| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8] > | Words that exist in only one language. Thread poster: Henry Dotterer
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Parrot 
Spain
Local time: 12:14
Spanish to English
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| Talking about cursi | May 5, 2005 |
Blanca González wrote:
And then we have cursi. I've never been able to translate it correctly. It's a mixture of pretentious, affected and prudish. Maybe the best explanation is the saying "más cursi que un repollo con lazos", that is, more cursi than a cabbage with bows. The idea is something full of frills and bows. But it can also be applied to people, old ladies, for example. And little girls as well.
Try "cutre". Larousse makes an effort with "mean, miserly, stingy", but that's nowhere near to how it's currently used. Oxford's "seedy" or (noun) "dive" were closer, but excludes the "kitsch" possibility.
I wonder why master chef Ferran Adrià suddenly crossed my mind when you said "cabbage with bows"...
| | | | Heinrich Pesch
Finland
Local time: 13:14
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
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| Schnapszahl, the origin | Mar 5, 2008 |
Kin Keung Yip wrote:
in chinese, we called that \"a number of coincidence\".
I'm sure the origin of Schnapszahl is this:
The German card game Skat is played by three or four players. Skat and beer are very much linked, its played in every German pub.
So when the scores are written down after each deal and one player gets a score of 111, 222, 333 etc. points, that is a Schnapszahl. That means the "lucky" player has to order one round of Schnaps, usually German Vodka = Korn.
| | | | Paul Dixon
Brazil
Local time: 07:14
Portuguese to English
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In Portuguese we have the word "saudade" (sometimes written in the plural, "saudades", with the same meaning) which does not exist in any other language. It is a kind of homesickness, sometimes rendered as yearning or nostalgia - yet none of these conveys the true meaning.
Consider the poem "Meus Oito Anos" by Casimiro de Abreu (1839 - 1860):
"Oh ! Que *saudades* que tenho
Da aurora da minha vida,
Da minha infância querida
Que os anos não trazem mais... See more In Portuguese we have the word "saudade" (sometimes written in the plural, "saudades", with the same meaning) which does not exist in any other language. It is a kind of homesickness, sometimes rendered as yearning or nostalgia - yet none of these conveys the true meaning.
Consider the poem "Meus Oito Anos" by Casimiro de Abreu (1839 - 1860):
"Oh ! Que *saudades* que tenho
Da aurora da minha vida,
Da minha infância querida
Que os anos não trazem mais!
Que amor, que sonhos, que flores,
Naquelas tardes fagueiras,
À sombra das bananeiras,
Debaixo dos laranjais!"
[In this poem, he is reminiscing about his youth and his loves.
A loose translation would be:
Oh, how much I miss
The dawn of my life,
My darling infancy
Which the years do not bring back!
What love, what dreams, what flowers,
On those pleasant afternoons,
In the shade of the banana trees,
Under the orange orchards!
So although "I miss you" means "Estou com saudades", the word "saudade" itself can not be translated.] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | About Saudade and equivalents | Apr 28, 2010 |
Paul Dixon wrote:
In Portuguese we have the word "saudade" (sometimes written in the plural, "saudades", with the same meaning) which does not exist in any other language. It is a kind of homesickness, sometimes rendered as yearning or nostalgia - yet none of these conveys the true meaning.
So although "I miss you" means "Estou com saudades", the word "saudade" itself can not be translated.]
This is getting really interesting
We have the same word in Romanian, expressing the same longing, yearning, nostalgia, homesickness etc.: DOR. The same word is used when you say I miss you in Romanian, which is "Mi-e dor de tine", which can't be rendered in such an expressive way in other languages I know (English, Hungarian).
Although I don't speak Portuguese (I understand it a little), reputed experts like the Romanian philosopher Emile Cioran say that Saudade is the same word as the Romanian Dor. It may be so
Moreover, there are "songs of DOR" in Romanian which don't have any other equivalent than perhaps saudade
[Edited at 2010-04-28 17:32 GMT]
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Brian Young
United States
Local time: 03:14
Danish to English
| words that never existed in a language | Apr 28, 2010 |
This is just another twist on an interesting subject.
