NationStates Jolt Archive

I was reminded of my time in Canada today. Particularly about one radio show I would listen to some afternoons. The show had a contest to invent new words; they would describe a situation or issue and asked their listeners to find a word for it. One example was what this decade should be called... we had the eighties, the nineties, so what would the first decade of this century be called? They finally agreed on calling it the "naughties".
Now, at one point one of the hosts said she has spent some time with francophone friends, and at some point one of them asked her what the "mie du pain" was in English. And then they discovered there simply is no word for that in English....

So, have you ever enountered a word in a foreign language that has no translation in your own? Or do you know a situation for which you wished there was a word?

I know how people say that Germans have a word for everything, but there is none for "mie du pain" either. I understand though that there is one in Norgwegian ;)

Flitch!

...What's mie du pain? Does it involve bread?

err breadcrumbs?

...What's mie du pain? Does it involve bread?

It's the inside of the bread, the white soft part.

It's the inside of the bread, the white soft part.

unles its brown bread

Flitch!

This Flitch? (http://www.dunmowflitchtrials.co.uk/history.htm) :confused:

One example was what this decade should be called... we had the eighties, the nineties, so what would the first decade of this century be called? They finally agreed on calling it the "naughties".
They're only about, oh I don't know, seventeen thousand years late with 'inventing' that one.

Is there a word in German for supercalafragalisticexpialadotious?

Technically, there's no French word for "Mie du pain" either, since that's three words. It directly translates to something "of bread". What's english for "mie"?

unles its brown bread

I think even then the inside would be called mie... any francophones to help me out here?

They're only about, oh I don't know, seventeen thousand years late with 'inventing' that one.

Is there a word in German for supercalafragalisticexpialadotious?

no, they have a more efficient word: Fun (or Spaß)

It's the inside of the bread, the white soft part.

...Why can't we just say 'inside of the bread'? They have three words for it, we can use four.

Technically, there's no French word for "Mie du pain" either, since that's three words. It directly translates to something "of bread". What's english for "mie"?

Actually, "mie" would be the word in itself. I just added "du pain" for clarification here.

...Why can't we just say 'inside of the bread'? They have three words for it, we can use four.
You could also cut out on of the middle words.

Inside of bread, Inside the bread.

Means the same thing.

They're only about, oh I don't know, seventeen thousand years late with 'inventing' that one.

Is there a word in German for supercalafragalisticexpialadotious?

Well, in the movie it's superkalifragilistischexpialigetisch ;)

This Flitch? (http://www.dunmowflitchtrials.co.uk/history.htm) :confused:
This Flitch (www.coalregion.com/Recipes/flitch.htm)!

English has words for everything...mainly because if we don't have one that covers the meaning, we nick it from another language... ;) ....karaoke, zeitgeist, aficionado, faux pas, hoi polloi, Weltanschauung etc etc etc

mie du pain = inbread? :)

Drachenfutter - German, a peace offering from husband to wife. (Lit: Dragon-fodder.) :p

I know how people say that Germans have a word for everything, but there is none for "mie du pain" either. I understand though that there is one in Norgwegian ;)

There is a word for it in Swedish, too. It's called "kråm." Literally means "the soft inner part of bread." It is sometimes used for the pulp of certain fruits, too, although that usage is rare and I would say almost extinct.

I suppose an English word could be "pulp" as in "bread pulp," if you really must have one.

Drachenfutter - German, a peace offering from husband to wife. (Lit: Dragon-fodder.) :p
AH, my horrible wife...

Drachenfutter - German, a peace offering from husband to wife. (Lit: Dragon-fodder.) :p

Hehe... I hadn't heard that before, but since you would call a horrible wife (or any horrible woman, really) dragon, it does make sense. :D

My Francophone friend on the phone (cool sonic alliteration there, as long as we're being word geeks), said the closest literal translation would be "crumb of the bread", where mie is defined as "crumb". She'd never heard it as a phrase, but guesses it could be the French equivalent of "the meat of the matter", i.e., the important part of an argument or concept...the marrow, the crux.

Another good French idiom is L'Esprit d'Escalier, or "staircase wit". It refers to the perfect comeback to an insult or statement that you think of too late, as you're using the stairs to leave the scene.

