-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
-
We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.
What are some things we dont have words for in english?
- Thread starter LookAtMeGo
- Start date
It's not always that we don't have that concept, just that we have ways to express it that do well enough so the language has not needed a special word. Like in this example :
Most people know what day of the week it is and in that situation it would be common just to use the name of the day instead. So if it's Monday I don't need to say the day after tomorrow I just say Wednesday. Or if you are talking about a sequence you can just say 'the next day' which can also be chained without requiring more words for the day after the day after tomorrow, and so on.
I don't think English has a word that describes all of these together? In Norwegian we call them "bestikk".
The word is Cutlery.
More formally, including plates and everything it's a Setting, or Table Setting.
True, but English (with its lack of regulation) is definitely on less prescriptive end of languages. I was mainly focussed on English due to the nature of the topic.
Not a single word, but would "Of course" or "Not surprising" work for this?
To share some more Portuguese:
Desenrascar
"estar à rasca" > be in trouble
"Des" > undo
So it's roughly "unbe in trouble". It's used when you have a situation and you have to find a solution for it, whatever it might be.
"Isto é muito trabalho" (This is a lot of work)
"Desenrasca-te" (Make do? Find a solution?)
We also have a dirty version: "desemerda-te". "Unshit yourself".
Know that sensation when you just woke up and don't want to get up yet?
"Estar na ronha" (To be with ronha, a disease that affects sheep). Basically means "to do nothing", usually in a very cozy manner.
A gross one:
"Escarrar". It's spitting, but specifically applies to phlegm, specially if it's nice and green (escarro). If it's just saliva it's "cuspir".
Desenrascar
"estar à rasca" > be in trouble
"Des" > undo
So it's roughly "unbe in trouble". It's used when you have a situation and you have to find a solution for it, whatever it might be.
"Isto é muito trabalho" (This is a lot of work)
"Desenrasca-te" (Make do? Find a solution?)
We also have a dirty version: "desemerda-te". "Unshit yourself".
Know that sensation when you just woke up and don't want to get up yet?
"Estar na ronha" (To be with ronha, a disease that affects sheep). Basically means "to do nothing", usually in a very cozy manner.
A gross one:
"Escarrar". It's spitting, but specifically applies to phlegm, specially if it's nice and green (escarro). If it's just saliva it's "cuspir".
Clusivity...they have that in Indonesian haha.
Kita is 'we' including the one spoken to
Kami is 'we' excluding the one spoken to.
Not really, because it's used with the name of the person.
*does an amazing jump*
Sasuga Rafavert.
"Feierabend", one of the most important German words.
It's the point in time when work stops. People yell it a million times a day.
Kind of crazy how there is no direct equivalent.
It's the point in time when work stops. People yell it a million times a day.
Kind of crazy how there is no direct equivalent.
Last edited:
Those could all be accurate translations depending on the context, but 'sasuga' covers a broader set of situations. We pretty much only use "Psh, typical" negatively, for example, whereas 'sasuga' works either way and is probably used positively more often than not. If someone's just done a good job with something and you want to praise them with the implication that only they could have performed so well due to some unique skill or talent they have, that's a classic 'sasuga' situation.
There's a Dari and Urdu word ; Gheywrath / Gairat
Its basically having a sense of pride, and protection towards you wife, sister, mother and the women close to you. Its like pride but more specific.
Its basically having a sense of pride, and protection towards you wife, sister, mother and the women close to you. Its like pride but more specific.
Yet.
Take the first example of Schadenfreude. That's increasingly being used in my circles at least.
Fremdscham (verb: fremdschämen)
First thing I thought of was Fernweh but apparently the translation is wanderlust (another loanword from German).
First thing I thought of was Fernweh but apparently the translation is wanderlust (another loanword from German).
I think typical said in a mocking way would be better. "Typical Boris"
The Dutch use heimwee, but we don't use the opposite of it, like you do
The Finnish word "löyly". I don't think there is an English translation. It's the steam that rises in Sauna when you throw water on the stove. But it's also sort of used to describe being in Sauna.
Johan oli perkeleen hyvät löylyt = That was damn good sauna bath ???
Johan oli perkeleen hyvät löylyt = That was damn good sauna bath ???
Well, there is a long list of curse words that have no meaningful translations between the language of origin or their usage, probably because insults are supposed to be personal, but also become unpersonally generic over time. Unfortunately a lot of them are either sexist or racist, even if they dropped those in their casual usage, so I won't mention or list them here. Just realize that curse language is actually the one thing you can't really translate, ever.
