# English expressions w/no eq. translation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 30, 2003, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-expressions-w-no-eq-translation/151513 "2003-01-30T03:09:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-expressions-w-no-eq-translation/151513/61 "2003-02-04T18:36:22Z")
So “naff” means “tacky”? Or just “lame”? > [@](#): > > As I’ve no idea what “daggy,” nor what an english 80s haircut, nor a “riceboy” is… that might be the least helpful definition I’ve ever read. That WAS a beaut–a definition using slang, idioms, and cultural phenomena totally outside American experience. ---
**Author:** ![X\_Slayer\_ALE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbe5ce/32.png) [@X\_Slayer\_ALE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X_Slayer_ALE)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-expressions-w-no-eq-translation/151513/62 "2003-02-04T19:08:01Z")
I just watched “Formula 51” with Samuel L. Jackson. There was a word used often there that I know doesnt have a direct translation to most languages: \*\* Bullocks!!!\*\* and the even more enigmatic **Dog’s Bullocks!!** …Heck… I dont even know what it means in English!! ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-expressions-w-no-eq-translation/151513/63 "2003-02-05T11:51:12Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by X~Slayer(ALE) \* > \*\* Bullocks!!!_\* and the even more enigmatic > > **Dog’s Bullocks!!** > > …Heck… I dont even know what it means in English!! Neither do I as it’s **bollocks** you mean. ---
**Author:** ![Kantalooppi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a5b964/32.png) [@Kantalooppi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kantalooppi)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-expressions-w-no-eq-translation/151513/64 "2003-02-06T22:11:01Z")
I have kept wondering whether English, or any language, has the direct equivalent of the word ‘vittuilla’. It means… well… it’s hard to explain, really, though it should be easy… well, see? Looks like I’ll have to keep wondering. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-expressions-w-no-eq-translation/151513/65 "2003-02-06T22:28:28Z")
I had a couple of French-Canadian roomates for awhile and I was never able to adaquately explain the reasoning behind ‘pissed off’. They seemed to think it would make more sense as ‘pissed on’. Through a bit of explanation, I was able to get across the subtle difference in meaning between ‘this’ and ‘that’, and ‘these’ and ‘those’. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-expressions-w-no-eq-translation/151513/66 "2003-02-06T22:58:23Z")
Another involving English and French that I just remembered: I was at a youth conference in Ottawa that had students from across Canada, both English and French. During one of the break periods, people were playing basketball and I was sitting on the sidelines beside one of the Quebec students and I commented on a pretty obvious travel with, “It’s not like there’s money on this game” which resulted in massive confusion from him. I struggled with a literal translation until settling on “C’est la vie”, which works but doesn’t get the point across. ---
**Author:** ![X\_Slayer\_ALE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbe5ce/32.png) [@X\_Slayer\_ALE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X_Slayer_ALE)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-expressions-w-no-eq-translation/151513/67 "2003-02-07T00:59:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Floater \* > \*\*Neither do I as it’s **bollocks** you mean. \*\* Thank you for clearing that up …WTF does it MEAN!!! I dont think its even english anymore. Its not in the dictionary. Maybe is some kinda gaelic word or something. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-expressions-w-no-eq-translation/151513/68 "2003-02-07T01:11:22Z")
Does this thread really need to continue? ---
**Author:** ![universe.zip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@universe.zip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/universe.zip)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-expressions-w-no-eq-translation/151513/69 "2003-02-07T14:03:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kantalooppi \* > \*\*I have kept wondering whether English, or any language, has the direct equivalent of the word ‘vittuilla’. > > It means… well… it’s hard to explain, really, though it should be easy… well, see? Looks like I’ll have to keep wondering. \*\* What, you mean not only the same meaning, but coming from the same word?!? No, I don´t think so… it would sound much more offensive in English, don´t you think? Oh, but Spanish does have something similar, at least the equivalent for “voi vittu” is used in very much the same everyday conversational style… and also the other forms (mikä vitun juttu tää on), but the specific verb you mentioned - not exactly. And I think we´d better just keep quietly wondering to ourselves… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![godzillatemple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@godzillatemple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/godzillatemple)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-expressions-w-no-eq-translation/151513/70 "2003-02-07T19:49:56Z")
“off the wall” I don’t think you could find a meaningful literal translation of that phrase in any other language. But I could be wrong… How about English words that don’t have an equivalent translation in _English_? In other words, words or phrases that everybody knows the meaning of, but can’t quite define using other words. For example, there’s the word “lest.” Most dictionaries define it as “for fear that,” but that doesn’t quite capture the meaning in my opinion. In Spanish, _lest_ could properly be translated as “para que no” which, when translated back into English, is rendered as “so that not.” That perfectly describes the meaning of “lest” as far as I can tell, but unfortunately is not good English. And yes, I am new around here… 😉 Barry ---