The Norwegians have Uff da!, which is some kind of cross between exasperation and resignation (a sort of cross between "yikes" and "what can you do?").

My favorite German idiom is Schadenfreude, a direct translation of which is "harm-joy". As I recall, it is the act or feeling of taking pleasure in seeing another's misfortune. Not in a "he got what was coming" righteous vengeance kind of way, but a more nihilistic, semi-smug kind of way. That is an advantage of a portmanteau vocabulary like German. Need to add another quality? Tack the word for it on the end of the word you've already got! POOF! New word.

You can almost see the German construction process at work in the word "flak", which is an acronym for fliegerabwehrkanone:

"Let's zee, it's a canon..." kanone
"It's defensiff..." abwehr
"Unt, it defends speziffically agyainst air assolts." flieger
"Now, vee put ze noun at ze ent of de vord, unt ze adjective next, unt ze zecondary noun in front. Zo!"

I love German.

Notcrust.

English has words for everything...mainly because if we don't have one that covers the meaning, we nick it from another language... ;) ....karaoke, zeitgeist, aficionado, faux pas, hoi polloi, Weltanschauung etc etc etc
Also camouflage, pasta, schmuck, joie de vivre, bona fide, and lots more. I love English, too.

I can't remember whose sig it is, but someone has a sig that says something like "English doesn't borrow words from other languages, it follows other languages down dark alleys, beats them silly, and steals them."

it's bread.

think about it. you get a slice of bread, then remove the crust, you'r left with bread.

mie du pain = bread innards? :)

You could also cut out on of the middle words.

Inside of bread, Inside the bread.

Means the same thing.
A sandwich chain from Minnesota called Erbert & Gerberts solves this problem. They call it the "guts" of the bread. The tear out much of it and give it to you as a sop for your soup. It also allows the bread to better contain the sandwich contents.

"Bread guts." Two words.

"Inbread" might be an option. But I can already see this leading to serious misunderstandings... :D

Another good French idiom is L'Esprit d'Escalier, or "staircase wit". It refers to the perfect comeback to an insult or statement that you think of too late, as you're using the stairs to leave the scene.

Actually, it's "l'esprit de l'escalier."

My favorite German idiom is Schadenfreude,

That's not an idiom. An idiom is an expression that has a meaning that cannot be derived from the conjoined meanings of its elements. Schadenfreude (and its Swedish equivalent "skadeglädje") has its meaning easily derived from its elements.

That is an advantage of a portmanteau vocabulary like German. Need to add another quality? Tack the word for it on the end of the word you've already got! POOF! New word.

To be fair, most Germanic languages can do that - even English, even if to a more limited extent and despite not eliding the constituent words in the written.

Also camouflage, pasta, schmuck, joie de vivre, bona fide, and lots more. I love English, too.

I can't remember whose sig it is, but someone has a sig that says something like "English doesn't borrow words from other languages, it follows other languages down dark alleys, beats them silly, and steals them."

The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.

?

The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.

That does sound like something Terry Pratchett might write... :D

That does sound like something Terry Pratchett might write... :D

It may sound like Pratchett, but it actually originates with a chap called James Nicolls writing in rec.arts.sf-lovers (a science fiction newsgroup) on Usenet:


http://groups.google.co.uk/group/rec.arts.sf-lovers/msg/c961c46670ca97d6?dmode=source&hl=en

Some words, I miss in English: Klassenerhalt, unabsteigbar, Rele (Relegationsspiel==relegation match), schadenfroh (there is the noun, but no adjective and adverb to Schadenfreude), abrauchen (for computers "to crash" isn't as nice sometimes)

OK, here's a tough one (and it's in English, to boot):

I was playing Halo a few days ago, driving around in the jeep, just screwing around, when I encountered a tree. It was an odd tree. I tried to smash into it, but the jeep went straight through it, like it wasn't there. You could see it, and it was three-dimensional, but when you tried to touch it your hand would just pass through it.

Now, what is the word to describe something like that? Think of it as being the opposite of invisible; instead of "you can touch it, but not see it", it's "you can see it, but not touch it."

