7/31/2019 25 Handy Words That Simply Do Not Exist in English
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25 Handy Words that simply do not exist In
English
Approximately 375 million people speak English as their first
language, in fact its the 3rd mostcommonly spoken language in the
world (after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish). Interestingly
enough its the number 1 second language used worldwidewhich is
why the total number of
people who speak English, outnumber those of any other.
But whilst its the most widely spoken language, theres still a
few areas it falls down on (strange
and bizarre punctuation rules aside). We look at 25 words that
simply dont exist in the Englishlangauge (and yet after reading
this list, youll wish they did!)
1 Age-otori (Japanese): To look worse after a haircut
2 Arigata-meiwaku (Japanese): An act someone does for you that
you didnt want to have themdo and tried to avoid having them do,
but they went ahead anyway, determined to do you a favor,and then
things went wrong and caused you a lot of trouble, yet in the end
social conventions
required you to express gratitude
3 Backpfeifengesicht (German): A face badly in need of a
fist
4 Bakku-shan(Japanese): A beautiful girl as long as shes being
viewed from behind
5 Desenrascano(Portuguese): to disentangle yourself out of a bad
situation (To MacGyver
it)
6 Duende (Spanish): a climactic show of spirit in a performance
or work of art, which might befulfilled in flamenco dancing, or
bull-fighting, etc.
7 Forelsket (Norwegian): The euphoria you experience when you
are first falling in love
8 Gigil (pronounced Gheegle; Filipino): The urge to pinch or
squeeze something that is
unbearably cute
9 Guanxi (Mandarin): in traditional Chinese society, you would
build up good guanxi by giving
gifts to people, taking them to dinner, or doing them a favor,
but you can also use up your gianxi
by asking for a favor to be repaid
10 Ilunga (Tshiluba, Congo): A person who is ready to forgive
any abuse for the first time, totolerate it a second time, but
never a third time
11 Lesprit de lescalier (French): usually translated as
staircase wit, is the act of thinking of a
clever comeback when it is too late to deliver it
7/31/2019 25 Handy Words That Simply Do Not Exist in English
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12 Litost(Czech): a state of torment created by the sudden sight
of ones own misery
13 Mamihlapinatapai (Yaghan): A look between two people that
suggests an unspoken, shareddesire
14 Manja(Malay): to pamper, it describes gooey, childlike and
coquettish behavior by womendesigned to elicit sympathy or
pampering by men. His girlfriend is a damn manja. Hearing her
speak can cause diabetes.
15 Meraki (pronounced may-rah-kee; Greek): Doing something with
soul, creativity, or love.
Its when you put something of yourself into what youre doing
16 Nunchi(Korean): the subtle art of listening and gauging
anothers mood. In Western culture,
nunchi could be described as the concept of emotional
intelligence. Knowing what to say or do,
or what not to say or do, in a given situation. A socially
clumsy person can be described as
nunchi eoptta, meaning absent of nunchi
17 Pena ajena (Mexican Spanish): The embarrassment you feel
watching someone elses
humiliation
18 Pochemuchka (Russian): a person who asks a lot of
questions
19 Schadenfreude(German): the pleasure derived from someone
elses pain
20 Sgriob (Gaelic): The itchiness that overcomes the upper lip
just before taking a sip of whisky
21 Taarradhin(Arabic): implies a happy solution for everyone, or
I win. You win. Its a way
of reconciling without anyone losing face. Arabic has no word
for compromise, in the sense ofreaching an arrangement via struggle
and disagreement
22 Tatemae and Honne (Japanese): What you pretend to believe and
what you actually believe,respectively
23 Tingo(Pascuense language of Easter Island): to borrow objects
one by one from a neighborshouse until there is nothing left
24 Waldeinsamkeit (German): The feeling of being alone in the
woods
25 Yoko meshi(Japanese): literally a meal eaten sideways,
referring to the peculiar stressinduced by speaking a foreign
language
