# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![MisterThyristor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@MisterThyristor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MisterThyristor)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/81 "2004-06-15T05:32:52Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > 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. Yeah, especially useful to politicians: “Mistakes were made.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MisterThyristor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@MisterThyristor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MisterThyristor)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/82 "2004-06-15T05:36:50Z")
> [@PookahMacPhellimey](#): > > 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. I think it’s the same thing, just worded slightly different. We also say “It’s a gas” as in “Jumping Jack Flash” by the Stones. Or in other words, a rollicking good time. ---
**Author:** ![Baraqiyal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@Baraqiyal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baraqiyal)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/83 "2004-06-15T07:23:25Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > Like: “Uff da, that was a lot of snow to shovel” or “Uff da, Margie, I forgot to put the shaved carrots in the Jell-O”. Or, “Uff da, the lutefisk is particularly disappointing tonight.” ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/84 "2004-06-15T08:23:00Z")
_Uff da_ still sees a lot of use (as does just plain _uff_) in Norge, too. Usually it’s an expression of sympathy, when someone tells you some mildly bad news or a kid bonks his head, for instance. But you can also use it to acknowledge that you’ve just done something dumb. Other Norwegian untranslatables: _Koselig._ This word is usually translated as “cozy”, but that doesn’t work. A friend can be _koselig_, as can a child. You can have a _koselig_ time, particularly with friends or family. Sitting in front of the fireplace on a cold winter evening with a hot drink and good company and/or a good book is so _koselig_ it’s been given its own name: _peiskos_. Good news is always very _koselig_. Take the word out of the language, and Norwegian women over 50 would be in a panic. _Pålegg._ Anything you can put on a slice of bread and that turns it into an open-faced sandwich. It is a common word for lunchmeat, cheese, jam, peanut butter, and other spreads. “Sandwich fixings” would come close, but _pålegg_ specifically doesn’t include butter, mayo, mustard, lettuce, and similar things. And a personal favorite from the Trøndelag dialects: _hattkall_. (You have to pronounce it with a serious palatalization, almost as if it was spelled _haittkaill_.) It means the sort of older gentleman driver who drives so very cautiously that he ironically becomes a danger to himself and fellow motorists. The word literally means “hat guy” because so many of them are kind enough to wear an old-fashioned fedora to warn you of their presence 😃 ---
**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 15, 2004, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/85 "2004-06-15T09:52:01Z")
> [@flodnak](#): > > Other Norwegian untranslatables: > > _Pålegg._ Anything you can put on a slice of bread and that turns it into an open-faced sandwich. It is a common word for lunchmeat, cheese, jam, peanut butter, and other spreads. “Sandwich fixings” would come close, but _pålegg_ specifically doesn’t include butter, mayo, mustard, lettuce, and similar things. Hmmm, that seems related to the Dutch “beleg”, which is indeed what you put on bread. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/86 "2004-06-15T11:55:03Z")
I maintain that there is no foriegn equivilent for the word **Niblets**. 😃 ---
**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, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/87 "2004-06-15T12:29:49Z")
So, **BMalion** , What are niblets? 🙂 **Pookah** Palegg _does_ sounds like beleg. \*BUT what about \* **Koselig**? :eek: Do you think we finally have a translation for ‘gezellig’ ? As **flodnak** said: > [@](#): > > “Take the word out of the language, and Norwegian women over 50 would be in a panic.” That goes for Dutch women too, right? I think it’s the same. Koselig - Gezellig. ---