It's literally indescribable.

OK, here's a tough one (and it's in English, to boot):

I was playing Halo a few days ago, driving around in the jeep, just screwing around, when I encountered a tree. It was an odd tree. I tried to smash into it, but the jeep went straight through it, like it wasn't there. You could see it, and it was three-dimensional, but when you tried to touch it your hand would just pass through it.

Now, what is the word to describe something like that? Think of it as being the opposite of invisible; instead of "you can touch it, but not see it", it's "you can see it, but not touch it."

It's literally indescribable.

Thats easy. Its inphysical. :)

Or... you can just call it an illusion...

I'd say: Intangible...

I'd say: Intangible...

Incorporeal is also good, as would be mirage, spectre, phantom, ghost, eidolon, vision, hologram... need I go to all the effort of lifting Roget's off the shelf?

OK, here's a tough one (and it's in English, to boot):

I was playing Halo a few days ago, driving around in the jeep, just screwing around, when I encountered a tree. It was an odd tree. I tried to smash into it, but the jeep went straight through it, like it wasn't there. You could see it, and it was three-dimensional, but when you tried to touch it your hand would just pass through it.

Now, what is the word to describe something like that? Think of it as being the opposite of invisible; instead of "you can touch it, but not see it", it's "you can see it, but not touch it."

It's literally indescribable.
I'd suggest "untouchable". Maybe transdimensional. Or bodyless.

Say, Cabra - didn't we have this kind of coversation not too long ago and I told you that German does have the counterpart for "miel du pain", namely "Krume". http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krume_%28Backware%29

Thats easy. Its inphysical. :)

Or... you can just call it an illusion...

Or illusory

The only time mie du pain has come up in my life it was called "waste" when making bread soup bowls for clam chowder.

None of these quite get at the concept, although they come very close.

inphysical - not a word

illusion - "An erroneous perception of reality. See delusion, hallucination". It was real, alright. You just couldn't touch it.

intangible - "Incapable of being perceived by the senses; incapable of being realized or defined". That's more like a synonym of "abstract" or "imaginary", or "unimaginable".

incorporeal - "Lacking material form or substance." A bit closer, although I think this describes something spiritual, like a soul or a ghost, visible, but free from a physical body.

mirage - No, that describes a physical phenomenon involving hot air.

spectre, phantom, ghost, eidolon - all of these are supernatural beings... this was a tree.

vision - "A mental image produced by the imagination; dream, fancy, figment." Nope.

hologram - That's a real technology, and not what the tree was.

untouchable - "Not to be touched. Out of reach; unobtainable." It does describe somthing that can't be touched, but in the sense that you can't reach it or that you're not allowed to touch it.

transdimensional - Definitely not.

bodyless - No, that's just something lacking a physical body, like a spirit.

illusory - "Of, relating to, or in the nature of an illusion; lacking reality: chimerical, delusive, dreamlike, illusive, phantasmagoric, phantasmal, phantasmic. See real/imaginary." That's also pretty close...

So the best so far are "incorporeal" and "illusory".

OK, here's a tough one (and it's in English, to boot):

I was playing Halo a few days ago, driving around in the jeep, just screwing around, when I encountered a tree. It was an odd tree. I tried to smash into it, but the jeep went straight through it, like it wasn't there. You could see it, and it was three-dimensional, but when you tried to touch it your hand would just pass through it.

Now, what is the word to describe something like that? Think of it as being the opposite of invisible; instead of "you can touch it, but not see it", it's "you can see it, but not touch it."

It's literally indescribable.there are several words you can use with tree.
Intangible
Illusion
Image
Holographic
Specter
Phantom

The only time mie du pain has come up in my life it was called "waste" when making bread soup bowls for clam chowder.
Now I want to go to San Francisco and have clam chowder in a sourdough bowl. Great. :rolleyes: *mopes and trudges off to bed hungry*

The only time mie du pain has come up in my life it was called "waste" when making bread soup bowls for clam chowder.
why? you are assuming they throw it away... mean while it can be incorproated in many things.

meatloaf,
Crumb covering for many dishes
stuffing
the posibilites are... well there.:D

Now I want to go to San Francisco and have clam chowder in a sourdough bowl. Great. :rolleyes: *mopes and trudges off to bed hungry*
if you're on the continental US, it's far easier for you than me my firend. :(

I'd suggest "untouchable". Maybe transdimensional. Or bodyless.

