For Christmas, my friend gave me a book called Lost in Translation: An Illustrated Compendium of Untranslatable Words from Around the World by Ella Frances Sanders. Sanders compiled the untranslatable words, provided definitions, created explanations, and drew beautiful illustrations. I enjoyed going through this book very much.
Some of my favorite words included:
- Hiraeth (Welsh) - a homesickness for somewhere you cannot return to, the nostalgia and the grief for the lost places of your past, places that never were.
- Tíma (Icelandic) - not being ready to spend time or money on a specific thing, despite being able to afford it.
- Nunchi (Korean) - the subtle, often unnoticed art of listening and gauging another's mind.
- Tsundoku (Japanese) - leaving a book unread after buying it, typically piled up together with other unread books.
- Kalpa (Sanskrit) - the passing of time in a grand, cosmological scale.
- Komorebi (Japanese) - the sunlight that filters through the leaves of the trees.
- Jayus (Indonesian) - refers to a joke so terrible and so unfunny that you can't help but laugh.
- Kabelsalat (German) - describes a mess of very tangled cables literally a "cable-salad".
These are just a few of the words that really stood out to me. If you're curious (and like fun illustrations), I recommend the book.
I'm certain there are words in the English language that are unique and can't be easily translated. They're probably mostly slang and only make sense in a particular context.
An example is the word "vex" which means to make (someone) feel annoyed, frustrated, or worried, especially with trivial matters. However, I've rarely heard "vex" used in day-to-day (American) English to the point where it might be considered archaic by this point. I like this word and would love to know if there's an equivalent outside of English.
Another example I've never heard an equivalent for, is the word "ferhoodle" which means to confuse or mix-up (wait that isn't an English word - it's Pennsylvania Dutch).
Honestly, English loves snagging words from other languages, horribly mangling their pronunciation, and making them uniquely English. An example would be the word "karaoke". Trust me, it's not pronounced the same way we do it in English.
This has also got me wondering, how often do we experience something and don't have words to describe it?
I've experienced it a few times. In my inability to put words to what I experience or feel has lead me to either make up my own words or turn to poetry. In some cases, creating a name for what is happening makes the feeling or experience easier to process. Even borrowing certain words to use in a different context can be helpful.
One word that I sometimes use when I'm sick is "milky". If I say "I'm feeling milky", it means that there's a thick liquid like feeling in my stomach. I'm not feeling nausea or pain. I don't think I'm going to puke my guts out or start crying. I feel like thick, possibly spoiled milk is sitting in my stomach.
Having the ability to describe or put a name to a thing, experience, or feeling is important. It gives us the ability to process or understand what we are confronted with. Though we might not find a word in our native language, there might be one in another language that better fits your descriptions. Heck, even making up a word can be better than no word.
What about you guys? Are there any words you've found are uniquely English? I'm sure one of my linguist friends could happily give me a list. Are there any words you've come across in another language that you feel aren't well translated or completely untranslatable to your native language?
Leave a comment if you're so inclined.
Until next week.
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