Asking non-native English speakers.
Dreich - there is no direct English equivalent. It’s weather that’s wet and cold and dark and grey and unchanging. It can also mean depressing and tedious for obvious reasons.
Dreary
Dreary is not necessarily wet or cold.
I would never call hot weather “dreary”
Maybe not, but dark, grey, overcast weather might well be dreary. But it wouldn’t be dreich.
Gloomy
Gloomy is not necessarily wet or cold.
German: Tja
Can mean nesrly anything from schadenfreude to deep empathy
Similar thread long ago, there was a word Somewhere in northern Europe that meant something like “aimlessly hitting your penis on things”. .
Do you mean the Dutch word “swaffelen” or “zwaffelen”?
Sounds like it yeah! I’m a big fan of the concept.
Apparently its from Netherlands?
I know this was asking for non-English to English but I keep seeing the title as I scroll and thinking that English has a few words that don’t translate even to itself because they have no actual meaning/definition. Words like “the,” and “a.” They’re more like grammatical tools than real “words.”
the - definite article. a - indefinite article.
See German for some more fun articles.
the - definite article. a - indefinite article.
See German for some more fun articles.
Doch
There exists no english equivalent for doch, it has multiple functions, the most known one being an expression that emphatically negates a previous sentiment.
“Does not!”
“Does too!!”Which created one of the most long lived german memes.
“It should not be that way, but it was.”
It fills a big gap in English because there is no single English word to unambiguously answer a question like:
“So you don’t want me to come over this afternoon?”
Came here for doch. Its one of my favourite words im using arguing with AFD voters and works every time its like a spell.
“Kombinować” very Polish word for a very Polish a activity/philosophy. To make things work / get something done / take care of something in way that work for us, but are not the expected way to do things (though, ‘kombinowanie’ is often actually expected). It might be doing a job using the tools that are available and not thise that should be used, it might be a genuine invention, It might be using your contacts for favour (like getting a doctor appointment), it might be plain cheating.
A little bit like ‘hacking’ and also can be a good thing or a bad thing.
“Wykombinuję coś” = “don’t worry I will take care of that” “Co za kombinator” = “what a cheaty bastard”
Dude, the word you’re looking for in English is to hustle.
Source: am Polish.
In Spanish that would be “picaresca” and Spanish people also think it’s something that doesn’t really exist in other cultures.
Chez
It’s a preposition meaning “at the home/house/place” but can also be use figuratively. Really super cool.
My first room share ‘Chez Penez’ makes so much more sense now.
Kindergarten
This is proof that Germans do have humour!
That is correct, but we spell it without the second “u”.
German: Konjunktiv I and II. Most people first learning German will hear the Konjunktiv II in its usage similar to a subjunctive in english (“Wenn das so wäre” - “If it were that way”), but it does so much more. You can switch full sentences to the Konjunktiv II, but that immediately implies that you doubt the statement being presented. For instance, if you say “er hätte es vergessen”, you’re essentially saying “he allegedly forgot it, but I really doubt it”, just by using the Konjunktiv II.
Then, there’s the Konjunktiv I, which is similar, but instead of voicing your disapproval, you’re staying completely neutral. Taking the example from before, it would be “er habe es vergessen”, with which you’re saying, “he allegedly forgot it, and I neither support nor disavow that statement” - again, all only with a change of verb form. It’s wonderful when you’re relaying something someone else said without adding your own evaluation.
I never thought to include German Konjunktiv in this list, but yes, you are right. It may not be a word or phrase, but it is in the spirit of this discussion.
In Spanish.
Sobremesa, the period you stay at the table after lunch or dinner having a coffee or some drinks while chatting.Aprovechar, is basically the opposite of to waste. So depending on the context is to take advantage of something, to make the most of, make a good use, give a second use or reuse leftovers for something else.
Botellon: just drinking and socializing outside, usually something a group of underage kids/young people would do. Not a party, not simply getting drunk. Like hanging out but with some alcohol.
Estrenar: to use/wear something brand new for the very first time. Sometimes when you are estrenando white shoes your classmates in school would try to step on them so they no longer look new.
The old-school English word for aprovechar was “thrift” or being thrifty. These days I hear it used mostly in the specific sense of saving cash. I don’t often hear it much anymore in terms of conserving resources, but that is where it came from, and if you use it in that sense people will understand you.
As for sobremesa, that’s not something I’ve enjoyed enough for it to have its own word, unfortunately.
Second one is “appreciate” in English.
Not really. “Aproverchar” means more like “I have this things that I would normally throw out but I will used for X instead”. You wouldn’t say “I had some left over chicken so I appreciated it to make corquetas”.
Closer to “appropriate” (the verb, not the adjective) but still not quite, it’s too formal
It’s not quite that either. The spanish word for “appropriate” is “apropiar”, and the meaning is the same. Aprovechar has a different meaning.
お疲れ様 (good job+“you look tired”+“I an acknowledging this and presenting recognition of your effort”)
Keigo modifiers. ご覧 vs 見る. They both mean “look”. One is, somehow, more polite.
Kansai dialect. しばいたろか (“wanna get smacked?” but it’s playful) or まいど (“thanks” but also “nice to see you again” and “hello” but only in specific contexts between specific people. Mess it up and you’ll probably hear the other Kansai term previously described.)
I am having trouble understanding your point here. While cool info I think you might’ve misunderstood the assignment?
