Did you ever had that feeling when wanted to describe some specific mood or state or emotion but your vocabulary and the knowledge of a few languages are not enough for it? Now it is time to learn it as here they are, the words and expressions that exist only in one language and a barely translatable.
Did you really think that they are only a few ones and the whole world speaks with the same or similar way of thinking? It makes the diversity of languages even more colorful as even though we all are people of blood and bones, we live with a bit different values and learn to notice something that may be unnoticeable for others. With exploring other culture and language, especially those words, denoting the meanings we learn to look more around and observe more that we would have been missing before.
Let’s start at essaytwist.com with the closest ones to the English language and proceed with the words that are difficult to pronounce, nothing to say about finding an appropriate equivalent.
The German Wonders
Usually, each language has one or a couple of special words, but German requires the whole section dedicated to its creativity in making up new definitions. The point is that the Germans profit from their opportunity to combine them into one head-breaking definition.
Schadenfreude
Have you ever felt like someone has hurt but you secretly enjoyed this as an act of revenge or some other motive? This is it, a schadenfreude has been sternly settled down in other languages as a very “useful” word.
Fernweh
To describe this word, you need to know what is a “wanderlust”, as both of them describe in different levels the melancholy for traveling, however, the first one would describe more a homesick for some place you have never been to.
Backpfeifengesicht
It is basically a face that is in urgent need of a good fist.
Schilderwald
The feeling of being alone in the woods can be described with this one word.
Torschlusspanik
Literally translated as the “panic of gate closing” but refers to the decrease of opportunities for people who are aging.
Japanese Expressions
While Germans combine their words, Japanese go further and create new ones. Japan is known not only for its unique culture but the language. For the events and feelings, we would not waste time on noticing, the Japanese have created special words, that charm us nowadays.
Wabi-Sabi
While observing a beauty, which is not eternal, you learn to appreciate it more as it will fade soon. It is an acceptance of our death and decay but enjoying the present state.
Komorebi
The light that shines through the trees and creates an effect of scattered shadows mixed with light.
Bakku-shan
An image of a very charming girl who would be really beautiful if not to look at the front side.
Tsundoku
Special stress for bookworms, who usually read everything to the end, it is the act of leaving some book unread to the end and pile up with other ones so that you have a bunch of unread books.
Kyoikumama
For people who are already acknowledged with the country of Rising Sun, the mother, pushing her child to study hard and get only the best grades in everything, is not a surprise. So, that is how Japanese call such mothers.
Other Notable Mentions
Not only Germans and Japanese can brag about their vocabulary of untranslatable words, other nations also have what to say and how to impress the reader.
Saudade
Portuguese word defining the sickness for someone or something that you love but have lost. Fado music, a type of mournful singing, relates to saudade.
Pochemuchka
The Russian definition of a person who is overwhelmingly curious about everything happening around and asking too many questions.
Shlimazl
A Yiddish definition of a person who is being very unlucky in literally everything in the world.
Hanyauku
Originated from Rukwandali, this word means the process of walking across the sand on tiptoes. Now, how would you call it in English, huh?
Gattara
An Italian definition for a lonely and old woman, who spends her life with cats only.
Tokka
A large herd of reindeer, Finnish creation.
Gökotta
A Swedish act of waking up in the early morning and going out just to hear the first birds sing.
The Probable Future of Untranslatable Words and Phrases
While some people are completely fascinated by the presence of the words that are like diamonds decorating each and every language, others scold on how difficult it is to pick a proper equivalent for them. What we will do is to muse on the necessity of such words and their ability to stay alive in the future.
Naturally, with the evoking of new technologies and Internet, people tend to globalization, which is unification in understanding each other. Let’s just take a huge number of international words that can be understood almost everywhere already. But is it bad? Of course, such a method is a good way to omit struggling with getting to the main point of the conversation but it also sets another challenge for the languages and puts in danger their authentic merits.
All in all, the language is real and vivid, it will never be under some rules or laws. People are the authors of it and they surely know how to define the feeling of a wind on the cheek or missing something you never had. Because such words make us happier and turn our lives into an ode to joy.