Say, Cabra - didn't we have this kind of coversation not too long ago and I told you that German does have the counterpart for "miel du pain", namely "Krume". http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krume_%28Backware%29

I don't remember that to be honest... And I always thought Krume referred to the crust rather than the inside? :confused:

if you're on the continental US, it's far easier for you than me my firend. :(

She's in Berlin... so you'd be a bit closer to San Fransisco right now...

I was reminded of my time in Canada today. Particularly about one radio show I would listen to some afternoons. The show had a contest to invent new words; they would describe a situation or issue and asked their listeners to find a word for it. One example was what this decade should be called... we had the eighties, the nineties, so what would the first decade of this century be called? They finally agreed on calling it the "naughties".
Now, at one point one of the hosts said she has spent some time with francophone friends, and at some point one of them asked her what the "mie du pain" was in English. And then they discovered there simply is no word for that in English....

So, have you ever enountered a word in a foreign language that has no translation in your own? Or do you know a situation for which you wished there was a word?

I know how people say that Germans have a word for everything, but there is none for "mie du pain" either. I understand though that there is one in Norgwegian ;)

yes, one of my friends tried telling me about something in Chinese that didn't have a word for it in English, so I had no clue what he was talking about

None of these quite get at the concept, although they come very close.

inphysical - not a wordagreed. but I thought the idea was to find a word? :p

illusion - "An erroneous perception of reality. See delusion, hallucination". It was real, alright. You just couldn't touch it.if you couldn't touch it, how do you know it was real... did you smell it? hear it?

intangible - "Incapable of being perceived by the senses; incapable of being realized or defined". That's more like a synonym of "abstract" or "imaginary", or "unimaginable".Actually, if used as an adjective... you have
Main Entry: in·tan·gi·ble
Pronunciation: in-'tan-j&-b&l
Function: adjective
: incapable of being touched : having no physical existence : not tangible or corporeal

incorporeal - "Lacking material form or substance." A bit closer, although I think this describes something spiritual, like a soul or a ghost, visible, but free from a physical body.again, as an adjective...

Main Entry: in·cor·po·re·al
Pronunciation: "in-kor-'pOr-E-&l
Function: adjective
: not tangible : having no material body or form <incorporeal hereditaments> <an incorporeal right> —compare CORPOREAL

mirage - No, that describes a physical phenomenon involving hot air. the second definition of Mirage is Something illusory or insubstantial.

spectre, phantom, ghost, eidolon - all of these are supernatural beings... this was a tree.you really need to look at the other definitions of the words. all can mean illusion.

vision - "A mental image produced by the imagination; dream, fancy, figment." Nope.why not, did you touch it? no, so maybe you did imagine it.

hologram - That's a real technology, and not what the tree was.err... you were playing HALO... a Computer Game... so...

untouchable - "Not to be touched. Out of reach; unobtainable." It does describe somthing that can't be touched, but in the sense that you can't reach it or that you're not allowed to touch it.well, the computer program did decide you were forbidden to touch it with your vehicle...

bodyless - No, that's just something lacking a physical body, like a spirit.did it have a physical body? did you get out of your vehicle and touch it?

illusory - "Of, relating to, or in the nature of an illusion; lacking reality: chimerical, delusive, dreamlike, illusive, phantasmagoric, phantasmal, phantasmic. See real/imaginary." That's also pretty close...

So the best so far are "incorporeal" and "illusory".actually since you were playing a video game, the word you're looking for is either Glitch or Error. :D

She's in Berlin... so you'd be a bit closer to San Fransisco right now...
ah... didn't know... but you can make your own... and home made is much better. :D

How about other words for Sapphic? :D

How about other words for Sapphic? :D
simple. Poetic metre


or if you mean the Definition that I think you mean...

err...
Wow!
Yowzers!
Thank you God!

or simply... http://img227.exs.cx/img227/8438/pimp4tq.gif

simple. Poetic metre


or if you mean the Definition that I think you mean...

err...
Wow!
Yowzers!
Thank you God!

or simply... http://img227.exs.cx/img227/8438/pimp4tq.gif

Hehe... I guess he's refering to the second. But why would you actually need two words to describe the same... concept?

