ANDIKA CHALLENGE
28 Words That Don’t Exist in the English Language
The power and beauty of untranslatable words
A note on language and its links to culture:
Languages are strange. Think about it. We make specific noises with our mouths and an idea can move from our heads to another person’s head with a surprising level of precision. Our languages not only transport our individual ideas but also carry hints of the cultural ideas that created them. Since languages evolve over thousands of years among groups with shared experiences, the words that make up language gradually come to reflect the group’s way of life.
If you speak more than one language, you might have noticed a slight difference in your personality and thought patterns when speaking the different languages. Psychologists have studied this. Many multilingual people report switches in disposition when they switch languages. For most of us, the difference is in cognitive usage. I, for one, think academic thoughts almost entirely in English, and social thoughts with a near-even split of Swahili and English. I’d wager many Tanzanians who went to English-medium schools are like me in this.
Language is undergirded by the cultural values that it evolved from. The people of Czechia got to the heart of this:
“Learn a new language and get a new soul.”
— Czech Proverb
You may also notice the potency of certain words in your original tongue, as opposed to foreign languages. Among bilingual Tanzanians, it is accepted that there are words you can say in English that you should just never say in Swahili. (I wrote an unpublished poem three or four years ago using some of them. You can read it, hidden in my drafts, here). 😉
Languages are underpinned by cultural values. Words color cultural perceptions and ideas.
*If you are already itching for the list of the words themselves, scroll down quickly until you see bolded title fonts with numbers. If you want to learn why I wrote this, continue to the next sentence. Uko vizuri, mkuu!
When words are untranslatable:
I love languages and accents — especially for the way they capture a people’s character and quirks. They give you a peek into a culture’s way of thinking.
Language is the audible soul of culture.
— Princely H. Glorious
From shouting a broken olen pärit Tansaaniast to the ladies across a crowded pub in Estonia, to ordering shaah bilaa sonkor to carry to Las Geel in Somaliland. From going beyond sawasdee kap in Bangkok to greeting every Maasai guard I meet with some Maa slang: meri sukut? I make an effort to learn a few words past the obvious basics everywhere I go. I am also super into etymology: how did this word come about? Why? Where from? Languages and words fascinate me deeply.
I figured out a trick to get a good quick peek at what’s unique about a culture. Look at the words you can’t directly translate from it without some long explanation. If language carries the heart of culture, untranslatable words are the imaging x-rays that allow you to see that heart.
I turn 29 in three days. This might be the last thing I write while I am still 28. Here is my small celebration of language, perhaps the thing that has shaped my life the most so far. A thankful, playful libation to the gods of language. To God, the Word.
And now, the list itself. Words without precise English equivalents. Down a rabbit hole of links and other lists, I selected those I found profound, beautiful, or powerfully illustrative of cultural uniqueness. For you, so you don’t have to.
28 words you’ll wish had English translations:
1. Toska
Russian —
A melancholic, undirected, and deep longing without a reason. It can be a wistful sadness or a causeless gaping nostalgia. It is close but not quite the same as the Portuguese word saudade, number 7 on this list. Sadder. (Learn more).
The novelist Vladimir Nabokov explained toska like this:
“No single word in English renders all the shades of toska. At its deepest and most painful, it is a sensation of great spiritual anguish, often without any specific cause. At less morbid levels it is a dull ache of the soul, a longing with nothing to long for, a sick pining…”
2. Sobremesa
Spanish —
This is a great example of language reflecting culture. In Spain, people spend a little more time at the table after eating to chat, drink coffee, and pass time leisurely. In Britain, they don’t do this. So, Spanish has the word “sobremesa” and English does not have an adequate equivalent.
3. Wabi-Sabi
Japanese —
The beauty in impermanence and imperfections.
Everything is temporary. Everything is transient. Nothing is perfect.
Wabi-Sabi is not merely a word, but a way of looking at things. It is the mother and underpinning philosophy of Kintsugi — the Japanese art of repairing broken things with gold lacquer.
Wabi-Sabi reminds you that what makes things great isn’t merely external influence.
It is a reminder to those of us who would be perfectionists, that things are beautiful as they are. Wabi-Sabi. (Learn more).
