Querencia

Meaning: A place where you feel safe, grounded, and most fully yourself — a sanctuary from which your strength is renewed.

Language: Spanish

Literally: where strength is drawn

Category: Emotion

Origin: Spanish; from querer ('to want / to love'); used in bullfighting for the spot the bull returns to.

More untranslatable words — Emotion

Hüzün — A collective, spiritual melancholy felt by a whole city — the sadness of Istanbul's faded…
Spleen — A deep, existential ennui — a heavy, formless sadness and disgust with the world and ones…
Épanouissement — The full flourishing of a person — blooming into your most complete, radiant self. More t…
Razliubit — To fall out of love — the process of ceasing to love someone you once loved, leaving behi…
Kilig — The butterflies-and-shivers feeling of romantic excitement — the giddiness triggered by a…
Tampo — Pulling back your warmth and affection when you've been hurt — going quiet and distant, h…

Estrenar — The specific pleasure of wearing, using, or showing off something brand new for the very…
Friolero — A person who feels the cold far more than everyone else — always the first to reach for a…
Empalagar — To be overwhelmed by something so sweet it turns sickly — used of food, and of people who…
Tutear — To switch to the informal tú with someone — a small, deliberate act of closing social dis…
Puente — The day taken off to 'bridge' a midweek public holiday to the weekend, turning it into a…
Vergüenza ajena — The squirming embarrassment felt on behalf of another person, who may be entirely untroub…

Tres tristes tigres tragaban trigo en un trigal. — A relentless run on the 'tr' sound.
El cielo está enladrillado, ¿quién lo desenladrillará? — A brutal test of the rolled 'r' and 'l'.
Como poco coco como, poco coco compro. — A bouncy 'co' drill — the word order and meaning flip with each repetition.