# English words that pack lots of meaning but other languages don't have a word for it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 20, 2020, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-pack-lots-of-meaning-but-other-languages-dont-have-a-word-for-it/846726 "2020-01-20T22:35:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-pack-lots-of-meaning-but-other-languages-dont-have-a-word-for-it/846726/41 "2020-01-21T11:47:53Z")
This is a bit of a tangent, because it’s not a matter of a English have a word that another language doesn’t but a _lot_ of languages having a word that another language doesn’t. Irish Gaelic doesn’t have a discreet word for either “yes” or “no”. For example, if someone asked “Did you go to the store?” in Irish you can’t answer “yes” or “no”, you have to answer either “I went/did go” or “I didn’t go” ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-pack-lots-of-meaning-but-other-languages-dont-have-a-word-for-it/846726/42 "2020-01-21T11:53:58Z")
i’ve had disturbed foreigners ask me whether “shooting the shit” is a medical condition, and if so, is it contagious. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-pack-lots-of-meaning-but-other-languages-dont-have-a-word-for-it/846726/43 "2020-01-21T11:59:24Z")
Haver. I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more to figure out what that means. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-pack-lots-of-meaning-but-other-languages-dont-have-a-word-for-it/846726/44 "2020-01-21T14:49:56Z")
“Defenestration”. Makes me proud to be an English speaker. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-pack-lots-of-meaning-but-other-languages-dont-have-a-word-for-it/846726/45 "2020-01-21T15:15:30Z")
> [@Esprise\_Me](#): > > But you only need to be fluent in English to know whether a new word you just learned in any other language has an English equivalent. To know whether an English word has equivalents in any other languages, you’d need to know all those languages. You’re right, but that never stops this type of assertion in threads like this. Often these generalizations are overstated simplifications. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-pack-lots-of-meaning-but-other-languages-dont-have-a-word-for-it/846726/46 "2020-01-21T15:24:58Z")
_Sarcasm_ When I worked with Japanese colleagues, I found they had a rough time figuring out the difference between That is a great idea 😃 and That is a great idea :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-pack-lots-of-meaning-but-other-languages-dont-have-a-word-for-it/846726/47 "2020-01-21T15:26:08Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > _Gaucho_? _Vaquero_? Both of those are more than just “cow-farmer” In fact, the word “cowboy” was simply a transposition of the Spanish “vaquero,” as the first “cowboys” were Spanish/criollos/Mexicans (Mestizos). ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-pack-lots-of-meaning-but-other-languages-dont-have-a-word-for-it/846726/48 "2020-01-21T15:27:22Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > This is a bit of a tangent, because it’s not a matter of a English have a word that another language doesn’t but a _lot_ of languages having a word that another language doesn’t. > > Irish Gaelic doesn’t have a discreet word for either “yes” or “no”. > > For example, if someone asked “Did you go to the store?” in Irish you can’t answer “yes” or “no”, you have to answer either “I went/did go” or “I didn’t go” Mandarin Chinese is like this too. There is no true equivalent of yes and no. Questions are answered with either “have” / “haven’t”, or whatever the verb was in the question (e.g. Q:“Do you swim?” A:“Swim.”). And often questions give both the positive and negative, and you pick one: Q:“Do you **drive not drive** to get to work?” A:“Not drive” ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-pack-lots-of-meaning-but-other-languages-dont-have-a-word-for-it/846726/49 "2020-01-21T15:36:19Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > _Sarcasm_ > When I worked with Japanese colleagues, I found they had a rough time figuring out the difference between > That is a great idea 😃 > and > That is a great idea :rolleyes: The Japanese do have a concept of sarcasm, and a word for it (皮肉). If some Japanese people had difficulty understanding your sarcasm, it’s probably because you have to be pretty fluent in English to detect sarcasm. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-pack-lots-of-meaning-but-other-languages-dont-have-a-word-for-it/846726/50 "2020-01-21T15:50:20Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > lover" and there apparently isn’t a Spanish word for it. > > Another one, along with Spanish not having separate words for “like” and “love”: I don’t think there are separate words for “wish”, “hope”, and “wait”. (Is this true in French too?) gustar is ‘like’, como ‘like’ as in ‘similar too’, querer is often used for ‘want’, but also used for ‘love’. Amor is love but strictly for someone you’re physically attracted to. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-pack-lots-of-meaning-but-other-languages-dont-have-a-word-for-it/846726/51 "2020-01-21T15:52:52Z")