I had quite a few friends from Greenland, and one of them told me the story of how they were arm twisted into finding a word for "hello". They had gotten along quite well for 10,000 years without a written language, but when an anthropoligist decided to make a written language for them, he insisted that they must have some kind of word equivalent for "hello", or some kind of greeting. They finally came up with a word that means "I am st... See more This is just another twist on an interesting subject.
I had quite a few friends from Greenland, and one of them told me the story of how they were arm twisted into finding a word for "hello". They had gotten along quite well for 10,000 years without a written language, but when an anthropoligist decided to make a written language for them, he insisted that they must have some kind of word equivalent for "hello", or some kind of greeting. They finally came up with a word that means "I am still alive".
It was a common experience that a man might be gone for days, hunting, and upon returning would enter the dwelling, and say nothing. The family would wait a while, and then quietly go out to see what he might have brought home to eat. Not saying "hello" was, in a way, equivalent to our custom of saying "knock on wood", after saying something that was better left unsaid. I.e., if you are lucky enough to get back home, just let it go at that. They did not need that word. ▲ Collapse
| | | | XXXphxxx (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:14
Portuguese to English
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| saudade (Port.) + dépaysement (French) | Apr 28, 2010 |
I think we've done 'saudade' to death but we've got the general gist and yes, the only language I know of that has a real good equivalent is Galician with 'moriña'. Would be interesting to know the etymology of both and how neighbours came to have such words of such similar meaning with a completely different sound.
'dépaysement' I always find tricky, at least never found an English equivalent. It means being very far removed from your own country and surroundings all that you ar... See more I think we've done 'saudade' to death but we've got the general gist and yes, the only language I know of that has a real good equivalent is Galician with 'moriña'. Would be interesting to know the etymology of both and how neighbours came to have such words of such similar meaning with a completely different sound.
'dépaysement' I always find tricky, at least never found an English equivalent. It means being very far removed from your own country and surroundings all that you are familiar with, but it's a good thing. To me it's the definition of a successful holiday... ▲ Collapse
| | | | juvera
Local time: 11:14
English to Hungarian
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| I would like to find a similar word in Hungarian to dor or saudade | May 1, 2010 |
@Annamaria
Annamaria Amik wrote: Paul Dixon wrote:
In Portuguese we have the word "saudade" (sometimes written in the plural, "saudades", with the same meaning) which does not exist in any other language. It is a kind of homesickness, sometimes rendered as yearning or nostalgia - yet none of these conveys the true meaning.
So although "I miss you" means "Estou com saudades", the word "saudade" itself can not be translated.]
This is getting really interesting We have the same word in Romanian, expressing the same longing, yearning, nostalgia, homesickness etc.: DOR. The same word is used when you say I miss you in Romanian, which is "Mi-e dor de tine", which can't be rendered in such an expressive way in other languages I know (English, Hungarian).
Help me out, which would be the nearest to DOR in Hungarian: eped, epedezik, epekedik, eseng, esenkedik, emésztődik, sóvárog, ácsingózik, éhezik, szomjúhozik, kíván, kívánkozik, áhítozik, vágyik, vágyódik, vágyakozik, óhajt...
Or none of the above comes near it?
| | | | | No word for yes or no in Irish | Sep 1, 2011 |
In Irish, there is no word for 'yes' or 'no'. If someone says "Do you think the day is fine" ("An cheapann tú go bhfuil an lá breá?" the reply is "Ceapaim" or "Ní cheapaim" - I think, or I do not think [so].
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| gaper's block and Milky Way in Dutch | Nov 2, 2011 |
In Dutch, "gaper's block" is translated as "kijkfile", and Milky Way becomes "melkweg".
This thread is really interesting, by the way!
