# Let's make a list of untranslatable words & phrases **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 8, 2004, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323 "2004-06-08T20:06:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/61 "2004-06-12T12:41:29Z")
How about _unheimlich_? I know this is usually translated as ‘uncanny’, but I believe that word doesn’t convey the creepiness that is inherent in the ‘unheimlich’. ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/62 "2004-06-12T12:47:04Z")
> [@pohjonen](#): > > An Alan Watts book talks about the Japanese word for a feeling - yugen - for which there is no English translation, which we can only understand by opening our minds to situations in which they use the word. > > “To watch the sun sink behind a flower-clad hill, to wander on and on in a huge forest without thought of return, to stand upon the shore and gaze after a boat that disappears behind a distant island, to contemplate the flight of wild geese seen and lost among the clouds.” He says, “All of these are ‘yugen’ but what have they in common?” > > I don’t know, but it has always intriqued me. Would it be akin to wander-lust, y’all think? He’s right - there is no English translation. Don’t know the word at all, but the paragraph makes me think more of “being lost in the moment, or being lost in the beauty of something” more than wander-lust, which to me means something about getting somewhere. I don’t get a sense of that from the paragraph. ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/63 "2004-06-12T21:47:10Z")
**swannguy** : Enne? 🙂 **Noone Special** , I’m sorry for spelling Yiddish wrong. Thank you for explaining Mokum to me. Hehehe, Amsterdammers are great people? I’m afraid the rest of the Dutch think Amsterdammers have _“Kapsones”_! 😉 **gallows fodder** : Isn’t there a doper named ‘litost’? **Shirley Ujest** , Thanks for that link. I got to buy that book. _From the review_: Italian: “attaccabottoni” (“a doleful bore who buttonholes people and tells sad, pointless tales.”) German: “Korinthenkacker” (literally “raisin crapper”) for a boss that obsesses on insignificant details. 😃😃 Originally posted by **stately plump buck mulligan** > [@](#): > > - > > (It’s also hilarious how it’s perfectly normal for a 42 year old Filipino lawyer to be known as “Pik-pik” or some other similar cutesy repeating nickname by his family)\* That is indeed, hilarious. 🙂 **Mycroft Holmes** Okay. I like the word. \*:: whispering: “saudades, saudades” \* ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/64 "2004-06-12T22:16:18Z")
I did find > [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > This is a great thread. I get lucky sometimes. 😃 > [@](#): > > Here is the link for the aboveforementioned book link. Looks very interesting. > > [They have a word for it](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1889330469/qid=1086997720/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-9599692-7575352?v=glance&s=books) I have a habit of looking at the lowest reviews of every book, and I found this one interesting: > [@](#): > > I am Russian and a teacher of Russian Language. There is no such word as “razbliuto” (!!!) in Russian! Is there a Russian speaker in the house?! Annoying self hijack: I googled the word nominated to justify the disnomination of _schadenfreude_ and thought to myself, “Dammit! I’m gonna subscribe to the OED online! That’ll be _so_ handy!” Not for $260-ish a year it won’t! WTF?! I did find the word here, by the way, but the online OED would save time and be a reliable source. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2004, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/65 "2004-06-13T05:15:28Z")
> [@gum](#): > > **Noone Special** , I’m sorry for spelling Yiddish wrong. Thank you for explaining Mokum to me. You didn’t get Yiddish wrong! For you, spelling it “Jiddish” makes perfect sense. For an English-speaking person like me - less 🙂 And, after all, the language itself uses the Hebrew alphbet, so there **is no** “offical” spelling of its name in Latin characters! Which means you can spell Chutzpeh as _Guzpe_, too! 😉 (did I get the dutch “spelling” right?) P.S. and hijack - since this is a serious language thread: regarding Yiddish/Jiddish - all those initial “J”'s in all things Jewish (such as “Jew”, “Joseph”, “Judea”,… even “Jesus”) should all have in initial (English) “Y” sound. They got transliterated from the Hebrew letter _yod_ into the latin “J” (which is sounded like a Germanic “J” - and like a Romance “Y”. Interesting when the switchover occured in Romance languages?). Then Enlish and French picked up these words and retained the **letter** “J” rather than the “Y” **sound**. Dani ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2004, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/66 "2004-06-13T06:17:47Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Not an untranslatable word, but a very useful grammatical structure that dosen’t appear in English - in Japanese, any verb can take the passive voice. So you can have constructions like “I was sat down next to by you-know-who today on the bus”, with the connotation of the (possibly Southern) “I was minding my own business when…” It’s called the “suffering passive” and I quite like it. There’s a fabulous Spanish structure that’s used for disclaiming responsibility for something you did, as if you did it just by accident, so much so that it practically happened to you… or at least, that’s what you want to claim. So instead of “olvidé mis llaves” (I forgot my keys) you say “se me olvidaron las llaves” (My keys forgot themselves to me). ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2004, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/67 "2004-06-13T06:59:34Z")
