[Closed] Interesting words/terms from other languages

In Spanish there's no word for a billion, so they just say a thousand million.

In Mandarin there's a word for "?".

German for glove is Handschuh... as in hand-shoe!!

German is a mine of great words that don't translate well to English.

In Mandarin there's a word for "?".

In Cantonese you put a 'ma' on the end of the spoken sentence to indicate '?'. I think its similar thing done in a lot of asian languages.

There are no swear words in Gaelic.

welshfarmer - I was recently told of the welsh word for girl bits - no that does not translate well!

In Portuguese there's a word which describes the mixed feeling of pride and nostagilic sadness felt when looking out to sea.

Unsure how to spell it but it's pronounced along the lines if 'so-daa-day'

In Mandarin there's a word for "?".

There is in English too - "huh?" 🙂

Our French teacher told us that there's a word for the gap between a bed and a wall down which you lose stuff.

The Irish for water is Uisce ([i]Ish-keh[/i]) and for Whiskey is Uisce Beatha ([i]Ish-keh Ba-ha[/i]); literally "water of life". The english word Whisk(e)y comes from this translation.

There is in English too - "huh?"

Then why add the "?"

The Canadian interrogative is 'eh?'. As in, 'That moose was huge, eh?'

In Portuguese the really rude word for a lady's front bottom is kona

Think I got it off this forum but we really need to start using

oppholdsvær

Basically means - Its not raining at this moment (but will soon !!!)

In Spanish there's no word for a billion, so they just say a thousand million.

Yes there is: "millardo". http://lema.rae.es/drae/?val=Millardo

There's also: http://lema.rae.es/drae/?val=billon It's the same as what was previously used in British as a billion, i.e. a million million. It's also slowly changing to mean the same as the US billion.

Then why add the "?"

Because you put ?s on all sentences (or fragments) that are questions even if they have question words in them - like what, why etc.

Hungarians have an excellent generic swear word "Baszd meg!" that gets used for everything.

Microwave in welsh: 'popty ping'

In Irish "Fear Gorm" is the term used to describe a black man. It translates literally as "Blue Man". Wikipedia claims this is because the term "Fear Dubh" ( black man) was already used to describe Satan or Lucifer.

I prefer the explanation that Irish merchants were trading with certain African tribes who painted their faces blue, and Fear Gorm became the generic term for people from Africa.

Because you put ?s on all sentences (or fragments) that are questions even if they have question words in them - like what, why etc.

Yes Mol, I realise this thanks. So, ok then, huh doesn't mean "?" as there's a difference between "Huh?" and "Huh!"

In Irish "Fear Gorm" is the term used to describe a black man.

LOL! I'd forgotten that one.

There is no Latin word for Space Station. Fact.

There is no Latin word for Space Station. Fact.

In Irish "Fear Gorm" is the term used to describe a black man. It translates literally as "Blue Man".

So, ok then, huh doesn't mean "?" as there's a difference between "Huh?" and "Huh!"

One word can mean two things, no?

Anyway it's a bit of a grey area really, as to wether or not huh is in fact a word.

There is however a welsh word for Ambulance. Coincidentally, it sounds very similar to the English word. 🙂

Going to Poland for the first time, I looked at the magazines in the airport on the way out and was shocked to see some cute puppies on the front cover with the title "Pies"... I like a good pie but a puppy pie might be too much! Of course, it turns out a dog in Polish is Pies (pee-es), phew!

From wiki - a non lexical vocable

Research has shown that the word/syllable "Huh" is perhaps the most recognized syllable throughout the world, including variations of "mama" and "papa."[3] It is an interrogative. This crosses geography, language, cultures and nationalities.[4] See Huh Wiktionary.

Huh.

Re ambulance:

The term ambulance comes from the Latin word "ambulare" as meaning "to walk or move about"

So like many of these words, the Welsh is not borrowing from English so much as they are both borrowing from Latin.

There is however a welsh word for Ambulance. Coincidentally, it sounds very similar to the English word.

I always think it sounds like a they let a cute child name an ambulance in Wales... "ambiwlans"

no?

😀

Yes, mol, it can. And thanks again for some elementary lessons. But "huh" doesn't mean "?" It is an exclamation, the meaning of which is clarified with further punctuation or context. So, for me, it doesn't mean "?"

Anyway, enough derailment for me...

I see poppy ping has raised its head again.
No Welsh speaker has ever used popty ping.
We use an old Saxon word -"Microwave"

Was sitting next to a window over looking a carpark. The (super straight) french guy next to me said 'Nice titties' - I looked out that there were 2 Audi TT's parked up. We wet ourselves - he was bemused.

Ulster Scots (dialect not a language though some beg to differ) has some classics. For example, "Dafty Weans" is the charming term for disabled children.

Bizi-alargun. Basque for 'divorcee', literally 'life widow'.

There are some pretty cool ones in Basque, not least 'hotz' which means, as you might have guessed, 'cold'.

Durchfall

is Diarrhoea in german, it literally means 'fall through'

that always made me chuckle

Phonetically, "in bed poopa" is Dutch for "sh!t the bed".

Good one Samukin, we got the same word in Danish.

Støvsuger Dust sucker vacum cleaner in Danish.
Sygehus Sick house Hospital in Danish

And in Danish Gift means both Poison and Married

L'esprit de l'escalier - the wit of the staircase; when you think of the perfect retort much later.

A finish friend told me about Takatalvi; the feeling when you think winter is over, then it snows again.

What the British call a 'woolly hat' or a 'bobble hat' is in Canada called a 'tuque' (variably spelt 'touque' or 'toque').

I still use it, as I love the sound of it.

Wikipedia informs us that...

The word toque is from Middle Breton, the language spoken by Breton immigrants at the founding of New France. In Modern Breton, it is spelled "tok", and it just means hat. In Old Breton, it was spelled "toc".

The tuque is similar to the Phrygian cap, and, as such, during the 1837 Patriotes Rebellion, a red tuque became a symbol of French-Canadian nationalism. The symbol was revived briefly by the Front de libération du Québec in the 1960s.[6] It is considered outerwear and is not commonly worn indoors.

The word tuque is etymologically related to the name of the chef's toque, an alternate spelling. Also occasionally spelled touque, although the latter is not considered a standard spelling by the Canadian Oxford Dictionary.[7][8]

In Finnish "Sissi" is special army unit well trained to work behind enemy lines in small groups and practice sabotage, reconnaissance etc. Doesn't sound very scary!

In Spanish the word for Wife and Handcuffs is the same: Esposa/Esposas!

Some might say apt!!

the opposite is sometimes as daft as our literal translations - the french decided that 'Le Corner Kick' is too anglicised and officially call it 'un coup de pied au coin' - LIT - a hit with the foot in the corner.

There are no swear words in Gaelic.

"Sitting on the Fence" in French translates to "Being both sides of the bridge"

With my French sailing friends we used the following (small minds I know). The "jib" is called a "foc", so instead of "trim" and "ease" we used to say foc-on and foc-off 🙂

The French use food terms for many things, always amuses me that calling someone a cabbage is a term of endearment, "mon chou". Also instead of a "stud" you may be called a "canard" - a duck isn't quite so manly !

Well Be-Jaysus you certainly make up for it when speaking English

🙂 It's a strange one isn't it. We're probably the sweariest speakers of english (on average). One assumes we were so delighted to have a language with taboo words, that we overdosed on it and never really stopped.

@dd my favourite Irish saying is "fierce idjiot" (I can't work out how to write the way you say fierce)