# American English has no word for .... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 29, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-has-no-word-for/515659 "2009-10-29T21:12:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-has-no-word-for/515659/1 "2009-10-29T21:12:52Z")
I’m wondering what things, concepts, emotions, etc. that are expressed in other cultures & languages that the (American) English language has no words for. ["Zeitgeist"](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeitgeist)in German has (so far as I know) no direct English equivalent. What are some other examples? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-has-no-word-for/515659/2 "2009-10-29T21:20:51Z")
American English has no (single) word for the British English “biscuit”. And British English has no word for the American English “biscuit”. In the first case, an American would have to say “cookie or cracker”. In the second case, the concept is completely foreign, and has no word, since the American biscuits are not eaten in Britain. ---
**Author:** ![JohnnyMac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@JohnnyMac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnyMac)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-has-no-word-for/515659/3 "2009-10-29T21:35:29Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > And British English has no word for the American English “biscuit”. What’s an American biscuit? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-has-no-word-for/515659/4 "2009-10-29T21:38:02Z")
> [@astro](#): > > I’m wondering what things, concepts, emotions, etc. that are expressed in other cultures & languages that the (American) English language has no words for. > > ["Zeitgeist"](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeitgeist)in German has (so far as I know) no direct English equivalent. What are some other examples? By now, I’d say “Zeitgeist” IS an English word meaning “Spirit of the age.” When we find a useful foreign word or expression, we tend to keep it and make it a part of our language. There’s no English equivalent of L’Academie Francaise, and there’sno reason to come up with a new word for “kindergarten” or “schadenfreude” when the German words suit us fine. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-has-no-word-for/515659/5 "2009-10-29T21:40:09Z")
In German, they say that a wheel that is not true ‘eggs.’ We don’t have any good verbs for that. A German girl I dated told me that _gemuetlich_ is much, much more than ‘cozy’ - there’s just no good translation. Japanese: Shibuii (sp?) - the concept in art of something that is better than perfect because it has one beautiful flaw. The closest English word is “Chicago.” ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-has-no-word-for/515659/6 "2009-10-29T21:41:20Z")
> [@JohnnyMac](#): > > What’s an American biscuit? [Heaven.](http://www.gweep.net/~leaf/album/objects/biscuits_6871.jpg) Imagine a scone crossed with a croissant: dense and doughy yet still soft and flaky. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-has-no-word-for/515659/7 "2009-10-29T21:45:34Z")
> [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > [Heaven.](http://www.gweep.net/~leaf/album/objects/biscuits_6871.jpg) > > Imagine a scone crossed with a croissant: dense and doughy yet still soft and flaky. Yes – the closest things in British usage are scones, but they aren’t as sweet, and they are served with the main course of the meal. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-has-no-word-for/515659/8 "2009-10-29T21:51:39Z")
And scones are harder, more crumbly and less flaky than American biscuits. I don’t think either is necessarily sweet; it depends what you put on them. And we have “English muffins,” which I love. Brits have “crumpets,” which I hate. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-has-no-word-for/515659/9 "2009-10-29T21:54:45Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Japanese: Shibuii (sp?) - the concept in art of something that is better than perfect because it has one beautiful flaw. The closest English word is “Chicago.” Don’t listen to **bup**. \*[Shibui](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shibui) \*is the concept of understated perfection - like Audrey Hepburn. [_Wabi-sabi_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabi-sabi) is the concept of imperfection adding to the aesthetic - often in pottery and the like there will be one intentional flaw. _That’s_ the whole ‘beautiful woman with the broken nose’ deal. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-has-no-word-for/515659/10 "2009-10-29T21:59:55Z")
In English, a chicken “lays an egg.” In Arabic, the chicken “eggs.” Famously, English has no words for the centerline of the face between the eyebrows and between the two parts of your mustache. Just as oddly, English have several words that seem to have no real definition, “mercenary” and “hispanic” come to mind. ---
**Author:** ![nikonikosuru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@nikonikosuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikonikosuru)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-has-no-word-for/515659/11 "2009-10-29T22:00:24Z")
Japanese: Shindoi. Kind of a mixture between tired but knowing that you’re doing something hard and accomplishing something at the same time. Was definitely exchanged as we passed people coming down the mountains while we were climbing up. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-has-no-word-for/515659/12 "2009-10-29T22:01:20Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > Just as oddly, English have several words that seem to have no real definition, “mercenary” and “hispanic” come to mind. Wouldn’t mercenary be “person who fights for money” and “person for whom money is the overriding concern”? ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-has-no-word-for/515659/13 "2009-10-29T22:13:24Z")
From the adjective ‘warm’ we have the noun ‘warmth’ And for the opposite adjective ‘cool’ we had the noun… actually we don’t have a corresponding noun. I wish we did. ---
**Author:** ![Livardo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/43a26b/32.png) [@Livardo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Livardo)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-has-no-word-for/515659/14 "2009-10-29T22:30:37Z")
The Spanish verb [empalagar](http://www.wordreference.com/es/en/translation.asp?spen=empalagar) has no real translation that I can think of. It’s a verb to denote a “feeling” of having eaten too many sweets. i.e.: _Estos dulces me han empalagado._ in English: These candies have ??? me up. You could say sweetened, but it wouldn’t be the same thing. Perhaps you could say “over-sweetened”. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-has-no-word-for/515659/15 "2009-10-29T22:40:39Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > In English, a chicken “lays an egg.” In Arabic, the chicken “eggs.” > > Famously, English has no words for the centerline of the face between the eyebrows and between the two parts of your mustache. Actually we do, Paul: _philtrum_. ETA: Given the part of your post I did not quote, I suspect you will come back to tell us that _gullible_ is not in the American Heritage Dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-has-no-word-for/515659/16 "2009-10-29T22:46:24Z")
> [@Palo\_Verde](#): > > From the adjective ‘warm’ we have the noun ‘warmth’ And for the opposite adjective ‘cool’ we had the noun… actually we don’t have a corresponding noun. I wish we did. We do: it’s ‘chill’. The words have the same relationship that ‘foul’ and ‘filth’ have. I’d guess ‘chill’ has become less common as a noun because ‘coldness’ or similar words have taken over. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-has-no-word-for/515659/17 "2009-10-29T22:46:57Z")
How about _schadenfreude_? Everyone is reduced to using the German word for it. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-has-no-word-for/515659/18 "2009-10-29T22:51:06Z")
There’s also the wonderful Japanese word _genki_. [As far as I can tell, it means generally happy and merry] And the Thai concept of _sabai_. [Chilled and content and happy] The Irish noun _craic_. [An amorphous cloud of fun] ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-has-no-word-for/515659/19 "2009-10-29T22:52:10Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > How about _schadenfreude_? > Everyone is reduced to using the German word for it. I bet the Germans really enjoy the irritation that that causes. ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-has-no-word-for/515659/20 "2009-10-29T22:58:59Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > There’s also the wonderful Japanese word _genki_. [As far as I can tell, it means generally happy and merry] Why wouldn’t ‘merry’, ‘cheerful’, ‘perky’, etc. work fine as a translation? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-has-no-word-for/515659.md?page=2)