Useful words and expressions in other languages we don't have in English.

[MardyBra]

Like schadenfreude for example.

Brain has gone blank trying to think of other examples!

motherinferior chamcha and goonda very much remind me of my grandparents commenting on what my sister calls the 'riff raff' that would walk pass the veranda as they sat on their outdoor swing..

Durdranger (don't know how to put an umlaut on the a)

The thing on top of the door which stops it closing when you let it go.

motherinferior chamcha is a lovely word, more so because it also means spoon, so it refers to the sort of arse licker who wants to stir things up. No word in English sums up that personality so succintly

This has made me think of Gandhi's last words, "Hey Raam". It is literally translated into English as "Oh God", but that doesn't come close to conveying what the phrase actually means. "Hey Raam" covers resignation, hope, shock, (it is also used in exasperation, though not in this case). "Oh God" just doesn't carry all that loaded meaning.

I'm not explaining it very well, I know. It is just a phrase that defies a pithy explanation.

Can't transcribe in kanji, but arigata-meiwaku is fantastic.

Described as "an act someone does for you that you didn't want them to do and tried to avoid having them do, but they went ahead anyway, determined to do you a favour; then things went horribly wrong exactly as you expected and caused you a lot of trouble, however social conventions require you to express gratitude."

This happens more often than I'd realised.

"arigata-meiwaku" - how does one pronounce this? Because it is perfect for so many things in my house (as one of my children helpfully carries the full water jug, for instance, then spills it...)

On another note, I didn't realise 'swither' was specifically a Scottish word.

In Afrikaans we have lekker which means very nice but in a less insipid way.

adjective

1. good; pleasant.

"the lekker local flavour of South Africa" "the party was lekker"

adverb

1. well.

"we got on lekker" "the kids played lekker"

1. extremely.

"he was lekker drunk"

It would be useful to have a word for 'the day after tomorrow'. I understand that there is such a (single) word in other languages. Until we have a proper one in English, I give you 'aftermorrow' (a bit of a mouthful!).

Cwtch and hiraeth are my favourite Welsh words. There is no single word equivalent in English.

Afrikaans has oormôre which can be literally translated as "over tomorrow" for the day after tomorrow.

Happy you could just say Saturday ;)

I love Amadán. Is so much more than fool.

As is craic.

Afrikaans has some corkers ...

Slapgat - someone who hasn't done something 'properly'
'Treffer' - catchy pop song
'Bliksem' - hit or a complete arse
'Doos'
'Brak' - pavement special/ mongrel dog
'Bakkie' - pick up / truck

There are also some lovely Zulu words .

Voetsak in Afrikaans too....to say go away to a dog....insulting to say to a person.

Skelm - A person who is a "ne'er -do-well" or sometimes a lovable rogue.

and of course
"gogga" - anything with more that 4 legs.

My Indian friend taught me nungapunga for naked which she said means literally "entirely without trousers".We use it all the time for nakedness in any context, it is the best word.

She also taught us noony (but not to rhyme with Moony but booky or looky) for the female private area, dd has known no other word. It seems to me essentially positive next to inaccurate (vagina) sexist/misogynistic ('pussy', 'snatch' you name it) Anglo Saxon (that one) weird ('my wee-wee') pornographic (nasty ones) etc and it has a sweetness and an agelessness about it which feels non simple and positive.

I love eejit and shufti and arigata-meiwaku

In German the time between Christmas and new year is called 'between the years' (zwischen den Jahren).
Guten Rutsch = have a 'good slide' into the new year
Reinfeiern = 'party in' have a birthday party on the night before the birthday until midnight
Umweg = bit like detour but more an inconvenience

Can I offer Muskelkater? Literally muscle hangover, ie aching muscles after you have done some exercise.

Übermorgen - the day after tomorrow

What's it with tomcats in German?
Kater - Hangover
Muskelkater - mentioned in previous post..

German has plenty of useful words.

Babelaas - hangover

A hangover in French is a gueule de bois (literally a wooden throat)

I quite like the German distinction on friendships - 'mein Freund' is a close male friend, 'meinem Freund' is a boyfriend, and 'meine Kollegen' are a group of friends who may or may not all be close.

Doudou

French for toy (like teddy bear or other soft toy or blanket) a child is very attached to.

Lots of these words are so commonly used, like schadenfreude, I would argue that they are now part of the English language as well.

"Bowski" (sp?)
In Danish, meaning "still drunk from the night before"!

Vlad - not sure where you got the friendship thing from but that doesn't sound right to me. Kollege is colleague as you would use in English. And Freund is either boyfriend or friend, not sure what distinction you see.

I agree jewelfairies the difference between mein Freund and meinem Freund is what you're saying about him eg which preposition you've used.

So
Das is mein Freund
Mit meinem Freund
Für meinen Freund

The Freund is the same person each time.

Ah, probably out of date slang then - I lived in Hamburg a number of years ago and there was definitely that distinction then, but possibly not the case now. I found it quite useful at the time. I suppose much in the way that we would distinguish between 'pals' and 'friends' - 'friends' are a bit closer.

Blether - Scots meaning someone who talks a lot / rambles on / talks nonsense

Cowp - untidy, a tip but can also mean to fall over (by over-leaning?)

Stoating - very heavy rain that bounces off the pavement as in 'it's stoating down'

The welsh word cwtch meaning safe place. Cwtch is used to describe a hug but can also mean a small space such as the cupboard under the stairs for example.

I would rather give someone a cwtch rather than a hug...