> [@DETXL](#): > > If you were an audio technician, perhaps! (“Condenser microphone” is, I think, the main place where the old term “condenser,” superseded by “capacitor” in the 1920s because of its ambiguity vs steam condensers, is still used in English) Capacitor may have been the preferred term by the 1920s, but my copy of “The Second Boy’s books of Radio and Electronics” published in 1957 used both terms interchangeably ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-pack-lots-of-meaning-but-other-languages-dont-have-a-word-for-it/846726/52 "2020-01-21T16:15:37Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Nitpick: kawaii. That second i is important, turning the last part from a dipthong to emphasize the “ee” ending. > > And I agree it’s usually not condescending. However, some hip Japanese are aware of the over-abundance of “kawaii” in their commercial culture and might use it in an ironic or meta way. > > As for English words for which they don’t have an equivalent (or sometimes even if they do) the Japanese will just adopt it, pronouncing it as well as they can. Someday I’d like to compile a list of borrowed English words that I can’t believe they didn’t already have a word or expression for. Without the second ‘i’, I often think the word is a misspelling of kowai - scary, creepy. “She’s so kawai!” Huh…she’s scary? Big difference! ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-pack-lots-of-meaning-but-other-languages-dont-have-a-word-for-it/846726/53 "2020-01-21T16:33:31Z")
I saw a clip not too long ago of a stand-up comedian who came from Finland, doing a routine about how the hardest thing about learning English was figuring out the various meanings of the word “ass.” Consider: Ass, meaning a donkey Ass, meaning a person’s buttocks Ass, meaning an unlikable person Bad-ass, meaning good My lazy-ass husband, which means the same as my lazy husband, so the ass is not really necessary at all Move your ass, meaning hurry up My ass, meaning that you disagree with an assertion Half ass, meaning you’re not paying proper attention Piece of ass, meaning you’re sexy ---
**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-pack-lots-of-meaning-but-other-languages-dont-have-a-word-for-it/846726/54 "2020-01-21T16:34:13Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > This is a bit of a tangent, because it’s not a matter of a English have a word that another language doesn’t but a _lot_ of languages having a word that another language doesn’t. > > Irish Gaelic doesn’t have a discreet word for either “yes” or “no”. > > For example, if someone asked “Did you go to the store?” in Irish you can’t answer “yes” or “no”, you have to answer either “I went/did go” or “I didn’t go” Continuing with your tangent, the German word “jein” means yes AND no. I have trouble translating the word “mind” into German. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-pack-lots-of-meaning-but-other-languages-dont-have-a-word-for-it/846726/55 "2020-01-21T16:40:13Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > “Defenestration”. Makes me proud to be an English speaker. That word is certainly not unique to English. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-pack-lots-of-meaning-but-other-languages-dont-have-a-word-for-it/846726/56 "2020-01-21T16:41:15Z")
Which “mind?” There are so many. English is odd not so much in weirdly specific words, but in having a mountain of definitions for the same word. Words like set, run, up, fall, and stand have hundreds of definitions if you get really picky; most English speakers will fully comprehend at least 100, 150 subtle distinctions in the meaning of those words. It is very, very hard for a person learning English as a second language in adulthood to pick those up; you learn most of them as a child. It it genuinely odd that we use the same sounds and letters to mean so many different things, and we’re totally NOT using any number of perfectly cromulent could-be-words like “gep,” “zimlack” or “jorp.” Coming up with English’s weirdly specific words is always going to be kind of hard because English is such a thief of a language and so if you come up with weirdly specific words, they’re usually 1. Recent loanwords we stole from another language so it’s kind of cheating to say it’s English, 2. Scientific words, almost invariably thrown together with words that are Latin or Greek or close to it, and 3. Words that aren’t used anymore. That said, my nomination is “ragamuffin,” a child who is wearing dirty or tattered clothing. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-pack-lots-of-meaning-but-other-languages-dont-have-a-word-for-it/846726/57 "2020-01-21T16:49:33Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > That word is certainly not unique to English. If so, it makes me proud to be human. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-pack-lots-of-meaning-but-other-languages-dont-have-a-word-for-it/846726/58 "2020-01-21T16:50:14Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > That word is certainly not unique to English. ETA: Though I am curious whether it was the first to use the word and then it spread to the other languages to refer to the first defenestration of Prague. I can’t find anything definitive about that aspect of the etymology. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-pack-lots-of-meaning-but-other-languages-dont-have-a-word-for-it/846726/59 "2020-01-21T16:54:28Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Mijin** : > > Questions are answered with either “have” / “haven’t”, or whatever the verb was in the question (e.g. Q:“Do you swim?” A:“Swim.”). Did you choose that example deliberately? Because Latin also lacks words for “yes” and “no”, and uses that same structure. So, for instance, if Michael Phelps were an ancient Roman, and you asked him “Do you swim?”, he’d answer “No.” ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-pack-lots-of-meaning-but-other-languages-dont-have-a-word-for-it/846726/60 "2020-01-21T16:56:53Z")
> [@Uniqueorn](#): > > Continuing with your tangent, the German word “jein” means yes AND no. > > I have trouble translating the word “mind” into German. German has two words for “to know” - if you know a fact, it’s wissen, while if you know a person, it’s “kennen” On the other hand, tragen means both “to carry” and “to wear” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-pack-lots-of-meaning-but-other-languages-dont-have-a-word-for-it/846726.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-that-pack-lots-of-meaning-but-other-languages-dont-have-a-word-for-it/846726.md?page=4)