Untranslatable Words

Some words have no English equivalent. Discover beautiful, untranslatable words like saudade, hygge, and komorebi — one word that captures a whole world of feeling.

• Saudade (Portuguese) — A deep, nostalgic yearning for someone or something absent — tinged with the bittersweet sense it may never return. Literally: bittersweet longing.
• Hygge (Danish) — The warm contentment of simple, cozy pleasures shared with people you love — candles, blankets, good company. Literally: coziness & comfort.
• Komorebi (Japanese) — The dappled light that filters through leaves and scatters across the ground. Literally: sunlight leaking through trees.
• Schadenfreude (German) — The guilty little pleasure of taking satisfaction in someone else's misfortune. Literally: harm-joy.
• Wabi-sabi (Japanese) — Finding beauty in imperfection, impermanence, and the worn or incomplete. Literally: subdued, austere beauty.
• Tsundoku (Japanese) — Buying books and letting them pile up unread — a habit, not a crime. Literally: pile-up reading.
• Fernweh (German) — An aching longing for far-off places you've never been — the opposite of homesickness. Literally: far-sickness.
• Sobremesa (Spanish) — The unhurried conversation that lingers long after a meal, when no one wants to leave the table. Literally: over-the-table.
• Gigil (Filipino) — The overwhelming urge to squeeze or pinch something unbearably cute. Literally: trembling urge.
• Iktsuarpok (Inuit) — The restless anticipation that makes you keep stepping outside to see if someone is finally arriving. Literally: the going-out-to-check feeling.
• Meraki (Greek) — Pouring your soul, love, and creativity into whatever you do — cooking, art, anything. Literally: essence of yourself.
• Mångata (Swedish) — The shimmering, road-like reflection the moon casts across water. Literally: moon-road.

From the blog: The Same Idiom in Different Languages: 6 Ideas the Whole World Shares

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