There must be a word in [language] for that

May 21, 2017 5:48 PM

"Welcome to the positive lexicography, an evolving index of 'untranslatable' words related to wellbeing from across the world's languages." Interactive version. .Pdf version. Via "The Glossary of Happiness," by Emily Anthes, for The New Yorker.
posted by MonkeyToes (12 comments total)

This is lovely!

Not long ago I thought of writing an AskMe about the words "I love you." It is probably possible to string words together to form this phrase in most any language, but do people say it everywhere? Who do they say it to, what do they mean by it? I realized that would take a book, not an AskMe question. This website isn't an answer, but it might be as close as I could get.
posted by Countess Elena at 6:44 PM on May 21, 2017

I've been looking for years for a word that means strength through simplicity. any thoughts?
posted by rebent at 8:21 PM on May 21, 2017

Shibumi.
posted by clavdivs at 9:34 PM on May 21, 2017 [1 favorite]

I have minor quibbles with some of the Norwegian ones, but only minor. I'll throw in an additional one for you mefites, and maybe I'll submit it as well:

Solvegg (noun): The outside wall of a buildling that receives the most sunlight, and is suitable for lounging and taking in said sunlight.
posted by Harald74 at 11:52 PM on May 21, 2017 [2 favorites]

The notion of "untranslatable words" reveals such a complete lack of understanding of how languages work that this collection makes me feel very negative towards the lexicographer, even before looking at any of it.

(but then I looked at the PDF, and maybe the entire thing is just a joke? I mean, they have "orka" as a positive Swedish word, but as a stand-alone expression that means "can't be bothered", often said with an undertone of "what on earth made you think I would like to do that now?")
posted by effbot at 3:15 AM on May 22, 2017 [2 favorites]

Looking through their Spanish section, most of the 'untranslatable' words are trivially translatable. E.g.: siesta, fiesta, gula, ojalá, camarada, etc, etc.

And they include 'qué será será', which isn't used in Spanish and, if it where, would be ungrammatical.

So, I'm going to use the untranslatable English expression 'bullshit' on the whole endeavor.
posted by signal at 5:41 AM on May 22, 2017 [1 favorite]

"Any suggestion about what conditions are logically both necessary and sufficient for the constitution of bullshit is bound to be somewhat arbitrary. For one thing, the expression bullshit is often employed quite loosely--simply as a generic term of abuse, with no very specific literal meaning. For another, the phenomenon itself is so vast and amorphous that no crisp and perspicuous analysis of its concept can avoid being procrustean." (.pdf, On Bullshit.)

I liked this list, and I like the idea that different cultures single out daily, unexceptional, and nonetheless enjoyable experiences as having value. Solvegg (noun): The outside wall of a buildling that receives the most sunlight, and is suitable for lounging and taking in said sunlight. It's like the sonder of word use.
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:53 AM on May 22, 2017

I mean, they have "orka" as a positive Swedish word, but as a stand-alone expression that means "can't be bothered", often said with an undertone of "what on earth made you think I would like to do that now?")

You have no idea how positive this can be for people routinely subjected to the demands of others.
posted by srboisvert at 6:17 AM on May 22, 2017 [2 favorites]

The notion of "untranslatable words" reveals such a complete lack of understanding of how languages work

Right. I get the appeal of framing a list of interesting foreign terms for universal human emotions as "untranslatable words" but it's pseudo-sciencey and kind of fetishistic in some cases. And a little silly given that each is accompanied by a translation... the fact that these always get the ones I'm familiar with wrong most of the time makes me skeptical of the lists as a whole. /wetblanket
posted by Emily's Fist at 7:03 AM on May 22, 2017 [2 favorites]

Like all lists of "untranslatable words" this is a mix of fact, overinterpretation, and nonsense. A Russian example:

Vozdukh (Воздух)
noun
Lit. ‘the stack of spirits’; air, breath; to take the spirit inside (when breathing in), to take the spirit outside (when breathing out).

Yes, there is such a word, but it simply means 'air,' and I have no idea where ‘the stack of spirits’ comes from—it's just the general Slavic word dukh 'spirit, breath' with the prefix v(o)z- 'up.' So browse for fun if you like this sort of thing, but use with caution.
posted by languagehat at 7:46 AM on May 22, 2017 [2 favorites]

Yeah, no. I took a look at the Spanish section, and there are several things there that are easily translatable.
The fact that a word doesn't have a single word equivalent in another language does not make it untranslatable. Siesta is an afternoon nap. Zócalo is a town square.

Spanish doesn't have a single word possessive form. But we don't say that Suzy's is untranslatable. It's just de Suzy.
posted by SLC Mom at 10:07 AM on May 22, 2017 [2 favorites]

Like all lists of "untranslatable words" this is a mix of fact, overinterpretation, and nonsense.

Yeah, he lost me when I saw the old yoga class line about 'namaste' meaning 'I bow to the divine in you.'
posted by bookish at 7:29 PM on May 22, 2017