# Foreign Words With No Direct English Equivalent ⭐

**URL:** <https://onehack.st/t/foreign-words-with-no-direct-english-equivalent/166917>\
**Category:** Life Lessons & Experience\
**Tags:** tools, programming\
**Created:** [December 20, 2020, 12:34pm UTC](https://onehack.st/t/foreign-words-with-no-direct-english-equivalent/166917 "2020-12-20T12:34:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Aina](https://onehack.st/user_avatar/onehack.st/aina/32/167469_2.png) [@Aina](https://onehack.st/u/Aina)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 12:34pm UTC](https://onehack.st/t/foreign-words-with-no-direct-english-equivalent/166917/1 "2020-12-20T12:34:54Z")

</div>

**Hello OneHackers** 🙂

Sometimes we must turn to other languages to find _le mot juste_. Here’s a bunch of foreign words with no direct English equivalent. Continue reading and learn something new, `These words collected via mentalfloss, thanks to them to highlight such an article`. Images sources name also mentioned making your searching easy!

## 1. _BACKPFEIFENGESICHT_ (GERMAN)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/4/f/4fee2bbd2f8f5a91093f8588d413ec420bb65fee.jpeg)

`BOWIE15/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

A face badly in need of a fist.

## 2. _BAKKU-SHAN_ (JAPANESE)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/d/6/d6196ea28ee8464475a1071936d657bb9685e9f8.jpeg)

`TEAMJACKSON/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

This Japanese slang term describes the experience of seeing a woman who appears pretty from behind but not from the front.

## 3. _BILITA MPASH_ (BANTU)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/c/d/cdd86d18c609e52001739b02ef458fb553b25dcf.jpeg)

`KATIAFONTI/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

An amazing dream. Not just a “good” dream; the opposite of a nightmare.

## 4. _BOKETTO_ (JAPANESE)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/8/7/87e595806ad7d151a103077c8870a6681b337a70.jpeg)

`TOM MERTON/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

It’s nice to know that the Japanese think enough of the act of gazing vacantly into the distance without thinking to give it a name.

## 5. _CAFUNE_ (BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/9/f/9f9169e86a59cf25d2f04f9c9d851b4e986c3119.jpeg)

`JACK HOLLINGSWORTH/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

Leave it to the Brazilians to come up with a word for “tenderly running your fingers through your lover’s hair.”

## 6. _CAVOLI RISCALDATI_ (ITALIAN)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/d/0/d0efb4a24c35a3ec1922339bee327349548f6060.jpeg)

`KATARZYNABIALASIEWICZ/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

The result of attempting to revive an unworkable relationship. Translates to “reheated cabbage.”

## 7. _COTISUELTO_ (CARIBBEAN SPANISH)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/6/7/67ea3537bf337a54786e0dcb16a293d52723cd01.jpeg)

`DSPN/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

A word that would aptly describe the prevailing fashion trend among American men under 40, it means one who wears the shirt tail outside of his trousers.

## 8. _FAAMITI_ (SAMOAN)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/5/b/5bec108b96f5941339a0584a3139d69e4f246c57.jpeg)

`ALEXEI_TM/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

To make a squeaking sound by sucking air past the lips in order to gain the attention of a dog or child.

## 9. _FERNWEH_ (GERMAN)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/8/f/8fa4a3407fe7b4fe24fda8b1e3adb616e11656a1.jpeg)

`LAST19/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

A longing for distant places—and while the English word _wanderlust_ comes close, _fernweh_ can also refe to a longing for a place you’ve never even been.

## 10. _FISSELIG_ (GERMAN)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/b/4/b4b489180199b244cdf362adab8498378bb8d8d1.jpeg)

`KOLDUNOVA_ANNA/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

Ever been flustered to the point where you can’t function or finish what you were doing? That’s _fisselig_.

## 11. AND 12. _FREMDSCHÄMEN_ (GERMAN) AND _MYÖTÄHÄPEÄ_ (FINNISH)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/0/6/064978337c26f1a5de115a968f9b1399bdf98e4b.jpeg)

`DEAGREEZ/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

The kinder, gentler cousins of Schadenfreude, both these words mean something akin to "vicarious embarrassment.”