**Author:** ![godzillatemple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@godzillatemple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/godzillatemple)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-expressions-w-no-eq-translation/151513/71 "2003-02-07T19:54:21Z")
Oh – and speaking of Spanish… They have a nice all-purpose verb “esperar” which means “to hope, to expect, or to wait for”. This makes it very difficult to translate the following English sentence literally into Spanish: “I hope I win the lottery, but I don’t really expect to.” 😉 Barry ---
**Author:** ![Kantalooppi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a5b964/32.png) [@Kantalooppi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kantalooppi)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2003, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-expressions-w-no-eq-translation/151513/72 "2003-02-08T22:34:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by universe.zip \* > \*\*What, you mean not only the same meaning, but coming from the same word?!? No, I don´t think so… it would sound much more offensive in English, don´t you think? > Oh, but Spanish does have something similar, at least the equivalent for “voi vittu” is used in very much the same everyday conversational style… and also the other forms (mikä vitun juttu tää on), but the specific verb you mentioned - not exactly. > And I think we´d better just keep quietly wondering to ourselves… 🙂 \*\* Well, not the same word, but I still haven’t managed to thought of a word that’s sufficiently like it. I mean, how could one translate the term “Vittuiletsä mulle?” in all it’s beautiful simplicity? ---
**Author:** ![universe.zip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@universe.zip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/universe.zip)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2003, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-expressions-w-no-eq-translation/151513/73 "2003-02-08T23:04:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kantalooppi \* > \*\*Well, not the same word, but I still haven’t managed to thought of a word that’s sufficiently like it. I mean, how could one translate the term “Vittuiletsä mulle?” in all it’s beautiful simplicity? \*\* I think hardly any of the beautiful simplicity of Finnish expressions can be satisfyingly conveyed in other languages, that´s the main problem 😃 (I mean, compare “mä nukuin pommiin” (or rokuliin!) with “I overslept”. Boring.) But no, I can´t even think of a non-offensive translation… ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2003, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-expressions-w-no-eq-translation/151513/74 "2003-02-08T23:24:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by X~Slayer(ALE) \* > \*\*Thank you for clearing that up …WTF does it MEAN!!! I dont think its even english anymore. Its not in the dictionary. Maybe is some kinda gaelic word or something. \*\* You must be joking. **bollocks** (also ballocks) n. esp. British coarse slang 1. the testicles. 2, (usu. as an exclamation of contempt) nonsense, rubbish. (Old English _bealluc_, related to BALL) So a kick in the bollocks is something to be avoided, while someone who is “talking bollocks” is talking nonsense. I don’t know the derivation of the term “the dog’s bollocks”, but something thus designated is generally considered a good thing. I really don’t understand this one. Conversely, a “dog’s breakfast” is what you get when you make a real mess of something. Yes, “naff” roughly equates to “tacky”. Not to be confused with “twee”, which is a more extreme version with a connotation of overbearing cuteness or a saccharine-sweet nature. Having a garden gnome is naff. Having a yard full of cutesy lawn ornaments is twee. Let’s not even start on “Bob’s your uncle”… ---
**Author:** ![universe.zip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@universe.zip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/universe.zip)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2003, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-expressions-w-no-eq-translation/151513/75 "2003-02-08T23:43:27Z")
Oh, and then there´s always the Spanish _simpático_ or the German _sympathisch_, which is quite a bother to express in English. Yes, you can say “I quite like him”, “he´s a nice person” etc. for “es simpático” or “er ist sympathisch”, but it´doesn´t really make me happy… Not to mention the opposite - _unsympathisch_ (the Spanish _antipático_ is even a bit stronger). “Er ist mir unsympathisch” - “We´re not on the same wavelength”, “I don´t really like him”… tricky. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-expressions-w-no-eq-translation/151513.md?page=3)