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Education > Humanities > Linguistics > Languages

Words that Can't be Translated into English

by
Category: Education | 15948 views | Created: 07/25/12
A fascinating list of words that do not have an English counterpart. Are we missing out?
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language
education
culture
linguistics
more...

23 Comments

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Mariano More
about 1 month ago | Reply |
easy to transate into English
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Mariano More
about 1 month ago | Reply |
DUENDE (Spanish): 1-Goblin. 2-Artistic inspiration.
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Michael Nadeau
2 months ago | Reply |
Would love to read a book or something on this.
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Carrie Sorensen
4 months ago | Reply |
So interesting! I knew schadenfreude, but very few of the others. Thanks for sharing.
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Michael Nadeau
4 months ago | Reply |
This stuff is amazing. Thank you so much!
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Livi K.
4 months ago | Reply |
Interesting, :)
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Livi K.
4 months ago | Reply |
Interesting! :)
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Michelle Shyman
4 months ago | Reply |
This is the third week I've come back to visit your board.
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Aaron Burcell
5 months ago | Reply |
Are there any Korean words that can't be translated? I've heard this from Korean friends, but they obviously can't explain the words!
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Kimberly Charron
5 months ago | Reply |
fascinating! I will be sharing this in our homeschool.
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Jim Jacobson
5 months ago | Reply |
My personal favorite is Greek "kairos" -- the right time (often of your life) to do something, the critical juncture.
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Charley Edwards
7 months ago | Reply |
awesome
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Ève Depecker
7 months ago | Reply |
Great board!
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Kazuko Anne Kimura
7 months ago | Reply |
khalas (arabic) - enough, no more, finished, that's it, the end, let it go.
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Dorene Kocsis
7 months ago | Reply |
Could "on ya" our aussie slang be a word other countries would not have a meaning for?
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Molly Harbridge
7 months ago | Reply |
Thank you so much for these! I see some art journaling potential in this list!
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Eric Bochene
7 months ago | Reply |
One of the amazing aspects of a language such as English is... And unlike useless outdated Chinese, words do NOT need to be translated. It simply borrows most easily.
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Jacob Frautschi
9 months ago | Reply |
schadenfreude! "sad happiness" in German :o)
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Zachary Williams
9 months ago | Reply |
Wow, this is a fascinating board!
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Brandon Whale
10 months ago | Reply |
Such a brilliant board -- check out this list of untranslatable words: http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/20-awesomely-untranslatable-words-from-around-the-world/
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Carmency Monteiro
10 months ago | Reply |
I would add another one: SAUDADE. That's a word (n.) in Portuguese which means the feeling of missing someone very much. So instead of using a verb to describe the situation, such as "How much I missed you" we would say "Que saudade!".
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Cynamen Horn
10 months ago |
Thank you! I added it :)
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Brandon Tilley
10 months ago | Reply |
This is very interesting! I wonder if there are any words in English that are difficult to explain in other languages?
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Crystal Morgan
10 months ago | Reply |
How interesting!

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