Hehe... I guess he's refering to the second. But why would you actually need two words to describe the same... concept?
well, metre is a broad...er... generic term.

guess another word/words for the second definition is... Yes please.

thats easy, its called bread.

there is bread and there is crust, crust is on the outside, the inside stuff is called bread:D

well, metre is a broad...er... generic term.

guess another word/words for the second definition is... Yes please.

*lol
Why, though? What does that do for you?

*lol
Why, though? What does that do for you?
:confused:

you know, I really don't know... can you help me find out what it will do for me?


let me know when you find a partner. ;)

:confused:

you know, I really don't know... can you help me find out what it will do for me?


let me know when you find a partner. ;)

Hehe... I'm pretty sure Grainne Ni Malley would be all to happy to play along ;)

Hehe... I'm pretty sure Grainne Ni Malley would be all to happy to play along ;)
*imagines scene*

Aaarrghh... rigor mortis! :eek:

ah... didn't know... but you can make your own... and home made is much better. :D Which only goes to prove that you never had to taste my cooking yet. :p

Okay... let me raise another question: what is it called if a team remains in the same league (ie: is nother promoted nor relegated). In German it'd be Klassenerhalt, in English?

Now, what is the word to describe something like that? Think of it as being the opposite of invisible; instead of "you can touch it, but not see it", it's "you can see it, but not touch it."
How about "vagina"?




Yeah, I'm not getting any.

A few other foreign words with no direct english translation:

Tingo: A Pascuense language word from Easter Island that means borrowing items from a pal's house, one by one, until there is nothing left.

Kummerspeck: a German word that literally means "grief bacon" but refers to the excess weight gained from emotion-related overeating.

Bakku-shan: Japanese for a woman who "seems pretty when seen from behind but not from the front." [though I'd argue that 'Butter-face' is a good english equivalent]

Ulykkesbilen: Danish for an "ill-fated car."

Putzfimmel: German word that means a mania for cleaning.

Nakkele: From Tulu, India, this describes a man who licks whatever the food has been served on.

Katahara itai: Japanese for laughing so hard that one side of your stomach hurts.

Drachenfutter: A German word that is "dragon fodder" when translated literally, but means the peace offerings made by guilty husbands to their wives.

Plimpplampplettere: Dutch for skimming stones.

Backpfeifengesicht: German for a face that cries out for a fist in it.

How about "vagina"?




Yeah, I'm not getting any.
Hey, as you long as you can still see any, that's not too bad of a deal you got there, is it? ;)

Where did you find that?

Hey, as you long as you can still see any, that's not too bad of a deal you got there, is it? ;)
Not really.
All my g/f's lately are related, in that they all have .jpg as their last name.

A few other foreign words with no direct english translation:

Tingo: A Pascuense language word from Easter Island that means borrowing items from a pal's house, one by one, until there is nothing left.

Kummerspeck: a German word that literally means "grief bacon" but refers to the excess weight gained from emotion-related overeating.

Bakku-shan: Japanese for a woman who "seems pretty when seen from behind but not from the front." [though I'd argue that 'Butter-face' is a good english equivalent]

Ulykkesbilen: Danish for an "ill-fated car."

Putzfimmel: German word that means a mania for cleaning.

Nakkele: From Tulu, India, this describes a man who licks whatever the food has been served on.

Katahara itai: Japanese for laughing so hard that one side of your stomach hurts.

Drachenfutter: A German word that is "dragon fodder" when translated literally, but means the peace offerings made by guilty husbands to their wives.

Plimpplampplettere: Dutch for skimming stones.

Backpfeifengesicht: German for a face that cries out for a fist in it.
Those are great! Especially the onomatopoeia of Plimpplampplettere. :p
And is there really no word in English for Kummerspeck? Never noticed that.

