Expand Your Vocabulary With This Untranslatable Word Site
One of the best parts of learning a new language is discovering words that don’t exist in English. Many of them describe a certain feeling or way of thinking – for example, gloating – that we experienced, but never found the words to express it. Some of these words can give a name to a feeling so accurately that they are now regularly used in English, such as the aforementioned schadenfreude or, more recently, hygge .
If you love spicing up your conversations with these untranslatable words, there is a website with over 500 words in over 70 languages. Here’s what you need to know.
How to discover new untranslatable words
The site is called Eunoia, which itself is an untranslatable word meaning “good mood or great thinking” in Greek. The tool at the top of the page allows you to search for specific words, untranslatable words from a specific language, or those that fall under the tag category (like “happiness” or “stress”).
But if you have no word, no language, no feeling, the home page also contains a list of randomly generated untranslatable words. For each word, Eunoia provides its definition, language, tags, and a small icon you can click on to hear the correct pronunciation of the word. When you’re done with this page and want more, just refresh the page and the next package will appear. You can also suggest other untranslatable words that are not yet on Eunoia.
A few examples
So what awesome new words can you learn ? Here’s a small example:
Ayurnamat (Inuktitut) : a philosophy that there is no point in worrying about events that cannot be changed.
Bixometes (Catalan): a shame for others.
Cavoli riscaldati (Italian): Literally “hot cabbage.” When you are trying to strike up a failed relationship or love affair
Karelu (Tulu): A mark left on the skin from wearing something tight.
Layogenic (Tagalog): beautiful from afar.
Lítost (Czech): a state of agony and anguish caused by the sudden sight of one’s own misery.
Madrugada (Spanish): Time of day from midnight to early morning.
Pakesel (German): A person who is stuck on a trip with someone else’s bags.
Shoganai (Japanese): It can’t be helped
Enjoy!