and I blame the language.   Can you believe in Romanian there is only one word to call a woman "beautiful"? No matter if a girl is just "not ugly" or extremely beautiful, for a Romanian she's "frumoasă". We have dozens of different words in Spanish to flatter a girl!

[Jexter]

I don't get why we don't just adopt those words?

We adopted

French words for things for example entrepreneur. Cause we didn't have a word for that. So we should just use theses others if we don't have words

 

I agree too... there are a couple of words there worth adopting. Verschlimmbessern is something I'm well acquainted with!