Pardon me. Can I borrow that word?

Better Than Translation

Language makes us who we are. It’s how we share opinions, feelings, directions, knowledge. The complex spoken language that we have is uniquely human.

UC San Diego Professor Jeff Elman told NPR, “The Earth would not be the way it is if humankind didn’t have the ability to communicate, to organize itself, to pass knowledge down from generation to generation.”

It’s also the way we pass ideas into different cultures.

In fact, sometimes a word in one language is so perfect, people speaking another language have that “Oh, I see” moment and incorporate the word, as is, into their language.

Here are some great words from different cultures that are worth borrowing.

Brrrrr.

1. friolero

(free-oh-le-roh) someone who gets cold easily; caluroso (ca-loo-roh-soh) someone who gets hot easily (Spanish)

Possible use: I am a friolero so I’ve learned to always wear lots of layers—and still pack an extra jacket.

2. tocayo

(toh-kay-yo) a person who has the same name as you (Spanish)

Possible use: I have a friend with the same name as mine. He’s my tocayo.

3. fare il ponte

(fa-ray eel pon-tay) taking a Monday or Friday off when a holiday falls on a Tuesday or Thursday so that you have a four day weekend. Literally means “make a bridge.” (Italian) Also fenstertag (fen-stur-tog) is the Monday or Friday between a holiday and a weekend (German)

Possible use: I’m planning to fare il ponte next fourth of July since it falls on a Thursday. I’ll sleep the entire fenstertag.

 4. schilderwald

(shee-der-vald) a massive amount of traffic signs (German)

Possible use: The street had such a schilderwald that I didn’t see the “no parking” sign, and I got a ticket.

If only I could remember your name…

5. tartle

(tar-tl) hesitation when introducing someone because you have forgotten his or her name (Scottish)

Possible use: Sorry for my tartle! or I tartled for a moment there. This is my friend, Sasha.

6. treppenwitz

(tre-pen-vits) the clever comeback you think of after you’ve left an argument that you lost. Literally means “staircase joke.” (German)

Possible use: Now I have my treppenwitz! If I had only said . . .

 7. tsundoku

(tsoon-doh-koo) the habit of buying a book and then not reading it (Japanese)

Possible use: My tsundoku has gotten so out of control that I had to move books from on top of my nightstand to the floor. Now the pile is nearly as high as the nightstand!

8. verschlimmbesserung

(fair-shleem-bess-er-oonk) an improvement that makes things worse (German)

Possible use: The app update is a verschlimmbesserung! It’s full of bugs.

9. yaourter

(ya-or-tay) speaking or singing in a language that you don’t know very well by adding nonsensical sounds or words that you think are correct, but aren’t (French)

Possible use: At the restaurant in Mexico, I yaourtered in Spanish, but they still managed to understand me.

10. yoisho

(yo-ee-sho) the expression you say while or after doing something difficult, such as lifting or pulling something heavy  (Japanese)

Possible use (as you collapse in a chair after a long day of work): Yoisho! That was a tough day!

Oh, I see!

So many great words out there ready to borrow from different cultures!

Pronunciations via Forvo. Images courtesy of Thinkstock.

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