Ah, I was going to mention **davka**. But it’s reminded me of another untranslatable Hebrew word: **stam**. Which means nothing, or never mind, or forget it. Sort of. I long to use it in English. Also, **ballegan** , which means chaotic mess, or close enough. When I was in Israel I mostly associated with Americans, but it took approximately eight seconds for the lot of us to add it to our vocabularies, even when speaking English. Traffic is a ballegan. The garbage strike in Tel Aviv was a ballegan. When my geography professor gave out grades apparently at random, he caused a ballegan. The most untranslatable word in Hebrew isn’t all that interesting. It’s very difficult to describe how to use the word **et**. It’s so simple that I actually once had an argument with an American-Israeli over whether an English equivalent exists - she just couldn’t believe that there wasn’t one. Basically, it makes a definite noun more definite. “I like dogs” becomes “I like _et_ the dog.” ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2004, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/68 "2004-06-13T09:47:44Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Ah, I was going to mention **davka**. But it’s reminded me of another untranslatable Hebrew word: **stam**. Which means nothing, or never mind, or forget it. Sort of. I long to use it in English. It also means “Just Kidding”. Good catch, there! > [@](#): > > Also, **ballegan** , which means chaotic mess, or close enough. **_Ballagan_ is not a word, it’s a state of mind!** (or, if you wish, a state of confusion… Or, in our case, the State of Mind/Confusion of the State… :smack: ) (and yes, another very good catch there) > [@](#): > > The most untranslatable word in Hebrew isn’t all that interesting. It’s very difficult to describe how to use the word **et**. It’s so simple that I actually once had an argument with an American-Israeli over whether an English equivalent exists - she just couldn’t believe that there wasn’t one. Basically, it makes a definite noun more definite. “I like dogs” becomes “I like _et_ the dog.” It has been argued that _et_ is, essentially, superflous (and thus, not necessary to translate :)). It is completely grammatical to say “I like the dog” without “et” (“_Ani ohev ha-kelev_”). It’s **weird** to a speaker of Modern Hebrew, but it’s grammatical. Basicly it’s really just a filler, giving the sentence no additional meaning. Dani ---
**Author:** ![Aldebaran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Aldebaran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aldebaran)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2004, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/69 "2004-06-13T10:53:17Z")
> [@cuauhtemoc](#): > > I took a course in college that dealt with the literature of the Islamic world, and the professor had spent a lot of time in the Middle East and Central Asia. I think he’d been in the Peace Corps or something. > > We were reading a book translated (I think) from Arabic where two female characters had a lesbian experience. The professor explained to us that the word for male homosexuality in Arabic was _lawat_, and it referred to the biblical story of Lot, who lived in Sodom and whose wife turned into a pillar of salt. I don’t quite understand the connection, because I never got the impression that Lot was supposed to be gay, but that’s what he told us. Lut is the Arabic for the Biblical Lot. Lutii: pederast; sodomite; homosexual. liwaat, luwaat and liwaata: sodomy; pederasty; homosexuality Clearly the conection with the sins of Sodom is made. > [@](#): > > But he also said that there was no word or expression in Arabic that referred to the concept of lesbianism. This is nonsense. You could ask your teacher where he got that. First of all one can make in principle every word feminin by adding the feminine ending. But for female homosexuality there is a specific terminology. musaahaqa and sihaaq : tribady, lesbianism sihaaqii : lesbian (general meaning) musaahiqa: lesbian (someone who is lesbian) Salaam. A ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2004, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/70 "2004-06-13T12:28:37Z")
If anyone’s interested, [an earlier similar thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=193049). ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2004, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/71 "2004-06-13T12:29:56Z")
“Nooner” is sex at lunchtime. Usually a quicky. “Going Postal”–A few years ago, there were several incidences of postal or ex-postal workers shooting up post offices and killing postal employees(including two in New Jersey, a very small state). The expression “going postal” meaning “going violently crazy and causing real damage” snuck into the language. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/72 "2004-06-14T06:20:37Z")
