Asking non-native English speakers.

  • zlatiah@lemmy.world
    2·
    7 days ago

    Way too many for Chinese (think every Chinese dish you know), but the one world I think about the most in this context these days is 老百姓 (lao3 bai3 xing4) (Also see a somewhat related Wikipedia article). Direct translation is “ol’ hundred surnames”

    It’s… a non-formal word for the “commoners” or the “average person”. This is a concept I don’t hear in mainstream media that much nowadays. I don’t think most news or mainstream media even refers to say the entirety of the lower to middle social class in one word… (Note that it is different from “Average Joe”, which does have a Chinese counterpart which translates to “Zhang three Li four”)

    On top of it, the whole concept of “a hundred surnames” representing most of society is kind of absurd in English-speaking countries. Societies with historical Chinese influences tend to have lots of ppl share the same surnames

  • thisisbutaname@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    2·
    7 days ago

    It always felt weird to me that English has no distinct phrase to express non-romantic affection.

    English speakers use “I love you”, but in Italian (and many other languages) you’d make a distinction between a romantic partner and a friend/relative/whatever.

    Ti amo = I love you, said for example to your partner, signifies a deep emotional bond, not something you usually say lightly.

    Ti voglio bene = I love you, but less charges, more in a “I feel good about you” way

    • GoTeamBoobies@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      6 days ago

      I always appreciated Spanish’s Te quiero vs te amo to express to friends my feelings for them, much better than “I love you, no homo”.

  • MushroomsEverywhere@lemmy.world
    2·
    7 days ago

    I recently came across a word that I couldn’t find a translation for. In Swedish, the word “skallgång” refers to the act of walking in a line formation in a search party.

  • remon@ani.social
    47·
    9 days ago

    Does it count if English just steals your words?

    Schadenfreude, Zeitgeist, Weltanschauung, Kindergarten.

  • CombatWombat@feddit.onlineEnglish
    38·
    9 days ago

    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.

    • nawa@lemmy.world
      5·
      9 days ago

      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.

    • boonhet@sopuli.xyz
      4·
      8 days ago

      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.

      • lad@programming.devEnglish
        3·
        8 days ago

        very versatile word

        So, pretty much anything and sometimes exact opposite thing 🥲

        • boonhet@sopuli.xyz
          2·
          8 days ago

          Pretty much.

          In the context of how I hear it used in Estonia at least, it both means something is very annoying, or it means it’s so unimportant it doesn’t matter. It also just means “thingamajig”. I suspect there are use cases I can’t think of right now or ones that I don’t even know.

    • PixeIOrange@lemmy.world
      8·
      8 days ago

      Came here for doch. Its one of my favourite words im using arguing with AFD voters and works every time its like a spell.

    • VinegarChunks@lemmus.orgEnglish
      5·
      8 days ago

      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?”

      • norbert_waggletail@lemmy.today
        1·
        7 days ago

        There would be, if people were able to understand the concept of single negation. But in practice, any single word answer to that question will likely lead to confusion or misunderstanding.

    • Zarobi@aussie.zoneEnglish
      17·
      9 days ago

      Buddhist devs meditate frequently on the differences and similarities between this and self

    • JonnyRobbie@lemmy.world
      16·
      9 days ago

      That one is really interesting, because a lot of languages has it, from guten apetit, through dobrou chuť to itadakimasu. But english was out of school that day I suppose.

        • Mantzy81@aussie.zoneEnglish
          8·
          9 days ago

          As English often does - if it makes sense in another language and is easy for English speakers to understand the context it’s used, they’re quite happy stealing it. Especially French.

          • Fluke@feddit.uk
            4·
            8 days ago

            That’s because English isn’t a language, it’s three other languages in a trenchcoat, stealing stuff from every other language.

            • Treczoks@lemmy.world
              3·
              8 days ago

              Celtic, western Germanic (Angles, Saxons, Frisian), Latin, northern Germanic (Danish, Norse), and in 1066 finally French (which is a mixing bowl in its own right). The trenchcoat is way more crowded than you think.

      • Lumidaub@feddit.org
        3·
        9 days ago

        itsdakomasu

        Did you mean itadakimasu?

        Because that is what you say in Japanese when you start eating but interestingly it doesn’t mean “Guten Appetit” (basically “have a nice meal”) but “I am (thankfully) going to receive (a nice meal)”. While “Guten Appetit” is about others who are eating alongside you, “itadakimasu” is about the speaker.

        • ThirdConsul@lemmy.zip
          1·
          8 days ago

          Wasn’t itadakimasu religious in origin? Making it something more like the prayer before the food that English-speaking Christians do - “Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive…”?

          • Lumidaub@feddit.org
            1·
            8 days ago

            I wouldn’t know. The verb is itadaku which is a humble form of the verb morau, meaning “to receive”. The imasu part is basically just polite grammar. If there is anything religious about it, it’s obscure.

    • robador51@lemmy.ml
      2·
      9 days ago

      Good appetite?

      Oh, looked it up, it’s not used in the same manner as German, i never knew 😃

  • BeelzebubEiNukuKoskaan@piefed.socialEnglish
    16·
    9 days ago

    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.

  • robador51@lemmy.ml
    15·
    9 days ago

    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 😃

    • ThirdConsul@lemmy.zip
      1·
      8 days ago

      Tja

      Isn’t that literally “oh, well”? And the intonation changes if thats empathy or schadenfreude.

      Curiously, schadenfreude does not translate to English well :)

  • neidu4@piefed.socialEnglish
    14·
    9 days ago

    Fjøs is where farm animals are kept. “Barn” is more general and translates to “Låve”, while Fjøs doesn’t really have an English translation.

    Nisse is a mythological creature that is part goblin, part santa, part Gnome, but not really either of them. They’re usually benign and pretty cool.

    Hygge (noun) /hyggelig (adjective) means having a cosy, lighthearted or fun atmosphere, usually in company of others

    EDIT: By the way, Nissen lives in the Låve

    • TheMadCodger@piefed.socialEnglish
      6·
      9 days ago

      Hygge became too popular so that’s started making it’s way into English. Hopefully that one sticks around. The pronunciation will never be correct though. Nisse sounds awesome though.

      What’s the difference between a Låve and a Fjøs?

      • neidu4@piefed.socialEnglish
        4·
        9 days ago

        Fjøs is specifically where animals are kept. Låve is more generic, but it’s usually where you store stuff such as hay and produce. Sometimes the two are combined into one building and It’s common to refer to the ground floor as Fjøs, and the floor above as Låve.

    • kindnesskills@literature.cafe
      1·
      7 days ago

      Hygge seems similar to the english “pleasant”, as having a pleasant time or being a pleasant person.

      Nisse in the låve sounds like elf on the shelf, but also like it’s opposite.

    • ThirdConsul@lemmy.zip
      1·
      8 days ago

      Fjøs

      Animal pen or animal barn.

      Hygge

      That one I could never understand why Danish people think it’s not “safe and cozy”. Everytime they told me about hygge, or described it, etc, it was always safe and cozy. Like a damn Gryffindor common room.

      • neidu4@piefed.socialEnglish
        1·
        8 days ago

        Both of those translations require multiple words. And no, the gryffindor dining room is not hyggelig.

        Also, it’s not only in danish. Somehow the word became famous as a Danish word.

  • unknownuserunknownlocation@kbin.earth
    12·
    8 days ago

    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.

    • Treczoks@lemmy.world
      4·
      8 days ago

      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.

  • EtnaAtsume@lemmy.world
    131·
    9 days ago

    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.)

    • ThirdConsul@lemmy.zip
      1·
      8 days ago

      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.