Ever ran out of words in a conversation, because the perfect word for your feeling doesn’t exist in English? You’re not alone! Even though English is an amazing language, there are some feelings or situations that simply can’t transfer into words in English! It happens even more frequently if you speak a second language. We’ll rescue you in this post as we’ll talk about 10 foreign words we need in the English language.
Dépaysement (French)
Meaning “disorientation” in word, but Dépaysement means the confusion that happens to you when traveling outside of your home country!
Voorpret (Dutch)
Do you remember the nights before going to amusements park? That excitement feeling before doing something fun is called Voorpret in Dutch.
Ya’arburnee تقبرني (Arabic)
Have you ever loved someone so much that “I love you” wasn’t enough for it? Arabs use “Ya’arburnee” which means, “May you bury me”. extremely romantic, right?
Pelinti (Ghana)
Pelinti is when a delicious food is hot but you can’t wait and grab a bite, you move it rapidly inside your mouth to not burn yourself. Ghanaian people have the word, “Pelinti” for it!
Shemomedjamo შემომეჯამო (Georgia)
Shemomedjamo is a word in Georgian which is used when the food is so delicious that you eat it all! It translates to “I accidentally ate the whole thing.”
vergüenza ajena (Spanish)
Meaning “Embarrassment” in English, “Vergüenza ajena” is used when someone else says/does something so shameful that you feel ashamed instead of them!
Razlyubit Разлюбить (Russia)
In Russian, “Razlyubit” means “Fall out of love” which is clear enough itself! “Did you Razlyubit with me?”, “Da, Sergei, let’s meet other people!”
Cheshm zadan چشم زدن (Iran)
“Cheshm zadan” meaning “Hitting by eye” is a Persian word used for Jinx, when someone’s bad vibe ruins your whole plan. It may sound superstitious but Iranians believe in “Cheshm zadan” like no tomorrow!
Kolay Gelsin (Turkey)
“Kolay Gelsin” means “May it come easy to you” in Turkish and is used when someone’s working or just finished doing something. It becomes very useful once you start using it!
Shikata ga nai 仕方がない (Japan)
“Shikata ga nai” is basically like “Hakuna Matata” from “The lion king”, meaning why should you worry about something you have no control over?
Very nice…
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This was a very cool post. I love learning about these variations in language.
Languages are just so cool!
Thank you for your comment!
Thanks for enlightening me! 🌞
My pleasure. Thank you for your kind comment!
“Voorpret” often made me too excited to go to sleep as a child, knowing the fun I was about to have the next day. I still sometimes have that feeling, so it’s nice to know my inner child hasn’t vanished completely 🙂
Wow, that’s amazing!
You just took me to my old Voorpret times! Thank you for that.
No! And he had thought the fact I had been practically fluent was useless. Not to mention, Russian can sound really menacing. He left me alone after that. Fyi, you’re grammatically incorrect on your example of using razliubit. Just saying 😊
You made the right move, leaving him! I mean, it’s more than cool to be with someone who speaks another language!
Oh, what would you suggest then?
I couldn’t agree more with both points! If you’re going to go with “Did you…” etc, you need to say, “ты Разлюбиш?” There is a “sh” sound on the end if you are using the familiar form of you, which it is in this context
What a great list. Yes, we could use some of those concepts in English!
Exactly!
I wish the new generation start learning another languages! (Which I highly doubt as they’re just getting lazier and lazier!)
Thank you for your comment!
You never know. One of my kids became passionate about learning Japanese when in grade school. Just by studying on her own, she’s managed to pass the N4. She also studies Spanish in high school and is writing her senior paper on existenialism in Spanish. My other kids took French. There are definitely still young people that love language learning–even in the U.S. where I live (believe it or not :-)).
Wow! That’s awesome! You raised them the right way.
Good for you! 😊👍🏼
Your children are way ahead of me! I am fluent in two and working on another two now. It’s confusing but fun! Lol!
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Interesting
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This is the main reason I LOVE languages! You get words and phrases that put into words you can’t explain in your own language. Also, I can verify Разлюбить! I actually used it when my ex wasn’t taking no for an answer! He didn’t know what I meant, but the fact I was able to tell him to take a hike in Russian was GOLD!
That’s right! He wasn’t Russian, was he?