Khalyava

Meaning: Something good got for free and without effort — and, strictly, something you were never entitled to in the first place.

Language: Russian

Literally: a free ride

Category: Everyday

Origin: Russian халява; freebie and luck fused into a single word.

More untranslatable words — Everyday

Zapoi — A bender running for days, in which a person drops out of ordinary life entirely.
Tsundoku — Buying books and letting them pile up unread — a habit, not a crime.
Sobremesa — The unhurried conversation that lingers long after a meal, when no one wants to leave the…
Meraki — Pouring your soul, love, and creativity into whatever you do — cooking, art, anything.
Flâner — To wander a city slowly and aimlessly, savouring it with no destination in mind — the art…
L'esprit de l'escalier — Thinking of the perfect comeback only after the moment has passed — on your way down the…

Beloruchka — Someone who dodges dirty or hard work — a person whose hands stay conspicuously clean.
Toska — A dull ache of the soul; a great longing with nothing in particular to long for.
Pochemuchka — A person — usually a child — who asks an endless stream of questions, one 'why?' after an…
Razliubit — To fall out of love — the process of ceasing to love someone you once loved, leaving behi…
Avos' — A blind, hopeful trust that things will somehow work out on their own — leaving the outco…
Poshlost' — Not merely the trashy, but the falsely important, falsely beautiful and falsely clever —…

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