Complex Numbers

The Right Word

After yesterday's foray into illusionary metaphysics, I think I'll return to the joys of language.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/50698/38-wonderful-foreign-words-we-could-use-eng...

38 Wonderful Words With No English Equivalent

And the header image is a stock photo of bacon. Can't go wrong with that!

Sometimes we must turn to other languages to find le mot juste. Here are a whole bunch of foreign words with no direct English equivalent.

English, as I think I've mentioned before, is an immensely powerful and nuanced language. But it's far from exhaustive when it comes to describing some things.

1. Kummerspeck (German)
Excess weight gained from emotional overeating. Literally, grief bacon.

Hence the reason for the header image, I suppose. Though I think keto followers would disagree with any link between bacon and excess weight. On the other side, vegans' heads have probably exploded by now.

2. Shemomedjamo (Georgian)
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."

This, however, can definitely be linked to excess weight.

5. Backpfeifengesicht (German)
A face badly in need of a fist.

Lots of these around these days. Some of them were inspired by certain Germans of the last century, so... karma?

7. Pelinti (Buli, Ghana)
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.

"Friend." Right.

19. Bakku-shan (Japanese)
Or there's this Japanese slang term, which describes the experience of seeing a woman who appears pretty from behind but not from the front.

I'm the furthest thing from an expert at Japanese, but this sounds like one of those words that they stole from English and made their own, like "waifu." Sometimes, things come full circle.

20. Seigneur-terraces (French)
Coffee shop dwellers who sit at tables a long time but spend little money.

Funny, haven't covered that in Duolingo yet.

29. L’esprit de l’escalier (French)
Literally, stairwell wit—a too-late retort thought of only after departure.

Nor this - but because I am who I am, I've known this one for some time. Why do you think I'm only amusing in writing?

34. Bilita Mpash (Bantu)
An amazing dream. Not just a "good" dream; the opposite of a nightmare.

Had one of these yesterday. Ever have a dream that was so good you were depressed that it ended when you woke up? Come to think of it, I haven't been plagued by sleep paralysis lately. Maybe it's the daily exercise, or maybe it was waiting for me to realize this before it came back.

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

37 & 38. Schlemiel and schlimazel (Yiddish)
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.

These are far from the only great expressions in Yiddish. "Luftmensch," by the way, can, if I remember correctly, be loosely translated as "airhead," though I think its literal translation is "air person," which makes little sense in English. Some other great Yiddish words have already been stolen by English, such as "chutzpah," "schnoz," and "glitch." In fact, if you want to expand your vocabulary and sound like a yenta, here you go: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_Yiddish_origin