## 13. _FRÜHJAHRSMÜDIGKEIT_ (GERMAN)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/5/1/51f0abfc2af38fa4552a0e7b4c46b3b8bc146ae9.jpeg)

`M-GUCCI/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

Frühjahr is “springtime,” while Müdigkeit means “tiredness.” Together, it refers to a sort of reverse seasonal affective disorder—when people become depressed or lethargic at the onset of spring.

## 14. _GIGIL_ (FILIPINO)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/4/9/49f407300e6148e1eaaf86810abf9cb0c87b621e.jpeg)

`MADHOURSE/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

The urge to pinch or squeeze something that is irresistibly cute.

## 15. _GRENG-JAI_ (THAI)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/a/e/ae715e377ba18fdc7c843059c5bd8575a99c7ccc.jpeg)

`FIZKES/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

That feeling you get when you don’t want someone to do something for you because it would be a pain for them.

## 16. _HONIGKUCHENPFERD_ (GERMAN)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/d/f/df030420c6264f166342eb2f3f4983c79ebba2f7.jpeg)

`M-IMAGEPHOTOGRAPHY/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

Taken literally, this word means “horse-shaped honey cake.” But it’s a turn of phrase, somewhat equivalent to the English idiom “grinning like a Cheshire cat.” It’s talking about a big grin the wearer just can’t wipe off of their face.

## 17. _HYGGE_ (DANISH)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/5/f/5fb5ae287aab7ae3d8ed8eef4cc1a4bb28d3ed8e.jpeg)

`SMITT/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

Denmark’s mantra, hygge is the pleasant, genial, and intimate feeling associated with sitting around a fire in the winter with close friends.

## 18. _IKTSUARPOK_ (INUIT)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/7/d/7dea54373ac88e32a6c07ce7913d55256c16de16.jpeg)

`MOTORTION/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

You know that feeling of anticipation when you’re waiting for someone to show up at your house and you keep going outside to see if they’re there yet? This is the word for it.

## 19. _KAELLING_ (DANISH)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/5/8/58a3cd5cd89284a9026742c8cd52c8ce068e190a.jpeg)

`MONKEYBUSINESSIMAGES/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

You know that woman who stands on her doorstep (or in line at the supermarket, or at the park, or in a restaurant) cursing at her children? The Danes know her, too.

## 20. _KOI NO YOKAN_ (JAPANESE)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/2/6/261a313124ffd9654ee15f97c25f48d0d0c6edb0.jpeg)

`BOKAN76/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

The sense upon first meeting a person that the two of you are going to fall in love.

## 21. _KUMMERSPECK_ (GERMAN)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/3/d/3d7e99c2d2592c9e39843b6d5b7485f401d5d62e.jpeg)

`MARTINRLEE/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

Excess weight gained from emotional overeating. Literally, “grief bacon.”

## 22. LAGOM (SWEDISH)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/4/8/484db18f2e80a8acaef3c8591812c2929cf813df.jpeg)

`ROBEO/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

Maybe Goldilocks was Swedish? This slippery little word is hard to define, but means something like, “Not too much, and not too little, but juuuuust right.”

## 23. _LAYOGENIC_ (TAGALOG)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/2/9/29f475c0d43ed2fdb519535a28ceec19c78665c0.jpeg)

`Alicia Silverstone and Brittany Murphy in *Clueless* (1995).PARAMOUNT HOME ENTERTAINMENT`

Remember in _Clueless_when Cher describes someone as “a full-on Monet … from far away, it’s OK, but up close it’s a big old mess”? That’s exactly what this word means.

## 24. _L’ESPRIT DE L’ESCALIER_ (FRENCH)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/a/b/ab599ad17d377a0631e624132579164b377c3137.jpeg)

`GIULIO FORNASAR/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

Literally, “stairwell wit”—a too-late retort thought of only after departure.

## 25. _LITOST_ (CZECH)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/3/9/3929343c0c237545371dcff68cf136b02c667a9a.jpeg)

`BUNDITINAY/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

Milan Kundera described the emotion as “a state of torment created by the sudden sight of one’s own misery.”

## 26. _LUFTMENSCH_ (YIDDISH)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/c/b/cb8a2a703b584ede259fe6e0f10c00bb37486a61.jpeg)

`SIPHOTOGRAPHY/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

There are several Yiddish words to describe social misfits. This one is for an impractical dreamer with no business sense.

