
216 postive words not in the English language - zeristor
http://www.drtimlomas.com/#!language-lexicography/ud582
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dang
You've broken the HN guidelines by rewriting this title to make it more
misleading and linkbaity, not to mention adding the arbitrary sort of number
(216) that the guidelines ask you to take out. Please read them so your
submissions can follow the rules in the future:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

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dEnigma
Weird, a lot of "words not in the English language" are described with ONE
English word. Like "Asabiyyah = togetherness"; "Sumud = steadfastness". So it
seems those words in fact ARE in the English language.

edit: Also, at least a lot of the German words have really strange (or simply
wrong) translations:

Fingerspitzengefühl is NOT "the ability to think clearly about multiple
phenomena". Wikipedia has a better definition[1]: "It describes a great
situational awareness, and the ability to respond most appropriately and
tactfully. It can also be applied to diplomats, bearers of bad news, or to
describe a superior ability to respond to an escalated situation."

A "Schnapsidee" is not "an ingenious plan hatched while drunk". In fact, most
"Schnapsideen" are, while often imaginative, quite stupid, unrealistic or just
weird.

"Feierabend" is not the "festive mood at the end of a working day" but simply
"the end of a working day". "Feierabend-Stimmung" or "Feierabendlaune" would
be what describes the mood.

[1][https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fingerspitzengef%C3%BChl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fingerspitzengef%C3%BChl)

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DanBC
> A "Schnapsidee" is not "an ingenious plan hatched while drunk". In fact,
> most "Schnapsideen" are, while often imaginative, quite stupid, unrealistic
> or just weird.

I'd love a website to collect examples of these.

The Japanese Chindogu are perhaps similar, but for inventions not ideas.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chind%C5%8Dgu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chind%C5%8Dgu)

[http://www.chindogu.com/](http://www.chindogu.com/)

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dEnigma
Inventions would count as Schnapsideen too, so most Chindogus could probably
be called a Schnapsidee ;)

I'm sure there must be a website collecting Schnapsideen somewhere, one just
has to find it.

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bonoboTP
Totally wrong about Hungarian. "Pihentagyú" (literally "relaxed-brained") is a
_negative_ word. It implies the person hasn't had to used his brain in a while
(for normal day-to-day worries) and so he comes up with some crazy ideas. It
could be some terrible pun, some stupid "life-hack" or prank. When someone
looks like they were bored and tried to get creative but ends up looking silly
or hurt himself. The typical funny "fail" videos where someone feels they have
a new "clever" way of something, like tie a sledge behind a tram or similar.

It's totally mistranslated.

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lucb1e
This list is a bit... off. Speaking Dutch, I can say that:

\- Borrel could be translated as drinks. Usually there will be small snacks as
well, but that often goes together with drinks as well.

\- Gezellig is not just cosiness. If that was it, there'd be an English word
right?

\- Gunnen is the only one, besides gezellig, that seems to really not exist.
Gezellig is rather famous for it because it's difficult to translate. Gunnen
on the other hand can easily be described with other words: "ik gun het je"
("I 'gun' it [to] you") would be "I'd like for you to have it" (e.g. the last
piece of cake).

\- I never heard of Janteloven or anything similar. Turns out it doesn't
exist:
[http://www.woorden.org/woord/janteloven](http://www.woorden.org/woord/janteloven)

\- Queesting does not exist, either. I never heard of that.

\- Lekker is tasty or nice depending on context. It has different meanings in
different contexts, but that doesn't mean there is no translation. It doesn't
mean all of the possible contextual translations at the same time.

\- Uitwaaien is getting some fresh air.

~~~
chaosmachine
Some background on Janteloven:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Jante](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Jante)

~~~
anotherdutchy
So, as stated in the parent comment, not Dutch.

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jeremysmyth
Mistitled. It's not words that aren't in English, but words categorized by
language, many of which are (naturally) not English.

There is, however, a category for English language, and other languages have
words that have migrated to English, like "Tao" and "wanderlust".

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T-R
Looking at the Japanese and Korean, it seems there's some over-romanticization
here.It's a little odd seeing the Japanese "nakama", the word Monkey D. Luffy
constantly throws around to refer to his crew, described like it has some deep
philosophy behind it. Similar goes for Korean "Sarang", which is probably the
first word every Korean student learns, and the most common word said by any
K-Pop star - if its usage isn't in any way distinct from the English word for
"love", it shouldn't be described like some alien concept. On the other hand,
Japanese "Ai" would actually be slightly distinct, since people use "Suki" for
anything more casual.

