Saturday, November 26, 2011

Words That Don't Exist in the English Language

    Forelsket: (Norwegian) The euphoria you experience when you are first falling in love.

    Waldeinsamkeit: (German) The feeling of being alone in the woods.

    Pochemuchka: (Russian) A person who asks a lot of questions.

    Pena ajena: (Mexican Spanish) The embarrassment you feel watching someone else’s humiliation.

    Cualacino: (Italian) The mark left on a table by a cold glass.

    Ilunga: (Tshiluba, Congo) A person who is ready to forgive any abuse for the first time, to tolerate it a second time, but never a third time.

    Bakku-shan: (Japanese) A beautiful girl, as long as she's being viewed from behind.

    Espirit d'escalier: (French) When you think of the perfect verbal comeback much too late.

    Mamihlapinatapai: (Yaghan) A look between two people that suggests an unspoken, shared desire.

    L’esprit de escalier: (French) The feeling you get after leaving a conversation, when you think of all the things you should have said. Translated it means “the spirit of the staircase.”

5 comments:

michelle said...

a lot of these were in eat, pray, love!! :)

linda said...

was that book good? i've heard alot of bad things about it.

Ellen said...

is there a word in another language for "i cant wait to come home and have picnics at museums and sew clothes and make lamb feasts with you" ?

Tanyabell said...

Very cool! I have thought about some of those many times! New follower :)

michelle said...

i'm still not done reading it (haven't really been reading recently).

i really like it because she travels a lot and it's like living vicariously through her. it's also interesting because she's so.. human. but don't watch the movie, it's terrible.