## 27. _MAMIHLAPINATAPAI_ (YAGHAN LANGUAGE OF TIERRA DEL FUEGO)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/9/f/9f5076c30ef6380ec08ac8b15a9ae4754c5f46f0.jpeg)

`FIZKES/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

This word captures that special look shared between two people, when both are wishing that the other would do something that they both want, but neither want to do.

## 28. _MENCOLEK_ (INDONESIAN)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/f/b/fb9307a3beb128f49f8cd0b0690072f898345bdc.jpeg)

`YACOBCHUK/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

You know that old trick where you tap someone lightly on the opposite shoulder from behind to fool them? The Indonesians have a word for it.

## 29. PACKESEL (GERMAN)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/6/7/67d953fc7909971e292e628d82a32e728300e85c.jpeg)

`ULU_BIRD/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

A _packesel_ is the person who’s stuck carrying everyone else’s bags on a trip. Literally, a burro.

## 30. _PÅLEGG_ (NORWEGIAN)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/9/c/9cdda6f84898f41c69e5b2a0fca9a494e602cc83.jpeg)

`LAZY_BEAR/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

Sandwich Artists unite! The Norwegians have a non-specific descriptor for anything—ham, cheese, jam, Nutella, mustard, herring, pickles, Doritos, you name it—you might consider putting into a sandwich.

## 31. _PANA PO’O_ (HAWAIIAN)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/2/a/2a2421db409a30e4f8b63782608a75de06c72407.jpeg)

`DEAGREEZ/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

“Hmm, now where did I leave those keys?” he said, _pana po’oing_. It means to scratch your head in order to help you remember something you’ve forgotten.

## 32. _PELINTI_ (BULI, GHANA)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/f/3/f3aa6a6fe327e38067857e57ec9323ec46d985d6.jpeg)

`JACOBLUND/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

Your friend bites into a piece of piping hot pizza, then opens his mouth and sort of tilts his head around while making an “aaaarrrahh” noise. The Ghanaians have a word for that. More specifically, it means “to move hot food around in your mouth.”

## 33. _RAZBLIUTO_ (RUSSIAN)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/d/8/d81aba7ade6cc056bc080deacb4dd6c2394dcfea.jpeg)

`VAGENGEYM_ELENA/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

The nostalgic feeling you may have for someone you once loved, but don’t anymore.

## 34. AND 35. _SCHLEMIEL_ AND _SCHLIMAZEL_ (YIDDISH)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/3/3/33e38bd0e4951f240e875c06df54690e55195ead.jpeg)

`JAMES WOODSON/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

Someone prone to bad luck. Yiddish distinguishes between the _schlemiel_ and _schlimazel_, whose fates would probably be grouped under those of the klutz in other languages. The _schlemiel_ is the traditional maladroit, who spills his coffee; the _schlimazel_ is the one on whom it’s spilled.

## 36. _SEIGNEUR-TERRACES_ (FRENCH)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/3/a/3a3e99a1d8ffa4db4f8d8b77827c3a923814b6dc.jpeg)

`BERNARDBODO/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

Coffee shop dwellers who sit at tables for a long time but spend very little money.

## 37. _SENTAK BANGUN_ (INDONESIAN)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/3/4/34f79c65b2c44cd882ef9f8207f2beccf7fe013c.jpeg)

`VIACHESLAV PERETIATKO/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

This Indonesian verb means “to wake up with a start.”

## 38. _SHEMOMEDJAMO_ (GEORGIAN)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/6/5/65e942cd9671e9207ae1c58e3886c786ed1eb40a.jpeg)

`LEKCEJ/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

You know when you’re really full, but your meal is just so delicious, you can’t stop eating it? The Georgians feel your pain. This word means, “I accidentally ate the whole thing."

## 39. _SHOUGANAI_ (JAPANESE)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/e/d/ed0060ce692226d8a5670dac652092aae9893516.jpeg)

`YAKOBCHUKOLENA/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

It’s a little bit like “Que será, será,” but with a slight spin: If there’s nothing you can do about it, don’t waste time being angry or worrying.

