28 words that don't exist

7/30/2019 28 Words That Don't Exist

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28 Words That Dont Exist in the English Language

I love to take the time to choose the ideal words when Im writing something, but sometimes the

perfect word to describe something doesnt exist in the English language.

The following 28 words do not have direct equivalents in English. Some of them would definitely be

useful if they existed in English.

Age-otori (Japanese): To look worse after a haircut

Arigata-meiwaku (Japanese): An act someone does for you that you didnt want to have them do

and tried to avoid having them do, but they went ahead anyway, determined to do you a favor, and

then things went wrong and caused you a lot of trouble, yet in the end social conventions required

you to express gratitude

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

Bakku-shan (Japanese): A beautiful girl as long as shes being viewed from behind

Desenrascanco (Portuguese): to disentangle yourself out of a bad situation (To MacGyver it)

Duende (Spanish): a climactic show of spirit in a performance or work of art, which might be fulfilled

in flamenco dancing, or bull-fighting, etc.

Forelsket (Norwegian): The euphoria you experience when you are first falling in love


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Gigil (pronounced Gheegle; Filipino): The urge to pinch or squeeze something that is unbearably cute

Guanxi (Mandarin): in traditional Chinese society, you would build up good guanxi by giving gifts to

people, taking them to dinner, or doing them a favor, but you can also use up your gianxi by askingfor a favor to be repaid

Ilunga (Tshiluba, Congo): A person who is ready to forgive any abuse for the first time, to tolerate it a

second time, but never a third time

Lesprit de lescalier (or lesprit descalier): usually translated as staircase wit, is the act of thinking

of a clever comeback when it is too late to deliver it

Litost (Czech): a state of torment created by the sudden sight of ones own misery

Mamihlapinatapai (Yaghan): A look between two people that suggests an unspoken, shared desire

Manja (Malay): to pamper, it describes gooey, childlike and coquettish behavior by womendesigned to elicit sympathy or pampering by men. His girlfriend is a damn manja. Hearing her speak

can cause diabetes.

Meraki (pronounced may-rah-kee; Greek): Doing something with soul, creativity, or love. Its when

you put something of yourself into what youre doing

Nunchi (Korean): the subtle art of listening and gauging anothers mood. In Western culture, nunchicould be described as the concept of emotional intelligence. Knowing what to say or do, or what not

to say or do, in a given situation. A socially clumsy person can be described as nunchi eoptta,

meaning absent of nunchi

Pena ajena (Mexican Spanish): The embarrassment you feel watching someone elses humiliation

Pochemuchka (Russian): a person who asks a lot of questions


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Schadenfreude (German): the pleasure derived from someone elses pain

Sgiomlaireachd (Scottish Gaelic): When people interrupt you at mealtime

Sgriob (Gaelic): The itchiness that overcomes the upper lip just before taking a sip of whisky

Shlimazl (Yiddish): Somebody who has nothing but bad luck

Stam (Hebrew): An agreement out of amusement and frustration that something doesnt have a

satisfactory answer among those talking

Taarradhin (Arabic): implies a happy solution for everyone, or I win. You win. Its a way of

reconciling without anyone losing face. Arabic has no word for compromise, in the sense of

reaching an arrangement via struggle and disagreement

Tatemae and Honne (Japanese): What you pretend to believe and what you actually believe,

respectively

Tingo (Pascuense language of Easter Island): to borrow objects one by one from a neighbors house

until there is nothing left

Waldeinsamkeit (German): The feeling of being alone in the woods

Yoko meshi (Japanese): literally a meal eaten sideways, referring to the peculiar stress induced by

speaking a foreign language

28 words that don't exist

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