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It always felt weird to me that English has no distinct phrase to express non-romantic affection.
English speakers use "I love you", but in Italian (and many other languages) you'd make a distinction between a romantic partner and a friend/relative/whatever.
Ti amo = I love you, said for example to your partner, signifies a deep emotional bond, not something you usually say lightly.
Ti voglio bene = I love you, but less charges, more in a "I feel good about you" way
I always appreciated Spanish's Te quiero vs te amo to express to friends my feelings for them, much better than "I love you, no homo".
I recently came across a word that I couldn't find a translation for. In Swedish, the word "skallgång" refers to the act of walking in a line formation in a search party.
Way too many for Chinese (think every Chinese dish you know), but the one world I think about the most in this context these days is 老百姓 (lao3 bai3 xing4) (Also see a somewhat related Wikipedia article). Direct translation is "ol' hundred surnames"
It's... a non-formal word for the "commoners" or the "average person". This is a concept I don't hear in mainstream media that much nowadays. I don't think most news or mainstream media even refers to say the entirety of the lower to middle social class in one word... (Note that it is different from "Average Joe", which does have a Chinese counterpart which translates to "Zhang three Li four")
On top of it, the whole concept of "a hundred surnames" representing most of society is kind of absurd in English-speaking countries. Societies with historical Chinese influences tend to have lots of ppl share the same surnames
Doch
There exists no english equivalent for doch, it has multiple functions, the most known one being an expression that emphatically negates a previous sentiment.
"Does not!"
"Does too!!"
Which created one of the most long lived german memes.
"It should not be that way, but it was."
It fills a big gap in English because there is no single English word to unambiguously answer a question like:
“So you don’t want me to come over this afternoon?”
There would be, if people were able to understand the concept of single negation. But in practice, any single word answer to that question will likely lead to confusion or misunderstanding.
Came here for doch. Its one of my favourite words im using arguing with AFD voters and works every time its like a spell.
German: Tja
Can mean nesrly anything from schadenfreude to deep empathy
Dreich - there is no direct English equivalent. It's weather that's wet and cold and dark and grey and unchanging. It can also mean depressing and tedious for obvious reasons.
The Hungarian adjective "ügyes". It's used to describe someone when they do something ably/skillfully/cleverly. (Doesn't necessarily imply a learned ability, can be innate.) It usually implies an activity involving manual dexterity, but can also be used for mental problem-solving.
When used as an exclamation, it basically means "Well done!"
Kinda a reversal, but I'm curious if other languages have a word as versatile as English's "fuck". Like obviously other languages have words for the verb of making sex, but is it common for it to also be a noun, adjective, or adverb to the point where you could have it as every other word and it still be grammatically correct?
In Dutch, the word "kanker" can be used as verb, noun or adjective. Example: Die kanker hoer kan opkankeren met die kanker van haar. Which best translates to something like: That fucking whore can fuck off with that shit of hers. Except that the Dutch version is wayyyyy more rude and inappropriate.
Fuck the fucking fuckers.
In Spanish.
Sobremesa, the period you stay at the table after lunch or dinner having a coffee or some drinks while chatting.
Aprovechar, is basically the opposite of to waste. So depending on the context is to take advantage of something, to make the most of, make a good use, give a second use or reuse leftovers for something else.
Sobremesa
It's weird there's no English word for that, now that you point it out, since it's a pretty common thing.
Estrenar: to use/wear something brand new for the very first time. Sometimes when you are estrenando white shoes your classmates in school would try to step on them so they no longer look new.
Kindergarten
This is proof that Germans do have humour!
That is correct, but we spell it without the second "u".
And capitalized
Does it count if English just steals your words?
Schadenfreude, Zeitgeist, Weltanschauung, Kindergarten.
Russian is more productive than English, so there's a bunch of "we just smushed a bunch of prefixes and suffixes on it" words that don't have a great English equivalent, like недоперепить -- to drink quite a lot but not succeed at drinking too much. I don't think we properly have листопад which is the equivalent of "snowfall" but for autumn leaves. I really miss успевать -- to successfully have enough time to do something. There's also кипяток -- water that has been boiled but then slightly cooled, like 200-205 degrees F. The canonical examples are тоска , which is a kind of melancholy longing, and авось which expresses optimism but I basically never heard anyone actually say.
Never hearing anyone express optimism feels like a very Russian stereotype.
"Kombinować" very Polish word for a very Polish a activity/philosophy. To make things work / get something done / take care of something in way that work for us, but are not the expected way to do things (though, 'kombinowanie' is often actually expected). It might be doing a job using the tools that are available and not thise that should be used, it might be a genuine invention, It might be using your contacts for favour (like getting a doctor appointment), it might be plain cheating.
A little bit like 'hacking' and also can be a good thing or a bad thing.
"Wykombinuję coś" = "don't worry I will take care of that" "Co za kombinator" = "what a cheaty bastard"
Czech edition of the world is: zbastlit and the resulting product is bastl.
Dude, the word you're looking for in English is to hustle.
Source: am Polish.
Similar thread long ago, there was a word Somewhere in northern Europe that meant something like "aimlessly hitting your penis on things". .
Do you mean the Dutch word "swaffelen" or "zwaffelen"?
Sounds like it yeah! I'm a big fan of the concept.
Apparently its from Netherlands?
Sisu. Its a mix of courage, determination, resilience, keeping your nerve, doing a scary or difficult thing even though you know that odds of succeeding are low. Its also done quietly, no complaining or boasting about it. You can mutter some curse words quietly to yourself.
Closest English word for it might be "guts" or "grit". But those don't really explain it completely.
Finnish.
Gezellig in Dutch. Used to describe a situation that's cosy and fun togetherness. Can also be used to describe a place that looks inviting (to have that good time in). I guess 😃
German: Konjunktiv I and II. Most people first learning German will hear the Konjunktiv II in its usage similar to a subjunctive in english ("Wenn das so wäre" - "If it were that way"), but it does so much more. You can switch full sentences to the Konjunktiv II, but that immediately implies that you doubt the statement being presented. For instance, if you say "er hätte es vergessen", you're essentially saying "he allegedly forgot it, but I really doubt it", just by using the Konjunktiv II.
Then, there's the Konjunktiv I, which is similar, but instead of voicing your disapproval, you're staying completely neutral. Taking the example from before, it would be "er habe es vergessen", with which you're saying, "he allegedly forgot it, and I neither support nor disavow that statement" - again, all only with a change of verb form. It's wonderful when you're relaying something someone else said without adding your own evaluation.
Guten Appetit! (German term equivalent to "cheers" for drinking - but for eating.)
お疲れ様 (good job+"you look tired"+"I an acknowledging this and presenting recognition of your effort")
Keigo modifiers. ご覧 vs 見る. They both mean "look". One is, somehow, more polite.
Kansai dialect. しばいたろか ("wanna get smacked?" but it's playful) or まいど ("thanks" but also "nice to see you again" and "hello" but only in specific contexts between specific people. Mess it up and you'll probably hear the other Kansai term previously described.)