Not really.
All my g/f's lately are related, in that they all have .jpg as their last name.
Yeah, I kind of figured as much after I had posted. >.<

Where did you find that?
If you're refering to my post, it's from a book called,
"The Meaning of Tingo," by Adam Jacot de Boinod.

It draws on intriguing words and phrases culled from more than 154 languages, none of which have direct english translations.

If you're refering to my post, it's from a book called,
"The Meaning of Tingo," by Adam Jacot de Boinod.

It draws on intriguing words and phrases culled from more than 154 languages, none of which have direct english translations.
*runs off to amazon*

*runs off to support local small bookstore*

*comes back from reading the reader reviews on Amazon.de*

Hmm, that was sobering. They quoted two German words in the book - one doesn't even exist and sounds like a typical thing someone who doesn't speak the language would think is a German word, and his translation/explanation for the other one is incorrect.
I don't deal well with things like that - I wouldn't be able to enjoy the rest of the book, thinking that if he got those wrong, then what about the rest of the stuff? Esp. considering that German is far less exotic a language than some of the others mentioned even in your list.
That list is still great, btw, I'll just choose to believe the translations are all correct in those cases. ;)

As another one, I've always liked the word, katzenjammer, a German word for hangover (can also mean depression or unhappiness).

It literally means, "cats crying out in distress".

Describes my hangovers perfectly. Morning after, I always feel like a cat's somehow snuck into my skull and got its tail caught in a door.

Finnish for hangover is krapula, which is so succinct, there needs no more to be said about it.

except for krapularyyppy. In English, we'd say hair-of-the-dog.

*runs off to support local small bookstore*
:p I know, I know... But see, I didn't even buy it.

Just found this site on the internet:
Wierd words (http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/index.htm)
A list of outlandish and/or obscure words.

Reading through the list is a pointless, yet interesting divergence from doing anything else.

I find it particularly useful, when speaking of the current decade, to use a wonderful little version of a gold miner from 1870's Californian gold rush.

For those not familair with the accent, it goes something like this:

"By gum, thats the worst talkin since Ot, six, dagnabbit."

Here's a lovely word:
zenzizenzizenzic

Without googling, what are your guesses as to what it means?


Imagine the scrabble score on that, if scrabble had 6 'z'.

So what does "mie du pain" mean in english?:D
It's been said hasn't it?...
........

I believe( Or have heard) the Eskimo's have 34 different words for White...

Here's a lovely word:
zenzizenzizenzic

Without googling, what are your guesses as to what it means?


Imagine the scrabble score on that, if scrabble had 6 'z'.
A metal compound involving Zinc and Tungsten?:confused:

Here's a lovely word:
zenzizenzizenzic

Without googling, what are your guesses as to what it means?


Imagine the scrabble score on that, if scrabble had 6 'z'.


My only guess is that its science-related.

The only thing coming to mind is "Forensic", which I have no idea whats its latin roots are.

Nope to both of you.
Backwood is getting close.

hint, for those who want it:
It's not a science term. It's a maths term.

I remember a newspaper article about weird words i cut it out of the paper because i couldn't find it on the web, but then i lost it and so i never got around to telling you folks about it...
Anyways there were some pretty neat words on that list...
Whole book of them even.
Almost like a dictionary...
It is where i got that 34 words for white i Eskimo...
Inuit even...

Germans( the language) mash many words together to make new words almsot as if it was a sentence...

As another one, I've always liked the word, katzenjammer, a German word for hangover (can also mean depression or unhappiness).

It literally means, "cats crying out in distress".

...


Actually, Katzenjammer doesn't usually refer to a hangover, the word for that is Kater (literally : Tomcat). It's possible though that that usage is regional and I just never heard it.

Katzenjammer refers to slightly comic unhappiness, for petty reasons. An unhappiness you can't really take seriously but still feel a little sorry for. And a little schadenfroh ;)

In case anyone is still interested,
zenzizenzizenzic: The eighth power of a number.
Very old word, from German, zenzic, which is itself from Italian, censo, which meant the square of a number.
So obviously, the square of the square of the square would be zenzizenzizenzic.

The zenzizenzizenzic of 2 is 256.

Now to just think of a way to drop that into a conversation...

