August 2010
1 post
2 tags
retrouvailles
noun • the happiness of meeting again after a long time; French
[via La Florista Bonita, with several other such words and phrases; posted by jonas]
April 2010
1 post
inshallah (إن شاء الله)
interjection • roughly, ‘hopefully’ or ‘if chance allows’, although neither captures the full meaning. The direct translation from the original Arabic “Insha’Allah” is “God willing” or “If it is God’s will”; Arabic
[more at Wikipedia; posted by jonas]
March 2010
4 posts
honorificabilitudinitatibus
noun • the state of being able to achieve honours (in the ablative plural); Latin
When (very) occasionally drafted into English use, as by Shakespeare, it is the longest word in the English language featuring alternating consonants and vowels.
[via Wikipedia; posted by jonas]
kuuki wo yomu
verb • to “read the air”, or carefully judge the social atmosphere of any situation so as to act appropriately at all times; also sometimes used by children to mean (roughly) “to know or intuit without rational reason”; Japanese
[discovered via Viceland; posted by jonas]
fensterln
verb • “the custom, now fallen into disuse, found in rural German-speaking districts, of lovers who woo their sweethearts at their bedroom windows, to which they ascend by means of a ladder, enjoying such intimacy that the relation practically amounts to a trial marriage. The reputation of the young woman never suffers on account of Fensterln, unless she becomes intimate with too many...
sprezzatura
noun • “a certain nonchalance, so as to conceal all art and make whatever one does or says appear to be without effort and almost without any thought about it”; an easy facility in accomplishing difficult actions which hides the conscious effort that goes into them; Italian
[via Nick Heer; posted by jonas]
July 2009
1 post
Fahrvergnügen
noun • driving enjoyment. From the German fahren meaning “to drive”, and vergnügen meaning “enjoyment”. An advertising slogan adopted by Volkwagon for a 1989 ad campaign; German
[via Wikipedia; posted by nathaniel]
March 2009
3 posts
“Whatever in this world one has to say, there is a word, and just one word, to...”
– Guy de Maupassant
cafuné
verb • to tenderly run one’s fingers through someone’s hair; Brazilian Portuguese
[via ALTA Language Services; posted by jacquelynn]
sâmir (سمير)
noun • one who gathers and converses by moonlight, a night-talker; Arabic
[via Steingass’s Arabic-English Dictionary; posted by jacquelynn]
February 2009
7 posts
nenna
verb • asking someone to do something on your behalf, while acknowledging that this task is disagreeable; to be bothered (to do something), do bother, to feel like, to care to
Icelandic; Nenna can often be translated with “would (you be bothered)” or “could (you be bothered)”. Only using the words “would” or “could” to translate nenna would not be...
saudade
noun • a vague and constant desire for something that does not and probably cannot exist, for something other than the present, a turning towards the past or towards the future; not an active discontent or poignant sadness but an indolent dreaming wistfulness; Portuguese
[via Wikipedia; posted by jacquelynn]
2 tags
Gemütlichkeit
noun • coziness, but also connoting belonging, social acceptance, cheerfulness, the absence of anything hectic, and the opportunity to spend quality time with loved ones
German; from Middle High German gemüetlich ‘pleasant’ (from Old High German gemüete, spirit, feelings, mind) + -keit (alteration of -heit) ‘hood’.
[via Wikipedia; posted by jonas]
2 tags
duende
noun • a climactic show of passion, magnetism and authenticity in a performance or work of art, as in bull fighting or flamenco dancing
Spanish; Federico García Lorca first sought to explain the term in 1933 saying, “…it is not a question of ability, but of true, living style, of blood, of the most ancient culture, of spontaneous creation.”
[via Wikipedia; posted by jacquelynn]
2 tags
tartle
verb • to hesitate when you are introducing someone whose name you can’t quite remember
My introductory entry into Words We Need, a Scots word my grandfather used to use.
[“formal” definition via Wordie; posted by jacquelynn]
2 tags
nesabishii (寝淋しい)
expression • missing a sleeping companion
Japanese; presumably from the noun “寝” (ne—sleep) and the adjective “淋しい” (samishii—lonely, solitary, desolate).
[posted by jonas]
2 tags
mamihlapinatapai
noun • a look shared by two people with each wishing that the other will initiate something that both desire but which neither one wants to start
Yaghan; mam- (reflexive/passive morph.) + -ihlapi- ‘to be at a loss as to what to do next’ + -n- (stative aspect affix) + -ata- (achievement affix) + -apai (dual, here reciprocal, marker).
Starting off this new Tumblr with a word reblogged from one...