Better Than English

Gunnen (Dutch)

admin — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 19:39:50 +0000

To allow someone to have a positive experience, especially if that means you won’t have it (always with an element of sympathy).

Word donated by Kammeraod

Kummerspeck (German)

admin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:11:04 +0000

Excess weight gained due to emotion-caused overeating.

Word donated by Bob

Lǎo tóng (Chinese)

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:53:55 +0000

Lǎo tóng (老同, literally “old-same”) is an archaic Chinese word for form of eternal friendship between “heart sisters”–two women who were closer than husband and wife.

Word donated by Sarah

Xinku (Mandarin)

admin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:44:01 +0000

An expression of appreciation for and recognition of somebody’s hard work.

Word donated by Lin Wenjie

Bepasikiškiakopūsteliaudamas (Lithuanian)

admin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:19:24 +0000

“While one was picking wood sorrel”, with “s” in the ending removed if “one” refers to a female, and with “s” if “one” refers to a male. Wood sorrel, actually, is literally referred to as “rabbit’s cabbage”. It is also the longest word in the Lithuanian language. Needless to say, it is rarely used.

Word donated by Milda

Mistimanchachi (Quechua)

admin — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 23:31:51 +0000

A light drizzle. This literally means “something that frightens Spanish-speaking urban people.” The people who speak Quechua are indigenous to the mountains of Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador, and are mostly rural. When a light drizzle starts, they just keep planting potatoes or herding sheep or walking wherever they are going, but the townspeople–mestizos–run for shelter.

Word donated by Ben

Jugaad (Hindi)

admin — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 23:29:03 +0000

A way of managing things by minimal resources. Consider your driver who has to pick your son from his school and at the same time has to drop your wife to beauty parlor. He would say, “Don’t worry Sir, Jugaad would be done”. A way making things happen “by hook or crook”.

Word donated by Nera

Commuovere (Italian)

admin — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:26:33 +0000

Commuovere is a word usually lost in translation that comes close to meaning “heartwarming”, but in the sense that it directly relates to a story that has moved you to affectionate tears.

Word donated by Sarah

Alaláw (Quechua)

admin — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 23:23:49 +0000

An exclamation that people say when they feel cold. It is pretty close to “brrr!” though it’s more fun to say and more expressive. Also, people say it when they hear someone describe a cold place, even if they are not cold at that moment themselves.

Word donated by Ben

Přizabít se (Czech)

admin — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 20:31:37 +0000

Literally it means “to nearly kill oneself” and it is often used in colloquial Czech when referring to a situation in which someone was very close to getting seriously hurt, but surprisingly managed to survive without any severe harm. This distinguishes “přizabít se” from actual “nearly killing oneself”.

Word donated by Dominik