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Koselig

Meaning: Warmth, intimacy and ease at once — a room, a meal or an evening can be koselig, and so can a person.

Language: Norwegian

Literally: cosy, but more

Category: Emotion

Origin: Norwegian; near-cousin to Danish hygge, though Norwegians are firm that the two are not the same.

More untranslatable words — Emotion

  • Nadryv — An uncontrolled outpouring of buried feeling, often strained past anything the person tru…
  • Saudade — A deep, nostalgic yearning for someone or something absent — tinged with the bittersweet…
  • Hygge — The warm contentment of simple, cozy pleasures shared with people you love — candles, bla…
  • Schadenfreude — The guilty little pleasure of taking satisfaction in someone else's misfortune.
  • Fernweh — An aching longing for far-off places you've never been — the opposite of homesickness.
  • Gigil — The overwhelming urge to squeeze or pinch something unbearably cute.

More Norwegian untranslatable words

  • Harryhandel — The day trip over the border into Sweden to buy meat, sweets and drink far cheaper than a…
  • Matpakke — The plain packed lunch of open sandwiches in paper, eaten at your desk — a small national…
  • Takk for sist — A greeting that thanks someone for the previous occasion you met, acknowledging shared hi…
  • Forelsket — The overwhelming, almost dizzy euphoria of falling in love — that specific state of early…
  • Friluftsliv — The philosophy and practice of spending time outdoors — not as exercise or sport, but as…
  • Utepils — The specific pleasure of sitting outside in the sun and drinking a beer — a ritual that f…

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