It's like someone suddenly using "Flying green monkeys!", which makes absolutely no sense to anyone who has never seen the US Hollywood versions of The Wizard Of Oz. Or for that matter Burt Ward's: "Holy something, Batman!". You can try to translate that, but the joke is lost in the process (and ho boy, do the wonders of dubbing make that obvious). Which btw, becomes really obvious when you're watching cartoons with (your) kids and notice all the odd phrasings that happen from 'untranslatable' jokes and lines. Sometimes the best solution is to not even try, like Big Mac's "yup" in My Little Pony.
(or "oh boy" itself for that matter. )
But anyway, I'm going to with:
Zeitgeist, or: that one word you know but you don't really understand why philosophy majors will suddenly show murderous rage in their eyes upon hearing it. Also a password in the first Deus Ex game. Suck it, Gunther.
But really it's supposed to be the 'general social feeling of a particular time and place', or something akin to that.
It's like someone suddenly using "Flying green monkeys!", which makes absolutely no sense to anyone who has never seen the US Hollywood versions of The Wizard Of Oz. Or for that matter Burt Ward's: "Holy something, Batman!". You can try to translate that, but the joke is lost in the process (and ho boy, do the wonders of dubbing make that obvious). Which btw, becomes really obvious when you're watching cartoons with (your) kids and notice all the odd phrasings that happen from 'untranslatable' jokes and lines. Sometimes the best solution is to not even try, like Big Mac's "yup" in My Little Pony.
(or "oh boy" itself for that matter. )
But anyway, I'm going to with:
Zeitgeist, or: that one word you know but you don't really understand why philosophy majors will suddenly show murderous rage in their eyes upon hearing it. Also a password in the first Deus Ex game. Suck it, Gunther.
But really it's supposed to be the 'general social feeling of a particular time and place', or something akin to that.
Last edited:
Didn't it use to be ye or something?
I don't mean ye the old the.
I think it was thee/thou Ye/you, but with some object/subject rule that people got fed up with and you took over.
Lol. Over tomorrow would be more accurate. Coincidentally it is overmorgen in Dutch :P
Short versions of "The day after tomorrow" and "the day before yesterday", in Spanish are pasado mañana and anteayer.
But then there are Japanese "the week after next", saraishuu, and sensenshuu, "the week before last". So cool.
But then there are Japanese "the week after next", saraishuu, and sensenshuu, "the week before last". So cool.
While we technically have a word for it, it's kind of weird that English speakers don't use 'Daughter' as a proper noun the same way we use 'Son'. For example:
"Come here, Son" - sounds pretty natural
"Come here, Daughter" - no one talks like this unless you're Thanos
"Come here, Son" - sounds pretty natural
"Come here, Daughter" - no one talks like this unless you're Thanos
Like another poster said, English has a weird problem with gender when talking to either one or many. It sounds fine to say "Hi guys!" But saying "Hi ladies!" or "Hi gals!" Sounds odd. "Hello son" sounds way more natural than "Hello daughter".
Meanwhile, My girl can go hang out with her girlfriends all she wants. I'm gonna get hella sideeye if I go chill with my boyfriends.
The word you are looking for is "report" as in "to report" to a manager. For example "ElectricKaibutsu's reports" are people under under you. Though people generally uses the verb phrase when speaking of themselves "I report to ElectricKaibutsu". A report is anyone you are a manager for. You can further specify "direct-report" for just people you manage but not people they manage.
http://www.vlaamswoordenboek.be/definities/term/kozijn
Fake edit: Oh, I see my Belgian brethren have already pointed out the flaws of your Dutch dialect.
Silverware
That would be the word. Utensil is too open, as you suggested.
It used to mean things that were covered in silver like dishes, knives, Etc. That doesn't really apply anymore. If you go anywhere in the US and ask for "silverware" they'll know what you mean.
Zeitgeist is perfectly usable in English and (according to the OED) has been since the 19th century.
There is a word it's just not used with the same context and familiarity as we do. Estrenando in English would be premiering.
El canal 4 va estar estrenando una película
Channel 4 will be premiering a movie
Antier doesn't have word in English though, it means the day before yesterday.
Yes,seeing many use that one here it crossed my mind. It seems more like a slang modifier, though.
British English moved away from the plural form, like PJV3 suggested.
Why would we need a word for it when we could just use the day's name?
Antier estrené zapatos.
I've heard people saying you can't say "desvelado" / "desvelarse" in English, but I think "to undersleep" is close enough, even if not exactly the same.