[Closed] Good stuff from other languages

tout à fait: boff!

prego: always sounds so much more gracious.

chapeau

A siesta is a wonderful thing.

schadenfreude

dingsbum (thinamajig)

Ménage à trois
coupé
Schadenfreude (edit: oops late with that, then settle for Karma)

danke (schön)

De rien
je {vous/t'}en prie

bon, allons-y
on se casse

Vamos!
nos abrimos

Kummerspeck (German) Excess weight gained from emotional overeating. Literally, grief bacon.

At work, tend to use 'de minimis'

[i] I'm a fan of using Latinisms whenever possible, [s]baffling [/s][b]making[/b] colleagues [b]think I'm a poncey tosspot[/b] with talk of ne plus ultra and sine qua non[/i]

&

Chapeau is a good one- if you went around speaking english saying "HAT!" to people you'd get locked up.

bearnecessities - Member

Kummerspeck (German) Excess weight gained from emotional overeating. Literally, grief bacon.

Sometimes it seems obvious that the german language can't have been devised by germans.

Sometimes it seems obvious that the german language can't have been devised by germans.

Hubschrauberlandeplatz 😀

&

7254 = Siebentausendzweihundertvierundfünfzig

Bungalow

[url= http://www.suttoncoldfieldobserver.co.uk/Bungalow-knee-stairway-cure/story-18880984-detail/story.html ]Because otherwise how would oldies be diagnosed with "bungalow knees"?[/url]

i favour the non-verbal, the gallic shrug is of great use at work.

Man a man a mwnci

Welsh for "might as well" 😀

From my time working in Japan, Bakku-shan.
A girl who looks pretty from behind but ugly in front, the most German Japanese word I ever learnt.

BABFOC that
Body off baywatch face off crimewatch

I like Granny Barbie - old lady dressed young so you cannot tell from behind

[s]When[/s] If I master my own language i may branch out

"me cago en la leche de la puta que te date la luz"

Crise de foie = a sophisticated hangover

I like the Welsh idea of calling people by their first (or last) name and their job. For example, Dai Sparks the electrician, Jones the Steam from Ivor the Engine etc. The Welsh father christmas is called Sion Corn which is sometimes translated as Jack the Chimney 🙂

my address book is full of Welshist style names.

James the plumber
Bob the gravel
Chris the wood
Jon the sparks
Neil the sheep
etc
etc

"Putain fait chier bordel de merde" trips off the tongue nicely 🙂

One useful French word that doesn't have a single word translation:
Dénivelé - "difference in height or level"

Neil the sheep

a personal favourite

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapoy

- i believe it's used for anything up to a couple of weeks. My Russian ex was quite surprised to find out that we don't really have a word in English for 'two week drinking binge'

I like
Rhoi'r ffidil yn y to.
Literally means put the violin in the roof. Used when you finally give up on something.
Iar fach yr haf - little chicken of the summer - Butterfly
Mawredd mawr - Big Bigness - Godd grief
There's many many more.

Man a man a mwnci

Welsh for "might as well"

From French: [url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27esprit_de_l%27escalier ]L'esprit de l'escalier[/url] - which is when you think of a perfect witty retort sometime after the moment has passed.

Man a man a mwnci
Welsh for "might as well"

Malu cachu 😉

😆

My favourite German term is "Fuß Hupe"

It is used to describe small dogs (eg. chihuaua) and literally translates as "Foot-Horn", because of the noise they make when you stand on them.

[img] [/img]

I'm so puerile.

Swedish has some great words i'm trying to introduce to Britain:

fika (fee-kah) : a social coffee break.

(i'll admit i don't know how to spell this: but i'm assured it's correct)

Upehall (ooperhal) : it's not raining, [i]now[/i]... (with the implicit understanding that it was raining a moment ago, and surely will resume at any moment)

Tara (a bit)
My my
Bostin.

I like the Welsh idea of calling people by their first (or last) name and their job

A Welsh friend of mine always used to say things like "whose coat is this jacket?" and "whose shoes are these trainers", which I believe is quite common Welsh parlance, but it always made me smile.

I enjoy getting as many Jewishisms into meetings as possible "schlepping", "schmuk", "oy vey" etc etc.