お疲れ様
Thank you for the effort? You look tired, must’ve been a hard day?
This is the best example you have in your comment.
Keigo modifiers
Every language has more and less polite/formal ways to ask about something. “Where do you live” is less polite/formal than “where do you reside”.
Kansai dialect
I am not sure if dialects are words or concepts that dont translate well. The examples you used are more idiomatic rather than unique.
しばいたろうか？
Russian is more productive than English, so there’s a bunch of “we just smushed a bunch of prefixes and suffixes on it” words that don’t have a great English equivalent, like недоперепить – to drink quite a lot but not succeed at drinking too much. I don’t think we properly have листопад which is the equivalent of “snowfall” but for autumn leaves. I really miss успевать – to successfully have enough time to do something. There’s also кипяток – water that has been boiled but then slightly cooled, like 200-205 degrees F. The canonical examples are тоска , which is a kind of melancholy longing, and авось which expresses optimism but I basically never heard anyone actually say.
Never hearing anyone express optimism feels like a very Russian stereotype.
It does seem on-brand.
As someone who speaks the exact bare minimum amount of Russian to get by in Estonia (so basically hello, please, thank you, fuck you, good bye), there’s a couple Russian words of the “not in front of your babushka” type that IMO lose a bit of character when translated to the English phrases that mean the same thing:
похуй - universal answer whenever someone raises a concern
хуйня - very versatile word
I’ll let you do the honor of translating them.
very versatile word
So, pretty much anything and sometimes exact opposite thing 🥲
I think авось has a general meaning similar to “god willing”, or “with some luck”, not simply some optimism. Like “авось успеем” -> “with some luck, we can make it in time”. I do agree it’s an old-fashioned word which I haven’t really heard in a while.
Sisu. Its a mix of courage, determination, resilience, keeping your nerve, doing a scary or difficult thing even though you know that odds of succeeding are low. Its also done quietly, no complaining or boasting about it. You can mutter some curse words quietly to yourself.
Closest English word for it might be “guts” or “grit”. But those don’t really explain it completely.
Finnish.
What is the difference between grit and sisu? As in, for you, grit is (this set of qualities) vs sisu is (this set of qualities)?
I am asking because the qualities you used so far… They are grit.
Its also done quietly, no complaining or boasting about it
Is this the difference? Everything looks grit to me.
Yep, sounds like “grit”.
Theres a sort of Finnish flavor to it. Just like theres grit, then theres Aussie grit. Its kind of difficult to put into words, “grit” is just a part of “sisu”, theres more to it.
Sorry, but if you can’t articulate the difference I don’t believe there is one.
Okay.
As your southern neighbour, I knew someone would have to mention sisu.
Now someone needs to explain Finland’s national emotion, vitutus.
Oh yeah! Vitutus is a great word indeed. I should have used that one lol.
Ismo Alanko Säätiö has a song called Vittu Kun Vituttaa, I would have linked a youtube link here but youtube thinks its age-inapproriate and demands a log in. So I recommend you find it on your preferred music service, https://lyricstranslate.com/en/vittu-kun-vituttaa-fuck-im-so-pissed.html
I know this one. From the title of the movie about one of your lads exacting cinematic vengeance on Nazis.
Beautiful stuff. 💛
I haven’t seen that one. Heard its good fun.
Personally I found it way too gory
Yeah I’m leaning on that way as well. I’m not big on these heroic gore festival movies. I’m glad a Finnish movie was successful internationally, but probably not my thing. I might watch it in the next 15 years.
Well worth the watch. 👍
Does it count if English just steals your words?
Schadenfreude, Zeitgeist, Weltanschauung, Kindergarten.
The problem is when they steal a word and then change the meaning.
You don’t want to go down that road.
“beamer, handy, mobbing, shooting…”English words, yes? What about them?
I guess you don’t speak German, as those are now German words that you might not be able to guess their meanings
Doppelganger, wanderlust, poltergeist…
Stein… oh wait no, spiel… oops not quite
Blitzkrieg?
Blitzkrieg translates pretty well doesn’t it? Fast war?
Lightning being the literal translation but used in the same way as fast.
I always assumed lightning war was just a way of making it sound more interesting, I didn’t realise blitz just meant lightning
Looking forward to “woonerf.”
Perhaps if the meaning is different or altered from the actual word.
Angst, although that one became more of a false friend: Fear of the unknown vs Teenage BS
Zeitgeist works well as “spirit of the times”; Weltanschauung as “worldview”; and Kindergarten as “pre-school”.
That’s what English does. Why do you think OP is asking?
It’s what every language does, to some extent. You’d really struggle to say, “I was working from home, sending emails and providing feedback, and during a meeting with my team and the marketing manager, the internet died” in German without stuffing the sentence to the brim with English loanwords.
The french: Je ne suis pas d’accord
Je travaillais depuis chez moi, j’envoyais des courriel et je faisais des retours, et au cours d’une réunion avec mon équipe et le directeur commercial, la connexion Internet a lâché.
Plenty in French too! And this is just English; my point is that loanwords are super common.
Gezellig in Dutch. Used to describe a situation that’s cosy and fun togetherness. Can also be used to describe a place that looks inviting (to have that good time in). I guess 😃
GezelligGeselligIt’s the word extroverts use to blackmail people into coming to social gatherings.
