17 Words With No English Equivalent

We took to Twitter recently, and asked people who grew up using a language other than English to share some words that their primary language has and ours does not. There were too many to list all of them here, but below are some of our favorites.

Qti maz literally translates in Armenian to “nose hair,” but to us, it means someone who is overly concerned with details that don’t matter. 🤣

— Mari Manoogian (@MariManoogian) March 1, 2023

In my Alaska Native language, Tlingit, we have a word “(haa) shagóon” (our) Ancestors who will be reincarnated as our descendants (with a circular view of time). It also means our Ancestors’ history, codified as songs, stories, art, regalia, customs, etc., that guide our lives.

— L’aakaw Éesh KAW (@LaakawEesh) March 1, 2023

"Trúno" is the Icelandic word for really showing yourself in a long and intimate conversation with others, often late in the evening and accompanied by alcohol, but not necessarily only then.

— Berit Glanz (@beritmiriam) March 1, 2023

https://twitter.com/ronin_sama/status/1630581490047238149?s=20

Native English speaker but I love the Japanese word tsundoku (積ん読), meaning acquiring books and letting them pile up without reading them.

— Wendell Albright 🌻 (@WendellAlbright) February 28, 2023

My grandfather would say the Finnish word "sisu." Loosely translated, "stoic determination, tenacity of purpose, grit, bravery, resilience and hardiness," but it's hard to describe in English. You might hate doing a thing, but the thing has to be done, so you will do the thing.

— Gryph (@darkgryphon42) February 28, 2023

Sobremesa (Spanish: “upon the table”) is the Hispanic tradition of relaxing at the table after a heavy meal. It begins after dessert is served and typically lasts between half an hour or several hours.

— Orge Castellano (@orgecastellano) March 2, 2023

Fargen (and its various forms). Hebrew/Yiddish. It means to emotionally, spiritually and verbally support someone in a warm and loving and non-judgmental way

— Shmuel Shoham (@ShohamTxID) March 2, 2023

"Apapachar", it's a Mexican Spanish word, comes from Nahuatl, and it literally means "hug with the soul", it's used like, sort of a mix of "to cuddle", "to support" and "to console": to throw all of your love to someone when they need it the most.

— Anthony Tesla (@AnthonyCTesla) February 28, 2023

Bjørnetjeneste (Norwegian): You try to help, but do too much so instead you do harm. (From a tale about a bear wanting to kill a fly on its owners nose, and instead killed the man.)

— Johanne Spjelkavik (@Joh99Sp) February 28, 2023

Since I'm from Bombay, here's a very Bombay word: Jugaad. Meaning: a flexible approach to problem-solving that uses limited resources in an innovative way.

— Sarakshi Rai (@Sarakshi) February 28, 2023

The German word Kabelsalat I’ve always loved. Basically translates to “cable salad”, which is when all your cables tangle up on their own

— Scott Peterson (@se_peterson) February 28, 2023

UMAY (Tagalog)

The feeling of having had too much of the same food over and over again that you feel like you can no longer take a bite of the same stuff again.

This can also be used figuratively and describe ideas, concepts, experiences, among others.

— skullohmania 💀 (@skullohmania) February 28, 2023

Ndo ( Igbo) which often gets mistranslated as ‘sorry’ . However sorry implies guilt . Ndo says I feel with you, I feel for you, which is why you say ‘ndo’ for everything from spilling someone’s coffee to condoling someone who’s suffered a loss

— chika unigwe (@chikaunigwe) March 5, 2023

“Mudita” (Sanskrit) meaning feeling joy in the happiness of others.

— Anant Sundaram (@sundaram_anant) March 2, 2023

Throwing in some Welsh - has to be ‘hiraeth’ which is basically a longing for the land of our fathers. It’s like having a piece of elastic tied to Wales and your heart under constant tension, tugging you back gently, softly, whispering in Welsh ‘come home soon’.

— Vicky Mulhern (@VickyMulhern) March 5, 2023