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diego_moita
Cafuné is a Brazilian Portuguese word and is not very common in other
Portuguese speaking countries. It originates from "kifumate" a word in
Umbundu, a native language in Angola, that designates collective grooming, the
activity of picking lice and parasites from someone's hair.

The explanation for "desenrascanço" is wrong. It actually means the verb
"desenrascar", similar to the English "dodging a bullet". Desenrascanço is a
substantive and means the trick actually used to avoid the trouble. It is a
word used mostly in Portugal, most people would probably not understand it in
other portuguese-speaking countries.

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nordify
Myötähäpeä: vicarious embarrassment.

This is one of my favorite words in Finnish. It is so apt and describing. I
totally get it. I cannot, for example, watch a lot of reality tv because I
feel so ashamed and embarrassed for the person on tv.

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ajuc
If you like such words there's whole subreddit with them:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/doesnottranslate](https://www.reddit.com/r/doesnottranslate)

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tetraodonpuffer
speaking for the Italian side of things, 'sprezzatura' is a 16th century term,
don't think I've ever heard it used by anybody before.

Rather than 'sprezzatura' I would have put something like 'bella figura' which
is instead in wide use and not present in English as far as I can think of, it
could be taken as meaning to present oneself at one's best, sort of like
showing off but without the negative connotations associated to it.

This can be related to dress, or to doing something really well, to having
really good etiquette, etc. etc.

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nokicky
'Tuko pamoja' translates literally to 'we are together'. Not only is it not a
single word, but it's literally translatable to English. Tuko - we are, pamoja
- together.

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Grue3
I can't speak for other languages, but Toska is not a positive word. It means
"boredom" or "homesickness". What's the criterion for inclusion anyway?

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sakopov
A couple of corrections.

> Prostor (простор): desire for spaciousness and freedom.

The direct translation is "open range." I wouldn't call it a desire.

> Razljubít﻿ (разлюбить): the feeling a person has for someone they once
> loved.

To fall out of love with someone or something.

Here is a few I'd like to add:

милосердие (miloserdie) - Showing mercy and compassion

истина (istina) - the ultimate truth

Великодушие (velikodushie) - unselfish compliance, indulgence? I'm not sure
how to translate this one lol

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JanneVee
Speaking both Finnish and Swedish I think it is a little mislabeled. just two
examples Finnish: 'Sisu' could be translated 'Grit' and in Swedish 'Trygghet'
can be translated 'Security' or 'Safety' depending on context.

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miguelrochefort
In French, "flâner" is a negative word. It directly translates to "loitering".

I only ever see it being used on these signs:
[http://frenchpotatoes.r.f.f.unblog.fr/files/2008/07/dsc01060...](http://frenchpotatoes.r.f.f.unblog.fr/files/2008/07/dsc01060.jpg)

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Frondo
The transliteration for قاموس is also wrong. He has 'tarab' but it should be
something more like 'qaamus'.

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zeristor
The link is for the raw list; additions seemingly welcome.

This link gives more of an explanation about it:

[http://digest.bps.org.uk/2016/01/there-are-at-
least-216-fore...](http://digest.bps.org.uk/2016/01/there-are-at-
least-216-foreign-words.html)

~~~
guitarbill
Oh dear: "Publishing his initial findings in the The Journal of Positive
Psychology, Lomas' hope is not only that we might learn more about the
positive psychology of other cultures, but that hearing of these words might
enrich our own emotional lives. [...] Lomas' method was to trawl websites
devoted to "untranslatable words" (i.e. words that don't have a single
corresponding word in English), then to do some googling and finally to
consult colleagues and students. This way he ended up with a list of 216
untranslatable words for positive emotional states and concepts."

~~~
dmoy
Wait you mean they didn't ask people who are actually native/fluent speakers
of each language? Seems like that would be a pretty minimal bar for
publishing...

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bshimmin
I suppose you could argue that "Schadenfreude" counts as a positive word, for
at least one of the parties involved anyway.

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petke
Just looked up Finnish quickly. I never thought of it before but its very
strange to me that a basic word like jaksaa is missing from English. It seems
as basic a word as want or cant. In English you have to say something
cumbersome "I don't have the energy to do that" in Finnish or Swedish you say
that in 3 short words.

~~~
bboreham
"Meh"

~~~
petke
It took me a while to get that. Yes thats a very useful word. Much information
per character. If we could use it as a verb also it would be very useful. Ex:
I meh calling her, could you do it?

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DotSauce
Thank you, I registered Bitmoun.com. I like the ring of it and the Arabic
meaning is great "building up good social Karma" I also found another
translation may be "I owe you." It would also lend itself nicely to a Bitcoin
related service. If anyone can confirm this Arabic translation I would be very
grateful.

