# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/61 "2008-03-21T20:44:28Z")
Wunderbar! ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/62 "2008-03-21T21:06:34Z")
[QUOTE=Wargamer] Caio! [/QUOTE] When I first arrived in Italian-speaking Switzerland, I knew Ciao meant goodbye, but didn’t know it also meant hello. I thought everyone was telling me to get lost whenever I entered a room. I like the German word: _scheisse_! (pronounced shy-suh) Yes, it directly translates to the vulgar word “shit” in English, but in German, it is used more as a neutral word meaning, “damn!”. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Jinks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Captain\_Jinks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Jinks)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/63 "2008-03-21T21:12:01Z")
Nichevo. Mu parents, trained in Classical ballet, used a lot of Russian and (French) dance terms. Bastinado Farbdrucker (I have a '93) And… um… Languedoc. It sounds so romantic. That and Andelusia. I wanna go there. ---
**Author:** ![Surok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@Surok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surok)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/64 "2008-03-21T21:30:22Z")
[QUOTE=Grammanaut] I became acquainted with this word in my first Finnish sauna experience too - to my ears it sounded like “löuluä” (LOEU-lew-ae). I thought it meant “more water on the hot rocks”, because every so often people would start chanting “löuluä, löuluä!” and any non-Finn had to get their arse out of the sauna or be boiled alive. It’s a beautiful word, especially when shouted by a choir of burly, naked men. [/QUOTE] It is a beautiful word. As is ‘paritsya’ at the Russian banya, when the woman responsible for making the steam in the steam room calls all the other attendees to come and take their places and enjoy the steam. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/65 "2008-03-21T21:42:16Z")
[QUOTE=Capt. Ridley’s Shooting Party] Pamplemousse. French for grapefruit. [/QUOTE] That’s one of my top choices. The other is nirvana. Everybody knows it means a state of enlightenment, but less well known (assuming I’ve been taught correctly) is that the connotations of the word include “extinguishment,” “blowing out” and “extinction,” as of a candle. To me, it carries this fascinating combination of peace and a kind of mystery that, for all its promise, is just a little scary. The comparison of the self/ego to a tiny candle flame is also a little intimidating. I also dig melocotones, which is the Spanish name for peaches. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/66 "2008-03-21T21:49:10Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Jinks] Nichevo. Mu parents, trained in Classical ballet, used a lot of Russian and (French) dance terms. [/QUOTE] I love this word, too. It’s not really easy to translate, but the tone of voice kind of says it all. And it’s such a very Russian word. “So it goes”, sort of. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/67 "2008-03-21T21:54:05Z")
[Wendigo.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendigo) (There are various other renderings, but none as cool as “wendigo”!) ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/68 "2008-03-22T20:30:36Z")
Mangetout Are you there ? ---
**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:** [March 22, 2008, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/69 "2008-03-22T20:41:04Z")
[QUOTE=Kythereia] Ananas. No, I _can’t_ tell you why. [/QUOTE] C’est merveilleux, c’est magnifique. I keep tripping over French words that I can’t think of a direct translation for. _Niaiseux_ is a good one. It means annoying, pestering, silly, stupid, not serious, etc. Little brothers are usually _niaiseux._ The closest I can come up for it is “twit,” but it isn’t quite that. A related one is _se déniaiser_, “de-stupidify oneself,” which means to lose one’s virginity, usually said of a man. ---
**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:** [March 22, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/70 "2008-03-22T21:00:00Z")
Also, I’ve often remarked that my favourite foreign verb _conjugation_ is “yuxtaponer,” Spanish for “to juxtapose.” You(pl) juxtaposed: yuxtapusisteis. That I juxtapose: que yuxtaponga. You(sg) juxtapose!: yuxtapón! juxtaposed: yuxtapuesto. ---
**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:** [March 22, 2008, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/71 "2008-03-22T21:03:22Z")
Oh, just thought of another great French word: _alunir_, “to land on the Moon” – by analogy to _aterrir_, “to land” (on Earth). ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/72 "2008-03-22T21:10:33Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] And once again we see the wonderful adaptability of English, which has been known to follow other languages into alleys, hit them over the head, and go through their pockets for loose vocabulary. 🙂 [/QUOTE] I love this. Bravo. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/73 "2008-03-22T21:28:58Z")
[QUOTE=WordMan] I love this. Bravo. [/QUOTE] [Credit where it’s due, though.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_D._Nicoll)😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/74 "2008-03-22T21:36:51Z")
I like the Japanese word “sugoi” ( すごい ) which means, “it is enormous”. It seems to be used in the vernacular in much the same way American speakers use “awesome” to mean “great”, “good”, “impressive”. For example, I’ve watched videos of Japanese pop singers working the crowd and getting the audience to sing or chant something, and when the audience does it loudly the singer will exclaim, “SUGOI!” ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/75 "2008-03-22T22:40:37Z")
The French word _autrefois_. It is used to mean “a time in the past,” but I often like to think of it as meaning in another life, in another universe, if things were different. Yeah, I _do_ speak my very own dialect of French… _J’ai deja passe un bon moment Un bon moment, autrefois_ ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/76 "2008-03-23T00:43:31Z")
bainne (Irish gaelic for milk), pronounced “Bawnya”. I love the look and sound of it. Even better is bainne úr, fresh milk. ---
**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 23, 2008, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/77 "2008-03-23T01:35:51Z")
[QUOTE=Peak Banana] [Credit where it’s due, though.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_D._Nicoll)😉 [/QUOTE] Yes, I knew it wasn’t mine, but I didn’t know who had come up with it. I always think of ‘autrefois’ as ‘another time’ or ‘another occasion’. > [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Oh, just thought of another great French word: alunir, “to land on the Moon” – by analogy to aterrir, “to land” (on Earth). So what do the French say when speaking of the probes that have landed on Mars, Venus, and Titan? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/78 "2008-03-23T03:48:34Z")
“Shurnarkabti-sha-shutu” ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/79 "2008-03-23T04:07:25Z")
Koshka. My Russian immigrant neighbor told me it was Russian for cat. It sounds exactly like what you’d expect a Russian cat to sound like. Sort of soft and hard all at once. ---
**Author:** ![ForumBot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee59a6/32.png) [@ForumBot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ForumBot)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023/80 "2008-03-23T05:34:52Z")
As a speaker of the German language who frequently hears how unsexy the language is, I’m glad to see so much love for the language. Allow me to toss in my favorite German word, _gammeln_, which means something to the effect of “to bum around.” It’s not just bumming around, though, it’s complete and utter just wasting time, dicking around, not doin anything and not really thinking about it, either. Otherwise, it’s “bandito.” I call just about every one of my mexican inspired tortilla dishes a “taquito bandito.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-non-english-word/442023.md?page=5)