Asking non-native English speakers.

    • JonnyRobbie@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      That one is really interesting, because a lot of languages has it, from guten apetit, through dobrou chuť to itadakimasu. But english was out of school that day I suppose.

  • Jajcus@sh.itjust.works
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    1 month ago

    “Kombinować” very Polish word for a very Polish a activity/philosophy. To make things work / get something done / take care of something in way that work for us, but are not the expected way to do things (though, ‘kombinowanie’ is often actually expected). It might be doing a job using the tools that are available and not thise that should be used, it might be a genuine invention, It might be using your contacts for favour (like getting a doctor appointment), it might be plain cheating.

    A little bit like ‘hacking’ and also can be a good thing or a bad thing.

    “Wykombinuję coś” = “don’t worry I will take care of that” “Co za kombinator” = “what a cheaty bastard”

  • EtnaAtsume@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    お疲れ様 (good job+“you look tired”+“I an acknowledging this and presenting recognition of your effort”)

    Keigo modifiers. ご覧 vs 見る. They both mean “look”. One is, somehow, more polite.

    Kansai dialect. しばいたろか (“wanna get smacked?” but it’s playful) or まいど (“thanks” but also “nice to see you again” and “hello” but only in specific contexts between specific people. Mess it up and you’ll probably hear the other Kansai term previously described.)

  • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Kinda a reversal, but I’m curious if other languages have a word as versatile as English’s “fuck”. Like obviously other languages have words for the verb of making sex, but is it common for it to also be a noun, adjective, or adverb to the point where you could have it as every other word and it still be grammatically correct?

    • Rednax@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      In Dutch, the word “kanker” can be used as verb, noun or adjective. Example: Die kanker hoer kan opkankeren met die kanker van haar. Which best translates to something like: That fucking whore can fuck off with that shit of hers. Except that the Dutch version is wayyyyy more rude and inappropriate.

  • Horsey@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Chez

    It’s a preposition meaning “at the home/house/place” but can also be use figuratively. Really super cool.

  • Kaput@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Similar thread long ago, there was a word Somewhere in northern Europe that meant something like “aimlessly hitting your penis on things”. .

      • Kaput@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        Sounds like it yeah! I’m a big fan of the concept.

        Apparently its from Netherlands?

        • Rednax@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          It at the very least got popular in the Netherlands. This was due to a youtube upload from 2008 of a Dutch student who was proud to be the first person to swaffel the Taj Mahal. This resulted in more people swinging their dicks against various monuments.

          So if you see a popular monument, remember that it is likely a Dutch person filmed themselves while wacking their dick against it and put it on youtube somewhere.

  • zlatiah@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Way too many for Chinese (think every Chinese dish you know), but the one world I think about the most in this context these days is 老百姓 (lao3 bai3 xing4) (Also see a somewhat related Wikipedia article). Direct translation is “ol’ hundred surnames”

    It’s… a non-formal word for the “commoners” or the “average person”. This is a concept I don’t hear in mainstream media that much nowadays. I don’t think most news or mainstream media even refers to say the entirety of the lower to middle social class in one word… (Note that it is different from “Average Joe”, which does have a Chinese counterpart which translates to “Zhang three Li four”)

    On top of it, the whole concept of “a hundred surnames” representing most of society is kind of absurd in English-speaking countries. Societies with historical Chinese influences tend to have lots of ppl share the same surnames

  • proti@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Żal
    In Polish it means a feeling of sadness, regret, being unable to accept the reality. It’s often compared to grief, but it’s not confined to losing someone. When you look at the past, regretting your life choices, you feel żal.

  • MushroomsEverywhere@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    I recently came across a word that I couldn’t find a translation for. In Swedish, the word “skallgång” refers to the act of walking in a line formation in a search party.

  • Lushed_Lungfish@lemmy.ca
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    1 month ago

    Hinh in Burmese. The closest equivalent is curry, and while all curries are hinh, not every hinh is curry. It basically means something you eat with the rice.

  • Goldholz @lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    Doch

    Zwedgsche (this fruit is often translated as sour cherry but it isnt a sour cherry) Zipfelklatscher

    German and high german dialects