In case anyone is still interested,
zenzizenzizenzic: The eighth power of a number.
Very old word, from German, zenzic, which is itself from Italian, censo, which meant the square of a number.
So obviously, the square of the square of the square would be zenzizenzizenzic.

The zenzizenzizenzic of 2 is 256.

Now to just think of a way to drop that into a conversation...

Can you keep adding zenzis? Yanno the zenzizenzizenzizenzic of 2? (65536)

Can you keep adding zenzis? Yanno the zenzizenzizenzizenzic of 2? (65536)
I guess. I don't think they thought about numbers that big back then.

Is there any word in English or any other language for "notgeil"?

Is there any word in English or any other language for "notgeil"?
HA! That really made me laugh out loud. :D

I don't know, by the way.

ETA: "Desperate"?

Here's a lovely word:
zenzizenzizenzic

Without googling, what are your guesses as to what it means?


Imagine the scrabble score on that, if scrabble had 6 'z'.

A Dr Seuss invention for putting icicles on sticks?

HA! That really made me laugh out loud. :D

I don't know, by the way.

ETA: "Desperate"?

It's close, but it doesn't really describe the same thing... "desperate" is more universal than "notgeil" :D

Actually, Katzenjammer doesn't usually refer to a hangover, the word for that is Kater (literally : Tomcat). It's possible though that that usage is regional and I just never heard it.

Katzenjammer refers to slightly comic unhappiness, for petty reasons. An unhappiness you can't really take seriously but still feel a little sorry for. And a little schadenfroh ;)


LOL so that's the humor behind the name of the Katzenjammer Kids!

There is no other word for fla(good looking person), beore(girl)

A few other foreign words with no direct english translation:
Putzfimmel: German word that means a mania for cleaning.


Isnt that like Obsessive Complusive? Or is that just a sympton of the disorder? Meh, is just a thought.

Backpfeifengesicht: German for a face that cries out for a fist in it.

Oh I am SO using that! I'll call my German teacher it, see if he gets it.

There is no English translation of many Irish words, for example dúchas.

Isnt that like Obsessive Complusive? Or is that just a sympton of the disorder? Meh, is just a thought.


It's used for far less severe symptoms than normally would qualify for the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder... and it is in no sense a psychological term but colloquial.

Ooh... you guys will like this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Untranslatability

It's a Wikipedia article discussing the difficulty in translating certain words.

In fact, here are the ten English words that are hardest to translate, as rated by Translations Today (although some are disputed):

1. Plenipotentiary
2. Gobbledegook
3. Serendipity
4. Poppycock
5. Googly
6. Spam
7. Whimsy
8. Bumf
9. Chuffed
10. Kitsch

I've had a lot of trouble trying to find words for certain things in other languages...I couldn't, for example, explain 'cheesy' in the non-dairy sense in Spanish. There are many, many Cree words that need long detailed explanations in English, but I think that's because there is a world-view implied that needs to be explained along with the word. A direct translation isn't right, because the context is missing. Perhaps that's true of many translations?

1. Plenipotentiary - Bevollmaechtigter/Bevollmaechtigte
2. Gobbledegook - Kauderwelsch
3. Serendipity - blindes Glueck
4. Poppycock - Papperlepapp
5. Googly - ok, that's a tricky one
6. Spam - Dosenfleisch (:p )
7. Whimsy - Launig
8. Bumf - Papierkram
9. Chuffed - tricky as well, hocherfreut might be close
10. Kitsch - That's actually not an Englisch but a German word

1. Plenipotentiary

8. Bumf

I dont even know what those two mean in english... maybe they're specifically British terms...

I dont even know what those two mean in english... maybe their british terms...

Plenipotentary is someone who acts on behalf of a person or corporation with full rights and powers of said person/corporation.

And the way I understand bumf, it refers to massive amounts of papers and forms that need to be filled in, filed away, approved, checked, etc.

Plenipotentary is someone who acts on behalf of a person or corporation with full rights and powers of said person/corporation.

And the way I understand bumf, it refers to massive amounts of papers and forms that need to be filled in, filed away, approved, checked, etc.

Oh righto then. So bumf is just paperwork? It's a better word I spose. I just use "shit" myself.