Language connects us

Sometimes, however, one language doesn't do justice to our feelings, and we can't express ourselves with a single word.



In that case, we turn to other languages for help. Here are some words from around the world for which there is no direct equivalent in another language.

Komorebi

Meaning: The sunlight streaming through the leaves of trees.

Language: Japanese

Sobremesa

Meaning: The time spent around a table after a meal. They have finished eating, but everyone remains at the table sharing stories, drinking wine or coffee and playing games.

Language: Spanish

Fernweh

Meaning: A longing for faraway places, even those you’ve never visited.

Language: German

Trouvaille

Meaning: Something wonderful found by pure luck.

Language: French

Gökotta

Meaning: To wake up early in the morning to go outside and listen to the early birds sing.

Language: Swedish

Prozvonit

Meaning : When you let your cell phone ring extra when someone calls you, then call back to save the first caller money.

Language : Czech

Tartle

Meaning : The hesitation shown in trying to remember someone’s name.

Language : Scottish

Tingo

Meaning : Someone gradually steals all his neighbor's possessions by borrowing them and not returning them.

Language : Pascuense

Pochemucka

Meaning : A person who asks too many questions

Language : Russian

Gattara

Meaning : a woman, often old and lonely, who devotes herself to stray cats.

Language: Italian

Iktsuarpok

Meaning : the frustration of waiting for someone to show up

Language : Inuit

Mamihlapinatapei

Meaning : a wordless yet meaningful look shared by two people who both desire to initiate something but are both reluctant to start.

Language : Yagan

Won

Meaning : The reluctance on a person's part to let go of an illusion.

Language : Korean

Ya’aburnee

Meaning : This word is an emotional declaration of one’s hope that they’ll die before another person to express how impossible it would be to live without them.

Language : Arabic

Arbejdsglæde

Meaning : It’s the heightened sense of happiness, fulfilment, and satisfaction you get from having a great job.

Language : Danish

Kalsarikännit

Meaning : Getting drunk alone at home in your underwear with no intention of leaving the house.

Language : Finnish

Epibreren

Meaning : Giving the appearance of being busy and important in the workplace when in reality you’re being super lazy.

Language : Dutch

Yaourt

Meaning : The need to sing along to a song even though you don’t know the lyrics. Instead, you use nonsensical noises that vaguely resemble the lyrics of a song.

Language : French

Firgun

Meaning : A feeling of pure joy on seeing someone else’s accomplishment.

Language : Hebrew

Elmosolyodni

Meaning : A kind of smile that forms when something isn’t especially funny, but you can’t help but smile anyway.

Language : Hungary

Kesemutan

Meaning : the famous tingling sensation when a body part was "asleep" and "wakes up" again.

Language : Indonesian

Forelsket

Meaning : The indescribable euphoria you feel when you start to fall in love with someone.

Language : Norwegian

Kombinować

Meaning : To make something or try to resolve a problem with the bare minimum and in an unusual way.

Language : Polish

Saudade

Meaning : An affectional longing for an absent person, a moment or experience of the past.

Language : Portuguese

Hanyauku

Meaning : Tiptoeing across warm or hot sand.

Language : Rukwangali

Merak

Meaning : The pursuit of small pleasures everyday, which all adds up to a feeling of contentment, fulfilment and oneness with the larger purpose and the universe.

Language : Serbian

Gigil

Meaning : the overwhelming feeling that comes over you when you see something unbearably cute that you want to squeeze or pinch it.

Language : Tagalog (Philippines)

Luftmensch

Meaning : refers persons with their head in the clouds. They are more concerned with airy intellectual pursuits than practical matters like earning an income.

Language : Yiddish

Ubuntu

Meaning : The act of being kind to others because of one’s common humanity. Ubuntu is frequently translated as ‘I am because we are,’ or ‘humanity towards others’.

Language : Zulu

Pantoffelheld

Meaning : Literally "slipper hero"; A man who may act tough in front of his friends but can’t stand up for himself against his wife.

Language : German

Aşermek

Meaning : The experience of craving certain foods while pregnant.

Language : Turkish

Panapoo'o

Meaning : The act of searching your head in order to help you remember something you have forgotten.

Language : Hawaiian

Eunoia

Meaning : is the goodwill a speaker cultivates between themselves and their audience, a condition of receptivity.

Language : Greek