{"id":3459,"date":"2015-07-06T09:05:45","date_gmt":"2015-07-06T13:05:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/?p=3459"},"modified":"2020-10-01T14:49:21","modified_gmt":"2020-10-01T18:49:21","slug":"lost-in-translation-untranslatable-words-and-phrases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/2015\/07\/06\/lost-in-translation-untranslatable-words-and-phrases\/","title":{"rendered":"Lost in Translation: Untranslatable Words and Phrases"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Itchy<\/a><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s face it; there are some things that language simply cannot help us express. Religious experiences, travel experiences, life experiences \u2013 really any kind of personal, subjective experience is difficult to put into words that will accurately portray the experience being had. But don\u2019t feel bad, that\u2019s not your job; that\u2019s why we pay poets the big bucks.<\/p>\n

But language isn\u2019t just clumsy to communicate experiences with. Even between languages, there is plenty of mutual unintelligibility to go around. I\u2019m a big fan of these linguistic loopholes: words or phrases that have no clear translation into other languages. I like them because they remind us how incomplete language can be\u2014not just in communicating how your six months in France went, but also ideas that others may take for granted. Language, after all, is a moving, living thing, and it\u2019s never \u201cfinished.\u201d<\/p>\n

But enough waxing philosophical. Here\u2019s my incomplete List of Untranslateables that Should be English Words<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Jayus<\/strong> (Indonesian<\/em>): a joke that is told so incompetently told, or that is so unfunny, that you can\u2019t help but laugh<\/p>\n

Palegg<\/strong> (Norwegian<\/em>): anything which can be put on a slice of bread (does that include another slice of bread?)<\/p>\n

Saudade<\/strong> (Portuguese<\/em>): an intense desire or longing for something you can\u2019t get back<\/p>\n

Schadenfreude<\/strong> (German<\/em>): taking pleasure from the misfortune of others<\/p>\n

Torschlusspanik<\/strong> (German<\/em>): literally, \u201cdoor-closing panic\u201d; the panic one feels when realizing that opportunities diminish as one ages<\/p>\n

Ya\u2019aburnee<\/strong> (Arabic<\/em>): literally, \u201cyou bury me\u201d; your declared hope that you will die before the person you\u2019re speaking to because you couldn\u2019t bear to lose them<\/p>\n

Age-otori<\/strong> (Japanese<\/em>): a haircut that makes you look worse than before<\/p>\n

Luftmensch <\/strong>(Yiddish<\/em>): literally, \u201cair person\u201d (although it sounds better); a dreamer, someone with their head in the clouds<\/p>\n

L\u2019appel du vide<\/strong> (French<\/em>): (I\u2019m so glad I found this one, because I oddly feel it all the time and have never discovered a term for it) \u2013 when you\u2019re up high on a bridge or a tall building, the odd urge you get (literally, \u201ccall of the void\u201d) to leap off<\/p>\n

Schlimazl<\/strong> (Yiddish<\/em>): a chronically unlucky person<\/p>\n

Culaccino<\/strong> (Italian<\/em>): the little ring-shaped stain left on a table by a wet glass or mug<\/p>\n

Gufra<\/strong> (Arabic<\/em>): the quantity of water that can be held in your cupped hands<\/p>\n

Iktsuarpok <\/strong>(Inuit<\/em>): frustration at waiting for someone to show up<\/p>\n

Utepils<\/strong> (Norwegian<\/em>): to sit outside on a sunny day, enjoying a beer<\/p>\n

Tartle<\/strong> (Scottish<\/em>): when introducing someone, the moment of hesitation where you realize you don\u2019t remember their name<\/p>\n

Backpfeifengesicht<\/strong> (German<\/em>): a face which needs a good slapping<\/p>\n

Esprit d\u2019escalier <\/strong>(French<\/em>): literally, \u201cthe wit of the staircase\u201d; the perfect comeback you didn\u2019t think of until walking down the stairs fifteen minutes later<\/p>\n

Sisu<\/strong> (Finnish<\/em>): someone who is utterly unconquerable; an indomitable badass of unsurpassed tenacity and doggedness in the face of all odds<\/p>\n

Pochemuchka<\/strong> (Russian<\/em>): someone who asks too many questions<\/p>\n

Tingo<\/strong> (Pascuense<\/em>): to habitually borrow things from a neighbor or friend until they have nothing left<\/p>\n

Prozvonit <\/strong>(Czech<\/em>), dar un toque<\/strong> (Spanish<\/em>), fare uno squillo<\/strong> (Italian<\/em>): the act of calling someone but only letting it ring once, so they\u2019ll have to call you back and you won\u2019t have to spend any money (I never heard of this until I moved to Europe, where top-up phones are a thing)<\/p>\n

Any good ones that I missed? How about delightful words from English that aren\u2019t translatable in your<\/em> native language?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Let\u2019s face it; there are some things that language simply cannot help us express. Religious experiences, travel experiences, life experiences \u2013 really any kind of personal, subjective experience is difficult to put into words that will accurately portray the experience being had. But don\u2019t feel bad, that\u2019s not your job; that\u2019s why we pay poets…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":115,"featured_media":4444,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[542801],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3459","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archived-posts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/115"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3459"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3459\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6402,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3459\/revisions\/6402"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}