Day 22 of #FabulousFebruary: TRANSLATE

This article is very special. I put it together a year ago with the great contribution of many of you, who answered my question regarding untranslatable words.

Untranslatable words

All people who speak more than one language know this frustration. They are speaking in one language (let's say English). Suddenly, another word comes to mind. It matches the situation perfectly, it would be great to use it. However, this particular word is from a different language (let's say the German word Kopfkino), unknown to the person in front of us. So we try to use a similar word or sentence ("mental cinema?"). But it is so frustrating, because that is in fact, the perfect word.

Words aren't static elements. Words have a history. A words is born out of a need, its meaning evolves over time, gain connotations, second meanings, nuances... Different regions or cultures use words differently. Different people understand the same word differently. That's why Kopfkino can't just be translated in "mental cinema". It has gained additional meaning... It's an untranslatable word.

Lost in Translation

I can tell you exactly how many centimeters is one inch. But I can't exactly translate the Spanish word "desvelado".

A language is an imperfect form of communication. We don't translate exactly what we are thinking into words. We take the best approach. Also, our message is open to interpretation. And it often gets misinterpreted.

We can focus on all the possible problems due to the difference between what we mean and what is understood. Or, we can celebrate our differences!

Yes! We are different! People from the same culture share a need to name a specific feeling, an object or an action. A new word is then created. A word that maybe has absolutely no use in other parts of the planet. It's just part of this culture. Isn't it awesome?

Your Untranslatable Words

I asked in linkedIn to share untrasnlatable words with me, and this is what you all gave me.

• Dor ???? A feeling when you miss someone very much. It is such a powerful word in our culture that we made it a substantive and using when we want to express a feeling that combines at once nostalgy, sadness, happiness, a drop of pain and yearning (Silvia Dusa, Alina Nastas)
• Doina ???? feeling of longing, mourning, love, revolt, usually accompanied by a song (Alina Nastas)
• Schadenfreude ???? Taking comfort in the misfortune of others. (Andrew Krier)
• Gezellig ???? It can be translated to cozy (warm/quaint) but with a much broader application, it can describe a room, a gathering, a person. (Margriet Buseman)
• Saudade ???? something between homesickness and yearning (Daniella Cunha Teichert)
• Toska ???? It’s a combination of sadness, melancholy, even homesickness. (Tatyana Kapitonov)
• Eldsj?l ???? “A fiery soul". Someone who is so intensely passionate about something that he/she will persevere in good and bad times (Alina Nastas)
• Lagom ???? Not too much, not too little. Just perfect. (Andres Murube)
• Arbejdsgl?de ???? “the joy of work”. In a sense there is an expectation that people like the work they’ve chosen. (Helena Levison)
• Hygge ???? a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being (regarded as a defining characteristic of Danish culture) (Silvia Dusa)
• Stealth ???? A cautious, unobtrusive, and secretive way of moving or proceeding intended to avoid detection (Dion P. Tims)
• Accountability ???? A situation in which someone is responsible for things that happen and can give a satisfactory reason for them (Marianna Castaldo)
• Cynefin Welsch It describes that relationship as the place of your birth and of your upbringing, the environment in which you live, and to which you are naturally acclimatised“ (Oli Kopp)
• Empalagar ???? so sweet it can’t be eaten (Armando Beca Peman)
• Chapuza ???? extremely poorly made job (Armando Beca Peman)
• Ubuntu???? It's usually translated as "humanity", but since the term is actually a philosophical concept, this translation comes short. A better translation would be "I am, because you/we are" or "the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity" (Alejandro Jurado Walls)
• Hong Bao ???? Red envelope. This is a popular gift ?? to celebrate New Year, birthday, or wedding or or any other beautiful occasions (Guiqing Zhu)
• Rosicare ???? 1) being envious (or like our English phrase, ‘green with envy,’ or 2) getting angry, annoyed, or fed up. (Marianna Castaldo)
• Abbiocco ???? that sleepy feeling you get after a big meal. Everyone has succumbed to drowsiness after a meal at one time or another, but only the Italians have enshrined the phenomenon in a single word. (Marianna Castaldo)

Honestly, reading all these words you shared with me, and their meanings, got me thinking. There are so many words with profound meanings! They truly can't be translated into just one word, there are so many connotations behind them. I have the sense that I could get to know all those cultures a little bit better.

I talked before about language being imperfect for communicating. But it's also our best chance to communicate (until telepathy comes along). Our challenge is to use the language as good as we can to express what we have in our minds. We will make mistakes conveying our message, and interpreting others. But we will get better at it. And in the meantime, we will learn to carefully listen what lies behind single words.

Now let’s turn the lens on you:

What language do you feel more comfortable using? What untranslatable words do you know? How do you keep learning new languages?

I hope you are having a #FabulousFebruary