WORD-CRAZY!!!!
It is common knowledge to readers of this blog that I am absolutely, legitimately word-crazy. I admit my knowledge of words is mainly superficial, I am often unaware of their origin. So I'd best classify myself as a word-scavenger owing to my never-ending fascination with all words beautiful. With a word being added to the English language every 98 minutes, English remains a personal favorite for its resilience and flexibility. What interests me are words from languages around the world that are seemingly untranslatable into English. Here are a few I loved :
(from the land of hula dances)
Tartle (Scottish)- The act of hesitating when introducing someone because you've forgotten their name.
(Reminds me of my absent-minded dad)
Gummuservi (Turkish)- Moonlight shining on water.
(This made me smile :) )
Esprit d' Escalier- The witty comeback that you think of moments after leaving the situation in which you might have been able to use it.
(We've all been there, haven't we?)
Katahara Itai (Japanese)- Laughing so much your stomach hurts. :D
Zhaghzhagh (Persian)- The chattering of teeth from cold or rage.
The word originates from Japan. Befitting, I say. :P
Meraki (Greek)- Doing something with soul, creativity and love.
Luftmench- An impractical dreamer with no business sense.
Plimpplamppletteren (Dutch)- The skimming of a flat stone as many times as possible across the surface of the water.
(There is a word for this. Yes. :O)
Mencolek- You know that trick where you tap someone lightly on the opposite shoulder from behind to fool them? The Indonesians have a word for it. :D
A similar word is Vybafnout of Czech origin, which is to jump out from behind and say boo!
And the most offensive but the one that cracked me up the most IS:
Bakku-Shan (Japanese)- A girl who looks pretty from behind but ugly from the front.
Hahahahahahahahahaha!
Nice list :)
ReplyDeleteabsorbing and learning it :)
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