4. Jamani
Swahili —
A versatile Tanzanian exclamation that expresses everything from tender empathy to incredulous surprise. As a listener, you can use it to emphasize that you are connecting to what the speaker is saying. The phrase “oh my” is close (but no cigar). Kenyans have their butchered version called “aki woiyee” but it doesn’t convey the full range of use that “jamani” has. Jamani!
5. Sprezzatura
Italian —
The world needs more sprezzatura. An effortless, nonchalant, leisurely masterfulness. An intentional, studied carelessness. If you dress sprezzatura, you look phenomenal but like you don’t care. It just comes naturally for you. You have successfully concealed all your effort. If your work has sprezzatura, it looks like effortless genius. You work hard, but no one except maybe those very close to you (if they’re lucky) get to see your hard work. Hard working, easy living.
6. Sisu
Finnish —
Have you ever persevered through crazy, hopeless situations with dignity? That’s what they’d call sisu in Finland. (Learn more).
7. Saudade
Portuguese —
A beautiful, bittersweet longing for something absent. It could be something you’ve loved and lost or something that may not even have happened at all. With saudade, you get the sense that this thing you long for has passed, and may never happen again. There are so many tinges to saudade.
Portuguese-speaking people everywhere: from Cape Verde to Brazil to Angola back to Portugal claim a monopoly on this feeling. “You can’t really translate it,” they say. It is not nostalgia. It is not bitter-sweetness. It is saudade. Writer Manuel de Melo describes it poetically: “a pleasure you suffer, an ailment you enjoy.”(Learn more.)
Here, you’re missing out. Listen to what saudade must feel like:
8. Ilunga
Tshiluba —
This is perhaps the word with the most specific definition on this list. It is from the Republic of Congo, and the definition is super specific I won’t do it justice trying to explain it in my own words. Here are the words of linguist Christopher Moore, who wrote a whole book on intriguing words from around the globe, explaining ilunga: “It describes a person who is ready to forgive any transgression a first time and then to tolerate it for a second time, but never for a third time.”
9. Desenrascanço
Portuguese —
While you could translate this word as “disentanglement” the way it is used in Portuguese refers to finding an unusual or unexpected solution to a problem. Finessing or MacGyvering your way out of shit. Serendipitous disentanglement. (Learn more).
10. Fernweh
German —
A deep longing for distant places, especially places you’ve never been to. The opposite of homesickness, it literally translates to “far-sickness.” A sort of prime, aching wanderlust.
11. Hygge
Danish —
If you rolled coziness, comfort, well-being, and contentment into one word, you’d probably be speaking Danish or Norwegian and saying “hygge.” This one has recently become popular in the English-speaking world with Denmark marketing it as their nation’s defining characteristic. (Scandinavians get all the nice things!)
12. Laiyoni
Maa (Kimasai) —
Unlike the rest of the increasingly Westernized world, the Maasai culture has a deeply engrained age-set organization of their society. Age is linked with honor and respect and societal roles. Your agemates aren’t just peers, they are fellow warriors-to-be. Laiyoni is a young male who has not yet gone through the coming-of-age rituals to become a moran warrior. Back in the day, he would have to bring proof to the clan that he had killed a lion. This is another example of how language is a capsule of culture.
13. Forelsket
Norwegian —
You know the euphoria and butterflies you get when you are in the beginnings of love. The guys from the lakes and fjords call it forelsket. Not exactly a “crush” and not exactly “infatuation” but the beginnings of love.
14. Meraki
Greek —
In Greece today, when you pour your heart and soul into something you’re doing — when you leave a little bit of yourself in what you are doing — it’s called meraki. You could tailor with meraki, cook with meraki, paint with meraki, build with meraki. (Learn more).
15. Yaani
Swahili (via Arabic) —
Yaani is a tricky word to understand if you are not a native Swahili or Arabic speaker. It means “it means.” The closest thing English has to yaani is an import from the Latin i.e. id est. But “i.e.” is too formal and as such is only an equivalent to yaani in its formal sense. Yaani is a lot more versatile. In both Swahili and Arabic, yaani is used most as an interjection, or as a filler word the way you’d use “like” or “I mean” or “you know” as fillers while looking for a more precise word. Or when you’re at a loss for words. Or when you want the listener to fill in the gaps of meaning. Yaani! (Learn more).