**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 15, 2004, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/88 "2004-06-15T12:52:46Z")
> [@gum](#): > > Do you think we finally have a translation for ‘gezellig’ ? > I think it’s the same. Koselig - Gezellig. You know, I thought of that too. I think they’re actually cousins. Gezellig doesn’t really seem to apply to good news all that easily and not very well to a child, although both are not impossible. The other examples for “koselig” do seem to be classic instances of “gezellig” as well. And the over-50 women thing definetely fits. What a gezellige discussion. Need a cup of coffee now. Gezelligheid always screams coffee to me, even more than so then beer (which would have to be Brand of course 🙂 . ---
**Author:** ![hildea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ebca7d/32.png) [@hildea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hildea)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/89 "2004-06-15T13:30:23Z")
A very _koselig_ expression is _kose seg glugg ihjel_ which means having a very nice time, but the expression literally means “to have such a nice time that you die from it”… Other Norwegianisms - there’s the weather, of course. _Yr_ is very light rain, _duskregn_ is heavier than _yr_, but still pretty light, _sludd_ is very wet snow or snowish rain _when it’s falling_, _slaps_ is _sludd_ when it’s on the ground. _Skare_ is the ice crust you get on top of old snow. (As in the old saying “When the _skare_ carries a grown man in June, summer will be late.”) _Hålke_ is wet ice on the ground (and patients with broken bones getting beds in the corridors in the hospitals). _Føre_ is conditions on the ground, with regard to how it is to walk, ski, or drive on it, and can be combined with other words, as in _slapseføre_ or _hålkeføre_. In Norwegian, you can combine words to get new ones. _Politikerforakt_ is a useful one, consisting of “politician” and a noun version of “despice”. It means a cynical attitude to politics and politicians, expecting them to lie a lot, be dishonest and so on. When the voter turnout is low, newspapers will write about worrying levels of _politikerforakt_ in the population. And talking of politics, I’m not sure if _drittsekkompetanse_ has reached the dictionaries yet, but it should be there. _Drittsekk_ literally means “shitbag”, but is used to refer to people (not as a compliment 🙂 ), _kompetanse_ is “expertise” (same origin as “competent”). The whole word is used to describe people who’re very competent at getting things done, but their goals or means are, um, less than admirable. ---
**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, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/90 "2004-06-15T13:46:09Z")
**Pookah** , Let’s find out. Have a koekje with the coffee. Do you miss Brand? **hildea** , Can a room be “koselig”? Can a person be UNkoselig? [or a room, for that matter] If you think of a “koselig”[ge] evening, what do you think? And why a child? Do you say: "Let’s get the pick-nick basket and we all go to the park: “Koselig!” ? Do you say - when you’ve had a boring evening, sitting in a boring bar, with boring people: “Damn. That was UNkoselig?” ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/91 "2004-06-15T13:48:36Z")
> [@gum](#): > > So, **BMalion** , What are niblets? 🙂 well, I don’t know, when I google the word in the singular i get alot of sex sites, when the word is plural alot of sites about green gian corn comes up. Hmmm… ---
**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, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/92 "2004-06-15T14:03:36Z")
**BMalion** , You’re not going to tell me, huh. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/93 "2004-06-15T14:42:49Z")
I’ll be darned! Nordic languages have a lot of words for cold-weather conditions. Not so in Spanish. Gladly. Although untranslatable per se it is a fun fact that the Spanish version of the English ‘raining cats and dogs’ is ‘lloviendo sapos y ranas’ (raining toads and frogs). I haven’t been able to translate ‘cozy’ into Spanish or \*empalagoso \* into English. _Empalagoso_, when referring to food is similar to sickly sweet, and it means something that is so sweet that after eating just a bit it becomes repulsive. When referring to a person it means somebody that overdoes been nice, or that just pretends being nice to trick you. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/94 "2004-06-15T14:59:28Z")
> [@Jervoise](#): > > Académie Française has a role moderating the French language, which has come to mean protecting it from English influences by choosing French equivalents. Possibly the story you remember followed from when the academy decided “email” was too English and nominated the Québécois word “courriel” in its place. A lot of people are confused about what the Académie Française is and what it does. a) It has no official power to dictate how anyone speaks or writes. Essentially all it is is a group of old, conservative authors who take an inordinate amount of time to decide how _they_ feel the language should be, while very few people actually care. b) “Courriel” was adopted by the French _government_ for its internal publications. Most largish organisations throughout the world have such style guides. The only thing that was worthy of notice in this case _wasn’t_ that courriel won over English words but that it came from Québec. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/95 "2004-06-15T16:44:44Z")
