# Words That Don't Translate **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 15, 2022, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-translate/957813 "2022-01-15T00:10:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-translate/957813/21 "2022-01-15T03:23:23Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > My wife is telling me to get off the computer. Scheissen! Du musst scheissen? Good reason to get off the computer 😁. (sorry, couldn’t resist) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-translate/957813/22 "2022-01-15T03:25:26Z")
Now that you mention it… . 👍 ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-translate/957813/23 "2022-01-15T04:25:14Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Nowadays, with many more Germans knowing English than almost 50 years ago, they often don’t even bother anymore and release the German versions of the movies under their original English titles. That happens frequently in Japanese, but apparently not as much in Chinese. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-translate/957813/24 "2022-01-15T14:37:43Z")
Thanks that quite interesting. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-translate/957813/25 "2022-01-15T14:53:07Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I’ve always admired the way the German language is constructed; they’re not afraid to stick English words into their syntax(?), unlike some other languages I could mention, _mon frère_ . How about _le weekend_ or _les hotdogs?_ WIth the French accent, that’s adorable: _“lays ot’dog”…_ ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-translate/957813/26 "2022-01-15T16:37:28Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > _Schadenfreude_ is a commonly used German word, as English has no single word that means the same. At what point would we say that English _does_ have such a word, and that word is “schadenfreude”? After all, many English words were adopted from other languages. (I’m not sure we’re there yet with “schadenfreude.” Maybe the test is whether people commonly use it without putting it in italics or quotation marks or explaining what it means.) ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-translate/957813/27 "2022-01-15T16:41:29Z")
It’s certainly passed that test in my circle of friends (though these days, I hang out with folks here much more than my 3D friends). ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-translate/957813/28 "2022-01-15T17:54:14Z")
Schadenfreude is such a perfect, useful word, that if English didn’t adopt it, we’d have to come up with something, And I’m sure it wouldn’t be as good. Kindergarten, zeitgeist, blitzkrieg - they can’t be improved by englishifying them. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-translate/957813/29 "2022-01-15T18:30:35Z")
Paging @EinsteinsHund I remember being told there was an excellent German word - something maybe like _vorbeisprechen_ - which is used to describe a “conversation” between two people who are both talking (simultaneously) but neither is listening to the other. Any ideas? j ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-translate/957813/30 "2022-01-15T18:32:23Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > I remember being told there was an excellent German word - something maybe like _vorbeisprechen_ - which is used to describe a “conversation” between two people who are both talking (simultaneously) but neither is listening to the other. > > Any ideas? > > j Yes, “aneinander vorbeisprechen” means exactly that. ETA: but there’s an English expression for the same issue: talking past each other. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-translate/957813/31 "2022-01-15T18:35:12Z")
Now that’s what I call service. Thanks! j ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-translate/957813/32 "2022-01-15T18:38:36Z")
Yeah, you make a point. It’s close. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-translate/957813/33 "2022-01-15T19:14:26Z")
I always liked Bantu’s _Mbuki-Mvuki,_ which freely translated means “That desire buried in everyone to sometimes just want to tear your clothes off and **dance**.” ---
**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-translate/957813/34 "2022-01-15T19:23:45Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > ETA: an important point also is that “Kiefer” or jaws doesn’t provoke the indication of a predator in German, as I said it’s more referential to dentists. Could of course also be about the threat of a pine falling on you or something like that… ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-translate/957813/35 "2022-01-15T19:38:05Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > **Bakku-shan** - A girl who appears pretty from behind but not from the front. I have missed this the first time: there’s that beautiful English word for that phenomenon: butterface. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-translate/957813/36 "2022-01-15T19:45:00Z")
I’ve always liked the Japanese concept of [Wabi-sabi.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabi-sabi) I wish it was something we in the West had in our culture. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-translate/957813/37 "2022-01-15T20:09:42Z")
Me too, but the closest we have is Bob Ross’ “happy accidents.” ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-translate/957813/38 "2022-01-15T22:44:59Z")
What’s wrong with one of my favourite words - **Serendipity** Another favourite is **susurration** which I once heard defined as the sound of one silk stocking sliding over another. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-translate/957813/39 "2022-01-15T23:47:10Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Many German words require a whole paragraph to state in English. This is merely due, of course, to the German habit of writing whole paragraphs of words without spaces separating them. One of the great features of German is that concatenation of words. Just take the prefix _scheiß_, for shit - _scheissegal_ for “I don’t give a shit”, _scheißwetter_ for really crappy weather, _scheißfreundlichkeit_ for fake friendliness. Genius stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-translate/957813/40 "2022-01-15T23:54:46Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > What’s wrong with one of my favourite words - **Serendipity** I believe that means something discovered by accident; something worthwhile (although the original story of the three princes of Serendip was more about the powers of deduction). Wabi-sabi is about releasing the creative process from the limitations of ones total control, regardless of how skilled ones craftsmanship may be (and for a perfectionist culture as Japan’s, this is essential to curtail madness). Or the cracked mug that makes it \*your \* mug; the imperfections that make your loved one endearing. The opposite of a term from South America: _boligrafo,_ Spanish for ball-point pen, but used for people who won’t draw outside the lines. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-translate/957813.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-dont-translate/957813.md?page=3)