I came across this article on www.cracked.com and am passing it on to you for your edification and general knowledgifying. Here goes- the top ten words that are not in the English language but need to be-
1. bakku-shan- Japanese in origin, this word denotes a woman who appears attractive from the back, yet upon frontal inspection is not so much so. A derivative, presumably, of the butter face- everything attractive, but her face. Not entirely nice or PC, but hey.
2. espirit d'escalier- French origins, meaning coming up with a witty barb or comeback far too late. Literally translates as spirit of the staircase, this refers to coming up with the correct zinger while walking down the stairs after having been put in a situation where said zinger would have proven useful an hour ago.
3. Mamihlapinatapi-derived from some language called Yaghan (origins unknown) ,this means an unspoken shared desire between two people, usually strangers. Sharing a look across a room that indicates to the both of you that you are thinking the same thing at the same time. The closest English equivalent would probably be rapport.
4. Backpfeifengesicht- German- translates literally as a face in need of a fist. I find a wide range of situations in which said fist would be applicable to a face, so taken on its most literal translation, I believe we can assume that any and all persons who require a fist to the face can fit under this definition.
5. Nunchi- Korean in origin, this refers to the innate ability to sense what should not be said, done or expressed in a given situation and with that, the discretion and taste to not do that thing. People who do rather idiotic things in such situations would be said to lack nunchi.
6. Shlimazl-Yiddish in origin, this refers to a person who has a string of monstrously bad luck. Not just 'oh darn, left my cell phone on the counter', but rather 'oh darn, I left my cell phone on the counter, the pipes exploded and the resulting short circuit burned down my house that the insurance lapsed on yesterday'. That kind of bad luck. Avoid being a shlimazl at all costs.
7. Taetame and Honne- Japanese in origin, these are two words that are linked together- the first, what you actually believe, deep in your heart, and may not tell other people. The second is what you claim to believe- what you tell other people you believe, and what your understanding is of what society generally expects of you. The two may be similar, or may be completely different. Many times taetame goes unspoken or unshared, and honne does. I find this doesn't exactly translate- I guess it would be like taetame is what you would do when no one's looking, and honne is what you would do when someone is looking.
8. Sgiomlaireachd- Scottish Gaelic in origin, this refers to a person who interrupts you while you are eating, or preparing to eat something, thereby disrupting your enjoyment of your food. Say you're sitting down to lunch, and the annoying co-worker who won't shut up accosts you to ask you if you've seen his stapler (...) and an hour later, lets you return to your lunch.
9. Tingo- Pascuense in origin, this refers to the act of borrowing from a friend until said friend has nothing left- the term literally translates as borrowing one item at a time from a friend's house until the house is empty. Sounds a bit like being a mooch, but apparently this is not an exact translation.
10. Desenrascanco- Portugese- to literally disentangle oneself from a situation. It means to come up with a solution out of thin air, with no real resources or advance plan to speak of. In other words, you just throw something together at the last minute that, incredibly enough, works perfectly. How much you can rely on this is not known, although there are always situations where you find yourself like a deer in headlights.
At any rate, no doubt there are many other words we need and don't have. Like the word for feeling bored and edgy with no specific solution in mind- you want to do something, but don't have the first clue what that could be.
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