Words in your language that don´t translate well into English? Most terms can be translated in some way or another, but are there any words that lose a bit of that je ne sais pas when translated?&nbsp

Oturum aç

Kaydol

Matt

Words in your language that don´t translate well into English? Most terms can be translated in some way or another, but are there any words that lose a bit of that je ne sais pas when translated? Let´s hear them.

7 Şub 2018 14:26

Yorumlar · 24

Thanks for the introduction, Su.Ki., I suppose I shall now have to oblige and give a few untranslatable Irish words.

Dying in an upright position used to be an important concept in Ireland, as anyone familiar with Irish mythology will recall (think of Cú Chulainn), but having said that, the word you're thinking of, Teacher Matt, is storc, or stiorc (with a final c) and actually means the corpse of someone who died in an upright position. If left for too long, such a corpse might exude ainbhlinn, which is froth from the mouth of a decaying corpse.

The word Su.Ki. had in mind was fraighfhliuch and describes clothes which are damp from being in contact with a wet wall. I don't know of a specific word for the associated ache, but if it's not too sore it might be called a griog, which is a slight, irritating pain.

But don't be thinking that Irish is all doom and gloom, we also have untranslatable words of a more pleasant nature. For example airneál means going to visit people late in the evening, to chat, tell stories and generally have a bit of craic (an entertaining time spent in pleasant company with lively and enjoyable conversation) into the night. And speaking of nights, Irish has a distinct word for "last night": aréir, as opposed to "tonight", which is anocht (neither of which are related to the word for "night", which is oíche). It's much the same with years, "last year" has a special word, anuraidh, completely unrelated to bliain, the word for "year".

8 Şubat 2018

Goodness, what a lot of fangirls! Well, I don't want to disappoint, so here are a few more Irish words, about different kinds of people this time (Irish has lots of these kinds of words):

Mantachán - a person whose speech is difficult to understand because of their gappy teeth (bonus words: mant or séanas = the gap between a person's front teeth).

Straipleach - a man who is strong but lazy.

Scroglachán - a person with a long, thin neck, whose body somewhat resembles a bottle in shape.

Cincíseach - a person born at Whitsun, said to be destined to slay or be slain, hence an ill-fated person (bonus word: fód an bháis = lit. the sod of death, the very spot where one is fated to die - there are various stories of people discovering the whereabouts of their own fód an bháis and digging it up to hide it somewhere in an attempt to cheat death; needless to say, the vicissitudes of life ensure that sooner or later the person fulfils his destiny anyway).

10 Şubat 2018

Thanks, Kseniia; it's easy to lose oneself in the enchanting world of ancient Ireland, I'm glad I was able to entice you in and I hope you found enough of interest there to make you want to return.
Did you find out the pronunciation of "Cú Chulainn" in the end?

Speaking of Cú Chulainn, another Irish word springs to mind which has no direct translation in English: riastradh, it's a concept particularly associated with the legendary Ulster warrior and refers to a violent contortion of the body resulting from a warlike frenzy.

9 Şubat 2018

As I understand it, Irish is full of incredible words. Have you met a member called Coligno here? He's a mine of information, and he often tells us about the richness of Irish vocabulary. Apparently there's a word for the ache you get from spending too much time in contact with a damp wall, if I remember correctly. If we're lucky, he'll pop up here and supply us with a few more.

7 Şubat 2018