Untranslatable Words
Published .
You might enjoy this short list of untranslatable words. It includes classics like schadenfreude, wabi-sabi, and l’appel du vide, as well as my personal favorite mamihlapinatapai, but there are a few other good ones in there, too.
- Jayus, Indonesian
- A joke so poorly told and so unfunny that one cannot help but laugh.
[…]
- Torschlusspanik, German
- Translated literally, this word means “gate-closing panic,” but its contextual meaning refers to “the fear of diminishing opportunities as one ages.”
[…]
- Iktsuarpok, Inuit
- To go outside to check if anyone is coming.
Link shamelessly stolen from swiss-miss.