[Edited at 2011-11-02 08:01 GMT]
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Nike Vrettos wrote:
In Greek we have the word Meraki. It is a great word but is hard to describe in English. It is a way of doing something (a mix of love and style and enjoyment). It is a feeling. So if you do something with meraki,(from making a salad to decorating) it means that you have given something of yourself when doing it (positive of course)!
passion? We use the same word in Turkish in the same way exactly. Love from Turkey.
| | | | | Easy money for them | Nov 29, 2011 |
Findrinni wrote:
In Irish, there is no word for 'yes' or 'no'. If someone says "Do you think the day is fine" ("An cheapann tú go bhfuil an lá breá?" the reply is "Ceapaim" or "Ní cheapaim" - I think, or I do not think [so].
If they participate to the "Yes Or No Contest". (The rules are:You mustn’t answer questions for 30 seconds with "Yes“ or "No“, and you mustn’t nod or shake your head.) they will gain a lot of money.
http://www.mittelschulvorbereitung.ch/content_new/english/M180Contest.pdf
| | | | Dave Bindon
Greece
Local time: 13:14
Greek to English
In memoriam
TurkishEnglishTranslator.com "Бёcäטsع Լîfe's cômplicåtعd eñøugh" wrote: Nike Vrettos wrote:
In Greek we have the word Meraki. It is a great word but is hard to describe in English. It is a way of doing something (a mix of love and style and enjoyment). It is a feeling. So if you do something with meraki,(from making a salad to decorating) it means that you have given something of yourself when doing it (positive of course)! passion? We use the same word in Turkish in the same way exactly. Love from Turkey.
I've checked a dictionary and it confirms that Greek borrowed the word from the Turkish word "merak" [very few Greek words - in their uninflected form - end in a consonant other than S, so most loan words have been adapted to fit Greek grammar, very often by adding a final -i as in this case].
I don't think 'passion' quite fits it. Greek has other words for passion. If 'merak' was borrowed it would indicate that 'merak(i)' is something that Greek speakers felt unable to express using the existing words for passion.
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Zsofia Forro (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:14
English to Romanian
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| Saudade / Dor in Hungarian | Nov 29, 2011 |
@juvera
I don't quite think "dor" from Romanian can be expressed fully in Hungarian.
The nearest word I can think of is "vágyódás" (or "vágyakozás", "vágy", "sóvárgás"). It does mean yearning, but it doesn't seem to fully give the feeling of missing or homesickness, it would need another word in its context to complete it.
This is a very interesting thread!
| | | | Jessica Noyes
United States
Local time: 06:14
Member
Spanish to English
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| Tocayo, Tocaya | Nov 30, 2011 |
Spanish has "tocayo," meaning "person who has the same name." It can be a person whom you were named after, a person named after you, and, most importantly just a random person who happes to have the same name as you. So if you run into anyone with your same name, you can address them as "Tocayo/a" instead of by name.
You can also use it in the third person. "Un tocayo tuyo estaba en la fiesta." -- "A person with the same name as you was at the party."
I am quite sure ... See more Spanish has "tocayo," meaning "person who has the same name." It can be a person whom you were named after, a person named after you, and, most importantly just a random person who happes to have the same name as you. So if you run into anyone with your same name, you can address them as "Tocayo/a" instead of by name.
You can also use it in the third person. "Un tocayo tuyo estaba en la fiesta." -- "A person with the same name as you was at the party."
I am quite sure that English has no correct one-word translation, but perhaps there is an equivalent in some other languages? ▲ Collapse
| | | | juvera
Local time: 11:14
English to Hungarian
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| Tocayo, tocaya | Nov 30, 2011 |
Hungarian has a word for it: drusza, pronounced "droosa".
It can be used the same way as the spanish examples. The English "namesake" is a more cumbersome word.
On the other hand, drusza doesn't sound similar to any other Hungarian word, and - according to my Hungarian thesaurus, its' origin is not known.
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