16. Shouganai
Japanese —
You know how you shouldn’t worry about things you can’t control? The Japanese have a word for that. Essentially “it has happened” — “ndo imeshatokea” — “it is what is.” Que sera, sera! Accept it.
“Usipope” — Side story
When my youngest sister was a baby, we would comfort her whenever she was afraid by telling her “usiogope” — Swahili for “don’t be afraid.”
Somehow, this became one of her favorite words, but she couldn’t pronounce it properly. She’d say back to us: “usipope” — a word we use in our family to this day as an encouraging boost. Do not be afraid. You’re fine.
Though ‘shouganai’ is more a practical acceptance of reality, it reminded me of my little sister’s made-up word: ‘Usipope.’ Don’t worry. You’re gonna be fine. Accept it.
17. Juzi
Swahili —
A single word for the day before yesterday. Wow! Much more convenient than the long, unwieldy phrase “the day before yesterday” you’re so used to saying in English. The Brits are weird.
18. Cafune
Brazilian Portuguese —
Tenderly caressing or running your hands through your lover’s hair. Suspiciously specific.
19. Treppenwitz
German —
Perhaps the most frustrating feeling described by the words on this list. You know how you’re in a back-and-forth with someone and the other person has the upper hand, and then later, once you’re on your own, you find the perfect witty response? The Germans call it treppenwitz. The French call it l’esprit de l’escalier (literally “the staircase mind” pointing
20. Gigil
Tagalog —
The pure joy and the overwhelming sense of happiness that comes from being around something incredibly cute. Irresistibly cute. Some even describe gigil as the desire to hug something cute. The Philippines must have such a joyful, playful, and childlike way of looking at life to come up with a word this specific about how the feelings we get from adorable things. (Learn more.)
21. Kefi
Greek —
Kefi is the art of being in happy spirits, and letting that color and define your reality. This is a fairly modern word that describes the joyfully resilient character that Greek people have had to build over the past few economically turbulent years. Even when times are tough, enjoy yourself. Find joy within. Find your kefi and enjoy life regardless of what’s going on around you. (Learn more).
22. Razbliuto
Russian —
After two hyper positive words, here come the Russians to cool things down again. This word describes the empty feeling you have for someone you once loved. The word itself sounds empty. Razbliuto.
23. Fremdschämen
German —
The English equivalent isn’t a word but a phrase: “second-hand embarrassment.” Feeling embarrassed for someone else. It also has a two-word Spanish equivalent, “pena ajena.” (Learn more).
24. Kaelling
Danish —
Does Kaelling sound close to Karen? Cause the actions of a Kaelling don’t fall too far from the actions of a Karen. Except a Kaelling is like that to her own children: a spiteful woman who directs her anger at her kids, often in public. (Dear Danes, I thought you were all about Hygge? What happened?)
26. Yuánfèn
Mandarin —
This refers to the fateful coincidence that draws one person to love another person. The serendipity and destiny that the Chinese and Vietnamese believe bring people together in a sort of predestined love.
The Japanese have a phrase “Koi No Yokan” for that feeling you get when you meet someone for the first time and know you’re going to fall in love.
27. Ya’aburnee
Levantine Arabic —
“You bury me!” This morbid-sounding phrase has a beautiful underbelly. Used mostly in Lebanon and Syria, this is a hyper-romantic expression telling the other that they would not want to live without them. Live longer than me. Bury me. I would not be able to live without you. (Hatari sana, bobu! Ila acha fixi.)
28. Yoko-Meshi
Japanese —
Do you know that confounding feeling you get when you are trying to speak in a foreign language? Is that what you’re feeling now at the end of these 28 words? The Japanese have a word for that. I found this, and a few other of these foreign words that might give you yoko meshi on this informative list of untranslatable words by NPR.
Words like these give you a peek into the heart and soul of a culture. A glimpse into the cultural forces that shaped them, and how perceptions vary between cultures.
Words rule.
What are your favorite untranslatable words from your language? From other languages?
Princely is the co-founder of OnaStories — a Tanzanian storytelling house. He helps people and organizations find their stories and tell them well. You can follow Ona Stories across social media @OnaStories.
If you are looking for language partners to improve your foreign language skills you can find one for free at swaplanguage.com. Additionally, you can join our weekly free live Spanish and Danish lessons. Grammar, vocabulary and culture, taught by native speakers.
