No language has all of the words, and English is no exception. While you can express the complex feeling of “insecurity, fear, concern, and envy over relative lack of possessions, status or something of great personal value, particularly in reference to a comparator, a rival, or a competitor.” with one word (i.e. jealousy), some other very simple concepts need to be expressed with more than one word, like the day after tomorrow. With input from our amazing followers at The Language Nerds, we have compiled a list of some of the most interesting words that exist in other languages but have no equivalent in English. You really don’t want to miss any of them.
Ahorita
This is a Spanish essential adverb meaning “for now, right now, maybe later, maybe tomorrow, maybe never.”
Schadenfreude
A German word which refers to the joy you get from the misfortune of others.
Putaria
This is a Portuguese noun that simply means a crazy sex event. But it could also refer to politics.
Boh
An Italian expression used when you don’t know something. For example, A: “What time is it?” B; “Boh.”
Depaysement
French word meaning the feeling you get from not being in your home country; being a foreigner.
Cafuné
A Portuguese verb meaning to run your hands through the hair of someone you love or deeply care about for some minutes.
Sobremesa
A Spanish noun used to refer to the small talk after a meal while everyone is still seated.
почемучка
This is the Russian word for a child who asks too many questions.
Kilig
A noun in Tagalog, a language spoken in the Philippines, meaning the feeling when you see your crush or the feeling when someone you love does something that makes you giggle.
Ngày kia
Vietnamese for the day after the day after tomorrow.
Lagom
A Swedish word meaning not too much and not too little, but just the right amount.
Epibreren
This is a Dutch word meaning: convincingly acting as if you are doing something important, while you are actually doing nothing useful at all.
Kalsarikännit
A Finnish word that refers to the feeling of when you are going to get drunk home alone in your underwear.
Estrenar
Spanish. Wearing or using something for the first time.
木洩れ日
A Japanese word that refers to the sunlight that filters through forest trees.
هبد
Arabic word which means saying unreasonable things because you have nothing else to say.
Fremdschämen
It is the German word for the feeling of embarrassment that oneself feels when someone else does something totally embarrassing and that for example makes you leave the room.
Cariñoso
This is a Spanish word meaning to show love and affection through delicate and tender physical gesture and contact.
يقبرني
An Arabic word meaning “a declaration of one’s hope to die before another person because of how unbearable to live without them.”
Fargin
A Yiddish verb that means to wholeheartedly appreciate the success of others.
Language shapes the way we think, and determines what we can think about.
Benjamin Lee Whorf.
