# 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:** 19\ **Page:** 6
**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 16, 2004, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/101 "2004-06-16T14:39:48Z")
> [@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. Well, Spanish has a passive voice too (las llaves fueron olvidadas). The cool thing about the “se me olvidaron” construction is that _you_ are still in the sentence, so it’s as if your keys lost themselves on purpose to spite you. ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/102 "2004-06-16T16:01:27Z")
Originally posted by **PookahMacPhellimey** > [@](#): > > \*Gum I’ve had my koekje, put away the tin, quick!. \* Hahahaha. 🙂 Thanks Pookah, you sound like my great-aunt and you’ve made my day. Originally posted by **js\_africanus** > [@](#): > > - > > How about the other way? Anybody know English words & phrases that don’t translate to othere languages/cultures?\* How about “plethora” . I’m partial to that word and I don’t believe there’s a good translation in at least German and Dutch? ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/103 "2004-06-16T16:37:15Z")
I like the Dutch (or just Flemish?) “Borreltje”/Borrel-- an after-work drinkie-poo at a cafe (refers to, I think, the drink and the activity of going for a drink-- verb borrelen?). Along with that, “borrelhapjes”-- hors d’oeuvres that you have with your borreltje. I’ve probably misspelled every word in this post. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingDragonFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c89c15/32.png) [@FlyingDragonFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingDragonFan)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/104 "2004-06-16T19:16:08Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > \*Afinar el lapiz \* or _afinar la punta del lapiz_. Perfectly cromulent and common in Spanish. Care to give us a translation on those, for us mono-linguists? And while you’re at it, what about “lighthouse,” the towers with beacons on the top for warning ships about getting too close to shore? A friend of mine had a devil of a time trying to explain what a lighthouse is to a woman from Brazil, I think it was. What’s the Spanish word for that? ---
**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 16, 2004, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/105 "2004-06-16T20:30:53Z")
The first ones were translating “to sharpen one’s pencil,” for the poster who asked. In Spanish, a lighthouse is “un faro.” There’s a famous one in A Coruña in Galicia. ---
**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 16, 2004, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/106 "2004-06-16T20:33:55Z")
Since the woman was from Brazil, btw, the Portuguese word is “farol.” ---
**Author:** ![karomon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@karomon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/karomon)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/107 "2004-06-17T04:18:02Z")
My favorite, and very basic, untranslatable Polish word: “a”. It’s kind of like “and”, it’s kind of like “but”. The closest thing to it that I can think of in English would be “;” - something that divides two ideas or statements and puts them in a position where they are being compared. However, “a” can be used at the beginning of a sentence, and also in place of “versus”. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/108 "2004-06-17T08:18:28Z")
Hebrew has no word for “subtle”, which is oddly appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/109 "2004-06-17T16:37:27Z")
hehehehe, **Alessan** 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2004, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/110 "2004-07-06T05:38:15Z")
> [@Lissa](#): > > Wasn’t that phrase once used to describe the socially correct time for an afternoon quickie, or have I been reading too many bad novels set in France? Yes. It’s usually used to describe this. 5 being the time when you leave work, and 7 the time when you come back home. So it generally refers to an affair, and so rarely to a cocktail that I wasn’t even aware of this use. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2004, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/111 "2004-07-06T05:44:49Z")
> [@jimmmy](#): > > Wasn’t there a whole list of English words borrowed into French that the French Governement treid to discourage use of & promote the use of (often unwieldy) French translations? Words like “Computer” etc.? … A lot of words related to computers have been borrowed into french like “e-mail” for example, despite attempts to replace them by a french alternative, but it’s not the case of the word “computer” itself. French people don’t use this word. It’s called an “ordinateur”. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2004, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/112 "2004-07-06T07:52:02Z")
malapropism: misapplication of (sus. spoken) words. Since this is named for an 19th century literary character, is there a translation for this phenomenon in other languages? Certain other eponyms may be difficult to translate, too. Consider: what words or phrases entirely encapsulize the mystery and suspense of something Hitchcockian, the conservativism of a policy that’s Reaganesque, the extreme difficulty of something herculean? ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2004, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/113 "2004-07-06T12:52:49Z")
Pillock ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/114 "2004-10-21T11:08:25Z")
A fluent (but non-native) speaker of Danish told me that the Danes often have trouble understanding some English abstract verbs such as ‘go’, apparently because “I’m _walking_ to the store”, or “I’m _driving_ to the store” etc are used instead of “I’m _going_ to the store”. Perhaps someone could confirm or debunk this? ---
**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:** [October 21, 2004, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/115 "2004-10-21T12:35:03Z")
Do other languages have an equivalent to “D’OH” as in Homer Simpson. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/116 "2004-10-21T13:15:34Z")
> [@Treviathan](#): > > There’s a great Onion article that translates Canadianisms into “American.” I love the translation of **eh?** as “that which you have just said, is it not true?” 😃 It seems Canadians and Kiwis have some language in common. But Eh is many functional. It also means “whatever you just said say it again” (Eh? Pardon?) and “Are you f\*\*king kidding!” (EH!..Really!) and I agree with you completely (It was good eh) It will be lovely tomorrow eh. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/117 "2004-10-21T13:16:56Z")
Multi functona! Many functional doesn’t make sense eh? ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/118 "2004-10-21T19:29:17Z")
Great thread! \*\*Noone Special \*\* and **Kyla** , even though my family lived in Israel 30 years ago and speak English and Spanish at home, we still say **‘davka’** because there simply isn’t an equivalent in or main languages. **Mighty\_Girl** , we’ve had the ‘empalagoso’ discussion before, haven’t we? The English ‘cloying’ is close but doesn’t quite get there. A very sweet dessert is ‘empalagoso’ but so is Julio Iglesias. Kiwis and Canadians, many Spanish speakers use a rhetorical ‘¿No?’ at the end of a sentence which is equivalent to your ‘Eh?’ Davka! ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323/119 "2004-10-22T03:38:04Z")
The Japanese equivalent of “D’OH” is, I believe, “shimatta”. In Chinese, there’s “aiyah”, but that’s more of a general reaction of dismay. As for the “yugen” mentioned earlier, I plugged it into a [handy dandy Japanese online dictionary](http://www.solon.org/cgi-bin/j-e/fg=r/inline/dict) which translates it as “occult, mystery”. I can’t read Japanese, but from the kanji, it suggests a deep, unpenetrable mystery, a sort of ethereal riddle. So it’s that feeling you get when you pass something intriguing on your way to someplace else and you can only think, “I wonder…” I’m still looking for something more succinct than: “It’s like when your friend is getting married, and everybody else thinks she’s totally nuts and making the biggest mistake of her life, but you can’t shake the feeling that maybe she’s onto something and you want to wish her every happiness, but you don’t want to go on record as saying anything just in case things do go south, so you just stand aside and watch her walk down the aisle.” Because I can’t fit that much text on my picture I’m trying to caption. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-make-a-list-of-untranslatable-words-phrases/249323.md?page=5)