I read a BBC article on phrases found in other languages which have no direct translation into English and I thought, since poly is so multicultural, we could share a few here. While English has the largest vocabulary of any language it never the less misses out on several good words which other languages have created to solve unique problems.
Take bakku-shan for instance, in Japanese it means a girl who appears pretty from behind but not from the front. German is closely related to English but they often merge words together to form new ones so there are loads which are not found in English. Kummerspeck means to gain weight due to over eating while depressed. A Putzfimmel is a mania for cleaning while many a poly husband could identify with Drachenfutter - literally translated as dragon fodder - are the peace offerings made by guilty husbands to their wives.
The Dutch also have many phrases not found in English; uitwaaien is Dutch for walking in windy weather for fun. The Inuit word for a good time is igunaujannguaq, literally meaning frozen walrus carcass, which originated as some sort of game.
Do any of you know new words which don't translate well into English?
Take bakku-shan for instance, in Japanese it means a girl who appears pretty from behind but not from the front. German is closely related to English but they often merge words together to form new ones so there are loads which are not found in English. Kummerspeck means to gain weight due to over eating while depressed. A Putzfimmel is a mania for cleaning while many a poly husband could identify with Drachenfutter - literally translated as dragon fodder - are the peace offerings made by guilty husbands to their wives.
The Dutch also have many phrases not found in English; uitwaaien is Dutch for walking in windy weather for fun. The Inuit word for a good time is igunaujannguaq, literally meaning frozen walrus carcass, which originated as some sort of game.
Do any of you know new words which don't translate well into English?
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