## 40. _SLAMPADATO_ (ITALIAN)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/6/2/623055984c6d5e00837160afbd146a25de1fc4b8.jpeg)

`ND3000/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

Addicted to the UV glow of tanning salons? This word describes you.

## 41. _SOBREMESA_ (SPANISH)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/a/d/ad51c3282d4e0c793493f6a4d43502ef46e34939.jpeg)

`RAWPIXEL/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

The time spent at a table after eating. The food is gone, but everyone is still sitting around chatting, maybe drinking coffee or playing cards.

## 42. _TARTLE_ (SCOTS)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/b/6/b657bcb27ad6b62223410859206b85e2e80526ea.jpeg)

`DEAGREEZ/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

The nearly onomatopoeic word for that panicky hesitation just before you have to introduce someone whose name you can’t quite remember.

## 43. _TREPPENWITZ_ (GERMAN)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/2/2/22c31513f669f388a85258d26fc4ad406b1cf75a.jpeg)

`NIKITA FILIPPOV/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

It literally means “staircase joke,” because it refers to the moment you think of a comeback way after the fact—usually when you’re in the stairwell on the way out the door.

## 44. _TSUNDOKU_ (JAPANESE)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/7/0/70b02aa273112a56829c47ab5ea937f1e7548695.jpeg)

`ROSSHELEN/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

Many of us are guilty of this one—buying new books or any reading material) and letting them pile up, [unread.

## 45. _UFFDA_ (SWEDISH)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/9/c/9ca1bba6e905a39db2c5543655b12cdb742a206d.jpeg)

`SEREGRAFF/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

States like Minnesota and Wisconsin express sympathy for someone or a sticky situation. It’s a combination of “Ouch!” and “I’m sorry you hurt yourself.”

## 46. _VYBAFNOUT_ (CZECH)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/7/6/769cf2f40127fac549c6c7299f5de9a2c23162f5.jpeg)

`OZGE EMIR/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

A word tailor-made for annoying older brothers—it means to jump out and say boo.

## 47. WELTSCHMERZ (GERMAN)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/8/b/8b49b29bd4a16367b83ac8c8b560fe7b7028aab8.jpeg)

`FIZKES/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

This one may hit close to home for many: It translates to world _grief_, and means “a gloomy, romanticized world-weary sadness, experienced most often by privileged youth.”

## 48. _YA’ARBURNEE_ (ARABIC)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/4/f/4f583cdfd3d8ad61d7d1eb8374736a136f75ed48.jpeg)

`ELLENAZ/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

This word is the hopeful declaration that you will die before someone you love deeply, because you cannot stand to live without them. Literally, “may you bury me.”

## 49. _YUPUTKA_ (ULWA)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/6/f/6f728ef87f471926b50662cfdb6b5b39a7b6a2ff.jpeg)

`SCALIGER/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

A word made for walking in the woods at night, it’s the phantom sensation of something crawling on your skin.

## 50. _ZEG_ (GEORGIAN)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/e/2/e221cd5fefbadffcca2f90099d0d166b4577b469.jpeg)

`ISERG/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

It means “the day after tomorrow.” OK, we do have _overmorrow_ in English, but when was the last time someone used that?

## 51. _ZHAGHZHAGH_ (PERSIAN)

 ![image](https://onehack.st/uploads/default/original/3X/b/7/b7b1d070d1ca7f85bed7b24d71c9222f1f2b743b.jpeg)

`RAGZ13/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES`

The chattering of teeth from the cold or from rage.

> I hope you folks enjoyed and this topic definitely helps you to learn something new!
> 
> Do feedback and share your thoughts!

## ENJOY & HAPPY LEARNING! ❤

---

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**Author:** ![Roberto\_Diaz](https://onehack.st/user_avatar/onehack.st/roberto_diaz/32/18084_2.png) [@Roberto\_Diaz](https://onehack.st/u/Roberto_Diaz)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 9:41pm UTC](https://onehack.st/t/foreign-words-with-no-direct-english-equivalent/166917/2 "2020-12-20T21:41:05Z")

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Hi @Aina  
Thank you  
some curiosity  
Sobremesa we also use it in portuguese and it means after dinner you can have a dessert.  
Alos portuguese has a word that does not have direct similar in english - Saudade,in english you can say missing but for Brasilians is not the same.