# What's your favorite non-English word? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 20, 2008, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023 "2008-03-20T01:04:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/1 "2008-03-20T01:04:56Z")
Mine is [schadenfreude](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schadenfreude) which I must confess I first heard on The Simpsons. From the Wiki link: > [@](#): > > Lisa asks Homer, “Dad, do you know what Schadenfreude is?”, to which Homer replies in a sarcastic tone, “No, I do not know what Schadenfreude is. Please tell me because I’m dying to know.” Lisa then explains “It’s a German word for shameful joy, taking pleasure in the suffering of others.” Homer responds with “Oh, come on, Lisa. I’m just glad to see him fall flat on his butt! He’s usually all happy and comfortable, and surrounded by loved ones, and it makes me feel…what’s the opposite of that shameful joy thing of yours?” “Sour grapes.” “Boy, those Germans have a word for everything.” What’s yours? ---
**Author:** ![Pixilated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aeb1de/32.png) [@Pixilated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixilated)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/2 "2008-03-20T01:53:51Z")
Kerfuffle ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/3 "2008-03-20T01:54:50Z")
Anaranjado y miércoles. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/4 "2008-03-20T01:57:22Z")
Ananas. No, I _can’t_ tell you why. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/5 "2008-03-20T01:59:22Z")
Titicaca ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/6 "2008-03-20T02:02:33Z")
[Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch_station_sign_%28cropped_version_1%29.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/7 "2008-03-20T02:28:07Z")
[QUOTE=Airman Doors, USAF] [Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch_station_sign_%28cropped_version_1%29.jpg) [/QUOTE] That has four L’s in a row. Not fair! 🙂 I like the word _kaj_. It means “and” in Esperanto. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/8 "2008-03-20T02:41:00Z")
_aarschgnoddle_, the Pennsylvania Dutch word for dingleberry. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/9 "2008-03-20T04:13:27Z")
The portuguese word “saudade”. Regardless of how you’re training to explain what it means, a portuguese speaker will always tell you you didn’t really get it. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/10 "2008-03-20T04:21:06Z")
I looked up and noticed that wikipedia has full page article just about this word. It proposes the following definition > [@Wikipedia](#): > > Saudade is like nostalgia but with the hope that what is being longed for might return, even if that return is unlikely or so distant in the future to be almost of no consequence to the present Towards the end of the article it mentions as a possible equivalent the equally interesting finish word “kaiho” > [@wikipedia](#): > > Kaiho means a state of involuntary solitude in which the subject feels incompleteness and yearns for something unattainable or extremely difficult and tedious to attain. Even though it ads that both words aren’t really synonymous because : > [@wikipedia](#): > > However, saudade does not involve tediousness. Rather, the feeling of saudade accentuates itself: the more one thinks about the loved person or object, the more one feels saudade. The feeling can even be creative, as one strives to fill in what is missing with something else or to recover it altogether. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/11 "2008-03-20T04:23:32Z")
Since Schadenfreude is already taken, I must go to my second pick, which is really just a swearword, and that is “du”, the Vietnamese for “fuck” (sorry, I can’t do the accents). Yes, it’s just a straightforward translation, so what’s so special about it? Well… it’s in the way it’s said. The falling tone is fantastic for expressing disdain, weariness, or disgust. Faked disdain is a big part of friendly Vietnamese banter, and my Vietnamese workmates and friends and I will often greet one another with, “aaaah… Duuuu…” whilst simultaneously poointing towards the other guy with a palm upward gesture and a facial expression of eyes-screwed up disappointment. It’s quite funny if you do it right. There’s a touch of a Yiddish-style “Oy. Another asshole. Eh, what can ya do?” about it. ---
**Author:** ![dynamitedave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed655f/32.png) [@dynamitedave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dynamitedave)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/12 "2008-03-20T07:52:15Z")
For me it’s kaput. There are times when kaput express the situation admiringly. It also drives the little girl next door bonkers. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/13 "2008-03-20T09:08:38Z")
Like **Loaded** (nah, seriously, I’m not stalking ya’ mate! 😃 ) the first word that came to **my** mind was also a swearword, malacka (or malacca or malaka…never saw it written alas so the spelling was always up for conjecture). I went to a predominantly wog populated school as a kid, so Greek obscenities littered the playground as much as the Twisties and Four’n’Twenty pie wrappers. That’s why I love multiculturalism. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/14 "2008-03-20T09:27:53Z")
[QUOTE=clairobscur] The portuguese word “saudade”. Regardless of how you’re training to explain what it means, a portuguese speaker will always tell you you didn’t really get it. [/QUOTE] I opened this thread to mention _saudade_[sup]1[/sup], but now **clairobscur** has stolen the word away from me. I wave farewell to it as it sails beyond the horizon into the West, and although I hope that it will one day return to me, I fear that I have lost it forever. Alas, my heart is full of sorrow, but I know that it was fate that lent wings to those Parisian keyboarding fingers… However, as _[Portuguese]_ [Saudade](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudade) is to [Fado](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fado), so _[Spanish]_ [Duende](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duende_%28art%29) is to [Flamenco](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamenco)[sup]2[/sup], and thus will I yet have my fiery revenge! * * * _( [sup]1[/sup]I heard a friend (a professional singer) perform last Sunday, and am currently composing an e-mail suggesting that she try singing fado, since her voice has a wonderful quality of saudade to it.)_ _( [sup]2[/sup]To the extent that if you’re not Portuguese or Spanish, you “just don’t get it”. However, in both cases it’s fun pretending that you do.)_ ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/15 "2008-03-20T10:35:05Z")
Cafe. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/16 "2008-03-20T10:55:30Z")
Removed ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/17 "2008-03-20T10:57:43Z")
Just to offset du (đụ ), I’ll add the Vietnamese duyen (duyên), which by itself means charm or grace, but can also be roughly translated as the fate that allow soulmates to find each other in a chaotic world, and that binds them together forever after. ---
**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:** [March 20, 2008, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/18 "2008-03-20T12:31:13Z")
Chutzpah ---
**Author:** ![scareyfaerie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scareyfaerie/32/3135_2.png) [@scareyfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scareyfaerie)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/19 "2008-03-20T12:43:26Z")
Hiraeth - it’s Welsh and has no direct English translation, but basically it means a yearning or longing for him. Val Bethell describes it like this: “Hiraeth - the link with the long-forgotten past, the language of the soul, the call from the inner self. Half forgotten - fraction remembered. It speaks from the rocks, from the earth, from the trees and in the waves. It’s always there.” ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/20 "2008-03-20T12:50:57Z")
The German word for cotton is _Baumwolle_. Literally, it means “tree wool.” I can’t think of more poetic description of cotton. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023.md?page=2)