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!

Doch. Such a useful German word! Used to emphasise or contradict.

Whanau - Maori. Strictly speaking it's translated as extended family, but in common useage it refers to family members who may or may not be actually related to you. e.g. DD's godfather is an ex-flatmate of mine, one of DH's closest friends, and spends an awful lot of time at our house. He's not family, but he may as well be. He's whanau.

Lecker in german means "yummy" so very close to the Afrikaans.

Love, love the Japanese expression for bloody useless favour.

Does anyone remember that great complaint by George Bush: "The problem with the French is that they don't have a word for entrepreneur."

Unfortunately, it's apocryphal.

German Zweckentfremdung, literally 'goal alienation', defined by one dictionary as 'using something for the purpose it was not originally intended'. Perhaps in other countries this would be classed as creativity, or making do; in Germany, when you use an empty Coke can as an ashtray, expect the Zweckpolizei to come banging on your door.

I love the Hausa word 'haba!' Meaning 'no way!, You cannot be serious'

It's used when haggling in a market place. It has to be said, no matter how reasonable the initial quoted price may be.

My friends wife is Czech and he told me once that "the middle of nowhere" in Czech ( Tam, kde dávají lišky dobrou noc ) translates to "where the foxes say goodnight".

I just love that.

I like the Spanish "rielar", which is a verb that describes the way a bit of light reflects on water, like the moon over the sea on a clear night

Has anyone mentioned the Portuguese 'matar os saudades' - literally 'to kill your feeling of missing something' - when you've missed someone or something badly, and then you get to see them or have it and gorge on having it/them. (Haven't explained that well!)

ooh love these threads, I can offer:

"n'importe quoi" (French) can mean anything, whatever, nonsense, rubbish, bulls**t, etc... used as an interjection or a noun (c'est du n'importe quoi) but sounds so stylish...

"déformation professionelle" (French) a concept that I don't even think exists in English, where attitudes and behaviours developed in one's job are carried over into non-working life, such as a teacher not being able to stop bossing kids about

From Spanish "resol" a lovely word for the glare of the sun, or "reluz" a faint, soft light

last but not least, the fabulous "dostoprimechatelnosti" (Russian) meaning (tourist) sights worth seeing (e.g. Eiffel Tower, Tower Bridge)

Ooh, thanks for reviving this thread, aire, I was thinking of it earlier today when I stumbled across this article.

Some of the German words have been mentioned already, but new ones are Kummerspeck, Fernweh, Fremdschämen, Torschlusspanik, Erklärungsnot. Someone mentioned esprit de'escalier upthread (not even going to try the accents on that); the German equivalent is Treppenwitz.

Sitzfleisch! love it! thanks Arch, I'm sure I can come up with some other good German words, will have another glass of red wine and report back!

Cwtch in Welsh means a cuddle, a reassuring hug, it can also mean a kiss or a teenagery type, "snog."

Muti -- medicine or magical charms in Zulu . Used in South Africa

The French word 'bof'. It's a sort of verbal version of a Gallic shrug.

In Spanish there is a word specifically for the achy muscles you get the day after you've been exercising: agujetas

A German friend recently told me that in addition to also having a direct translation of the English idiom "puppy dog eyes" they also have the idiom "dachshund eyes" which means "insincere puppy dog eyes" :-)

Putog (fada on the o) pronounced puth-ohg is the irish word for pudding and is used to describe a plump child.
Spree comes from spraoi which means play or party
Galore comes from go leor which translates as enough or plenty.

Halla-hooley.

When your kid has been stuffed to bursting with sweets, biscuits, candy floss, crisps and fizzy pop and are whinging that they feel sick: 'It's your own fault for stuffing your face with all that halla-hooley'.

Farsi for junk food.