I hate to interrupt the poetic flow of this thread with something mundane, but is there a way to say “sharpen the pencil” in Spanish? I remember when I took Spanish in high school, the teacher encouraged us to speak in Spanish for everyday conversation. I asked how to say “sharpen my pencil,” and she seemed kind of puzzled, because the Spanish use of “sharpen” applied to putting edges on knives. The closest she could come to it was “make a point on the pencil.” ---
**Author:** ![hildea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ebca7d/32.png) [@hildea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hildea)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/96 "2004-06-15T18:45:19Z")
Ah, unraveling the mystery of _koselig_ 🙂 > [@gum](#): > > Can a room be “koselig”? Yes, definitively. If you say, when entering a Norwegian home, “This is koselig!”, you can’t go wrong. Um, unless your hosts have spent insane amounts of money and effort to make it really stylish or something. Koselig is nice in an everyday, relaxed way. If you’re aiming for fantastic, a mere koselig might be a let down. > [@](#): > > Can a person be UNkoselig? [or a room, for that matter] A room, yes. A situation, yes. A person - um, I don’t think I’d use it that way. Don’t know why. > [@](#): > > If you think of a “koselig”[ge] evening, what do you think? A relaxing evening with my husband and children, reading, listening to music, playing with legos. Or having some friends over for a board game or twelve. > [@](#): > > And why a child? I wouldn’t call a child koselig, but I’m a parent - children are lovable, fantastic, great, and on occasions frustrating as hell. Koselig is a somewhat lukewarm word, to mild to apply to children. IMHO 🙂 > [@](#): > > Do you say: "Let’s get the pick-nick basket and we all go to the park: “Koselig!” ? Yes. (Don’t forget the umbrella…) > [@](#): > > Do you say - when you’ve had a boring evening, sitting in a boring bar, with boring people: “Damn. That was UNkoselig?” No, that would be boring (kjedelig). An ukoselig evening would be if the friendly discussion turned into nasty personal insults, or if the waiters were rude and unfriendly, or a drunk at the next table tried to pick a fight. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/97 "2004-06-15T20:05:05Z")
> [@Knowed Out](#): > > I hate to interrupt the poetic flow of this thread with something mundane, but is there a way to say “sharpen the pencil” in Spanish? > > I remember when I took Spanish in high school, the teacher encouraged us to speak in Spanish for everyday conversation. I asked how to say “sharpen my pencil,” and she seemed kind of puzzled, because the Spanish use of “sharpen” applied to putting edges on knives. The closest she could come to it was “make a point on the pencil.” \*Afinar el lapiz \* or _afinar la punta del lapiz_. Perfectly cromulent and common in Spanish. ---
**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 16, 2004, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/98 "2004-06-16T09:55:11Z")
> [@hildea](#): > > No, that would be boring (kjedelig). An ukoselig evening would be if the friendly discussion turned into nasty personal insults, or if the waiters were rude and unfriendly, or a drunk at the next table tried to pick a fight. Hmmm, very very close to “gezellig” I think. Your whole post about "koselig’ fits quite well. Wonder if the two words have the same root as well. **Gum** I’ve had my koekje, put away the tin, quick!. 😃 Enne, Guinness is lovely but Brand…mmmmmmm (imagine Homer Simpson type drooling and gurgling). ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/99 "2004-06-16T13:25:51Z")
_Veranlassen_, like _verursachen_ both mean roughly “to cause [something to happen]”. But while _verursachen_ is close to the English meaning, _veranlassen_ is more in the sense of “creating the conditions to allow a thing to happen”. ---
**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 16, 2004, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/100 "2004-06-16T13:48:58Z")
This is great. How about the other way? Anybody know English words & phrases that don’t translate to othere languages/cultures? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323.md?page=6)