Saturday, July 11

Useful words that sadly have no English equivilent

Schadenfreude (German): pleasure in someone else's misfortune
.
Espirit d'escalier (French): When you think of the perfect verbal comeback... much too late
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Mamihlapinatapai (Yaghan): look shared by two people with each wishing that the other will initiate something that both desire but which neither one wants to start
.
backpfeifengesicht (German): A face badly in need of a fist
.
Nunchi (Korean): The art of not becoming a Backpfeifengesicht
.
shlimazl (Yiddish): Somebody who has nothing but [very] bad luck
.
honne and tatemae (Japan): The first is reality as you understand it, the second is reality as filtered through what society expects
.
Tingo (Pascuense): To borrow from a friend until he has nothing left
.
Sgiomlaireachd (Scottish Gaelic): When people interrupt you at meal time
.
Desenrascanco (Portuguese): slapping together a solution to a problem at the last minute, with no advanced planning, and no resources

2 comments:

  1. Wow, those are pretty useful, lmao. :)

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  2. I love those words. In fact I used backpfeifengesicht today, except I told the guy it meant a face in need of a crowbar. But then again, he was really bugging me.
    Nunchi cracked me up.

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