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Write about a word in your language that expresses something specific but that simply doesn’t exist in English. One of the best things about learning a new language is seeing things from a different perspective! Choose a word that means something special to you and that you’re sorry you cannot translate properly.
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#1
There's a word in sanskrit, जिजीविषा (pronounced Jijivisha,) which means 'the will to live'.
Final score:
4points
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#2
Sarmale, it's in romanian. It's basically rice mixed with some type of ground meat and/ or vegetables and wrapped in cabagge leaves. I sometimes think of it as romanian sushi
Final score:
3points
#3
“Love,” an English word, still often misunderstood by many English users, this one included.
Final score:
3points
#4
Sisu (Finnish). Means the will/energy/guts/determination to go through a hard task or difficult times.
Final score:
3points
Brent Moore 2 years ago (edited)
Resilience...or grit...or hardiness... perseverance....I think that one is translatable
#5
Kaamos is a Finnish word meaning the polar night when the sun doesn't rise above the horizon for several days (depends on how north you are). This leads to the next word which is kaamosmasennus, which means the depression caused by the polar night or as psychiatrist might say seasonal affective disorder.
Final score:
3points
#6
I present you the German dialect word "heuer" (not "Heuer" with a capital H - which means "seaman's salary".) The word "heuer" describes an indistinct time or indistinct time period and is a great word for lazy or tight-lipped people. The time period can only be determined by context and can be in the past and/or in the future. If you say "Der Sommer war heuer sehr warm." in autumn it means "The summer was warm *this year*." and not last year. "Wir schaffen wohl heuer nicht die Meisterschaft." before the playoff games next week means "We may not make it to the championship *next week*".
Final score:
2points
#7
In ecelinetine
There is klpbeec which is to walk with an certain nature for example angry, sad, happy, excited
Final score:
2points
#9
Marginaal in Dutch; which is quite versatile and is used to denote things that are in a specific way socially unacceptable. Wearing socks in sandals? Marginaal. Not having good hygiene? Marginaal. But also used to denote (groups of people) who generally fall outside of the margins of society in a negative way, think like 'hilbillies', 'chavs', 'guidos',...
Final score:
1point
#10
I have this issue with so many dialect words from Scots, Geordie and so on, that I don't even realise they aren't universal English words until I'm left without the skills to translate them, or even spell them! I used "wheek" the other day in England and was dumbfounded that they don't have a word for it (think pulling a table cloth off and leaving the plates on top, that fast pulling action and implied noise).
Final score:
1point
#11
In Tamil, there is a word called பிஞ்சு, or Pincu, which, although translatable, is hard to explain. It’s sort of like a beautiful and free bird.
Final score:
1point
#12
Not sure if this qualifies, but my username.
jolie laide
It's French and roughly translated means, "pretty ugly", or "good looking ugly woman". Someone who isn't conventionally pretty but is attractive in her own way usually due to what I consider, "perfect imperfections".
If there's an actual English word that means the same thing, I don't know it. There might be, because in the last decade or so a lot of models have become popular for those kind of looks.
To me though it's not just about physical looks, but also your personality and how your brain works. Thanks to changing times, advocacy, research, support, etc. so many different personality types and such are in the light now and I think it's wonderful. Neurodivergence for example.
"People whose brains function differently in one or more ways than is considered standard or typical." Aka, not conventional.
Same with people and lifestyles. Those that "take the path less traveled by", per Robert Frost. Those who do their own thing, in their own way, in their own time. Aka, not conventional.
I know I've expanded what "jolie laide" translates to, but to me I think it's a more all encompassing term than just physical looks.
Final score:
1point
#13
Well, I have a phrase that apparently a lot of Americans can’t comprehend
It’s “basic human rights”
/sarcastic
But seriously, I live in America, and the stupidity of these people is very frustrating
Not to mention, I am non-binary and a whole heck ton of LGBT sexuality stuff, and I have a bunch of mental disorders, and I’m AFAB and still appear fairly female(although not as much as I used to) and with the whole thing about abortion there goes another of my rights, even though I don’t ever want to birth a child and will likely never do the child-making thing, I’d like to have the right to have a say in what happens to my own dang body.
(I do someday want kids though, but I want to adopt)
Sorry for the rant, but this is something that really annoys me, and hopefully you agree with me! (If you don’t, it’s fine, but please don’t be in the comments giving me hate)
Final score:
1point
#14
Goonie goo goo. even Eddie Murphy doesn't know what it means.
Final score:
0points
#15
Dutch word :"beleg".
Translation : anything you lay or smear on your sandwich.
Final score:
0points
#16
Vucibatina in Serbian. Can't exactly translate it, but 'vuci' basically means 'dragging' and 'batina' means a stick you use to hit people with. It's an insult, used to basically tell people that they're lazy, dragging and only care about themselves (if I've got anything wrong with translations, please let me know, as this is just me recounting how my dad explained it).
Final score:
0points
#17
In portuguese, the expression "tenho saudade" has the same meaning of "I miss you" or "I miss something ", but has much more emotional meaning. The words in English sounds somewhat rational, while in Portuguese, sounds like coming from the bottom of heart.
Final score:
0points
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