And…according to Hollywood, “Yes,” “No,” “Sir,” “Ma’am,” “Mr.,” “Mrs.,” and “Thank you” can’t be translated from English. Well, they _can_ be, but hardly any non-English speakers can ever master their use, and they mostly have to rely on their own language’s equivilant words. 😉 Ranchoth .(P.S.: I proof-read the paragraph above twice, but I’m running on about 2 hours sleep and an energy bar right now. So I can’t promise that it’s actually coherant.) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/73 "2004-06-14T10:06:49Z")
> [@gum](#): > > [ **Shirley Ujest** , Thanks for that link. I got to buy that book. _From the review_: Italian: “attaccabottoni” (“a doleful bore who buttonholes people and tells sad, pointless tales.”) > German: “Korinthenkacker” (literally “raisin crapper”) for a boss that obsesses on insignificant details. That last one reminds me of the Dutch word “miereneuker”. It literally translates as “ant-fucker” and can be fairly accurately translated as “nitpicker”. As it can be translated it should really be in this thread but I think it is such a charming expression I’m including it anyway. P.s. **Gum** and other Dutch speakers. Please don’t come back now and say it’s miere **n** neuker. Oh, and “having a gas”. Not sure what you mean by that and not sure I want to be asking…It sounds suggestive. But in case the question was somewhat serious. No, you can’t be having a gas. You have a gas time. ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/74 "2004-06-14T10:08:29Z")
> [@PookahMacPhellimey](#): > > As it can be translated it should **not** really be in this thread but I think it is such a charming expression I’m including it anyway. Sorry about that. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/75 "2004-06-14T14:02:56Z")
> [@PookahMacPhellimey](#): > > That last one reminds me of the Dutch word “miereneuker”. It literally translates as “ant-fucker” and can be fairly accurately translated as “nitpicker”. As it can be translated it should really be in this thread but I think it is such a charming expression I’m including it anyway. In French, to nitpick is _enculer des mouches_ – “to sodomize flies.” ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/76 "2004-06-14T19:39:02Z")
Thanks, **Annie-Xmas**. I think we could translate a nooner as a “lunch-wip”. **PookahMacPhellimey** , Now why would I say it’s miere **N** neuker? To fuck _one_ ant at the time, will be plenty. 😉 hehehehe, **matt\_mcl** _sodomize_, no less. **Ranchoth** , I don’t think I ‘got’ that one. Have another energy bar on me. Could you explain? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Stillsmiling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Stillsmiling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stillsmiling)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/77 "2004-06-14T20:42:45Z")
> [@gum](#): > > **Ranchoth** , I don’t think I ‘got’ that one. Have another energy bar on me. Could you explain? 🙂 I am not **Ranchoth** , but I think I ‘get’ it. In American movies, if you have a character that is supposed to be from another country, that character will be able to speak flawless, although heavily accented English. The only words that character will not speak in English are > [@Ranchoth](#): > > “Yes,” “No,” “Sir,” “Ma’am,” “Mr.,” “Mrs.,” and “Thank you” (sets the scene…Evil French Art Thief has his plot foiled by American Detective…extremely bad dialogue to follow) American Detective: You are under arrest. You were plotting to steal “Priceless Painting” from your own museum. Evil French Art Thief: Oui! I was going to, how you say…counterfeeeet zee painting and sell zee oreegeenal to an underground collector of art for meeleeons! (pulls gun) I am sorry, Monsieur, but now I must keel you. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/78 "2004-06-14T21:41:15Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > There’s a fabulous Spanish structure that’s used for disclaiming responsibility for something you did, as if you did it just by accident, so much so that it practically happened to you… or at least, that’s what you want to claim. > > So instead of “olvidé mis llaves” (I forgot my keys) you say “se me olvidaron las llaves” (My keys forgot themselves to me). Not very much difference from the English active voice (I forgot my keys) and passive voice (the keys were forgotten). The English version of MS Word doesn’t like the passive voice (as do style guides, in all fairness) as being wimpy. But it is occasionally useful. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/79 "2004-06-15T03:42:03Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > _vernissage_: literally “varnishing,” but it means a party that someone throws at which they show off their art. It can, but isn’t necessarily, a gallery opening. Often used in Quebec English (“we’re going to Bruce’s vernissage tonight”). This word was used in the US national spelling bee a short time ago. The given definition was an art gallery opening. This thread is fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/80 "2004-06-15T04:49:38Z")
hehehehe, Thank you **Stillsmiling** That was beautiful and I ‘get’ it now. 🙂 **lavenderlemon** We kinda use the vernissage the same: When a painter shows his new work for the first time in the gallery. I always thought it had to do with the ‘vernis’ [varnish] just being dry. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323.md?page=5)