Pana poʻo
Meaning: Scratching your head to help yourself remember something you've forgotten.
Language: Hawaiian
Literally: head-scratching
Category: Everyday
Origin: Hawaiian; names the small, universal gesture of jogging one's memory.
More untranslatable words — Everyday
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- Puente — The day taken off to 'bridge' a midweek public holiday to the weekend, turning it into a…
- Magari — One word doing the work of 'if only', 'I wish', 'perhaps' and 'you bet' — the tone decide…
- Apericena — The evening drink whose accompanying buffet is generous enough to replace dinner altogeth…
- Døgn — One complete 24-hour cycle treated as a single unit — what English can only say as 'twent…
From our compliments & insults
- Без царя в голове (Bez tsarya v golove) — Foolish and reckless — with no one in charge upstairs.
- Cabeça de alho chocho — A forgetful scatterbrain whose thoughts won't stay put.
- Tu es mon rayon de soleil — A warm way to tell someone they brighten your day.