I'm a fan of using Latinisms whenever possible,

I am more in favour of Geordieisms.

Haddaway and shite, man.

😉

A Welsh friend of mine always used to say things like "whose coat is this jacket?" and "whose shoes are these trainers",

Was your friend Shadwell?

Paid a mallu cachau 😉

ma dy sillafu di'n warthus

Je repose ma valise.

Just remembered this belter, from my recent trip to Germany

[img] ?oh=1873048e278e023ac1b9f0063eaeb204&oe=5515F07C&__gda__=1428053960_0d66f639edb4f5916668c34170d841bb[/img]

[URL= http://i1370.photobucket.com/albums/ag270/iolotraws/****ing_Austria_street_sign_cropped_zpsba26eb72.jp g" target="_blank">http://i1370.photobucket.com/albums/ag270/iolotraws/****ing_Austria_street_sign_cropped_zpsba26eb72.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]

There's this town in Austria

On y va.

and

Avanti

and

Tak

A favourite Welsh exclamation of mine is
"Ach-y-fi!"
Mostly after I've fallen off in a puddle, that from its smell is mostly composed of cow pee and poo, again.

Stoner - Member
my address book is full of Welshist style names.

James the plumber
Bob the gravel
Chris the wood
Jon the sparks
Neil the sheep
etc
etc

Sacher Torte
Lasagne
Risotto
Fromage
Wurst

I could go on and on.

From Swedish...
Kok and Tvatt
[url= http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kok-Tvatt-Through-Scandinavia-Tandem/dp/0955145414/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1299665452&sr=8-2 ]Kok & Tvatt[/url]
😉

I use a range of non-English swearing. I am most proficient in French, but I think German carries more force...

Achtung Bahnhoff is what we used to say to the Germans when we contracted at fokker. I think they thought our grasp of German was flawed 🙂

I like the word "portmanteau", meaning a word constructed from two words, which is itself a portmanteau of the French "port manteau", meaning hatstand. The French for portmanteau is "mot valise".

In fact I like any French word used in English, just to see the look on a French person's face as they struggle to remember the English for things like "bon appetit" or "bon voyage".

Even better are things like "double entendre" which exist in English but not French. Trying to explain to a French person that the right way to say something in English is to say it in incorrect French can be quite fun.

Eh bé.

Slut

Slut spurt

Bra

Fart

Swedish is funny in a 12 year old boy way.

They also say what they something is quite simply:

Tandkött (gums) means teeth meat
Gronsäker (vegetables) means green things

I think one of the fascinating things about English is that there are now far far more people who speak it very well as a second language than those who actually speak it as a mother tongue. So therefore loads of 'better' words get added in when English is lacking, as has been discussed. Again in Swedish there is one word for 'to do the dishes' and one for 'to set the table'. Just makes sense really.

Stoner - Member
my address book is full of Welshist style names.
James the plumber
Bob the gravel
Chris the wood
Jon the sparks
Neil the sheep

Trying to remember what film it was that had a grave in a welsh cemetery with "Jones the Dead" on it

In fact I like any French word used in English, just to see the look on a French person's face as they struggle to remember the English for things like "bon appetit" or "bon voyage".

Some German colleagues asked what we say to each other when starting a meal and were rather confused when I said we didn't say anything.

I usually quip, "good luck".

'Mangwanani' just about the only Shona I can remember. It always raised a surprised smile as whites in the past did not tend to use or learn 'native' languages. I loved the sound of 'yebo' in Ndbele.

[strike]Romanes eunt domus[/strike] Romani ite domum

What, Romans they go to the house!!!!!!

drachenfutter - German for a gift to appease an angry wife, girlfriend or mother. Literally Dragon Food

I quite like "Cavoli riscaldati" its an italian phrase referring to when a man and a lady are sharing a bath and man farts and the lady tries to bite the bubbles.

Now were down to the sexist and vulgar I'll venture "une femme mal baisée". Used for a bitter, unpleasant woman who hasn't had enough good sex to keep her happy. Use with caution in a light-touch-paper-and-run-away manner if used directly or better still to a man to describe his wife.

"une femme mal baisée"

The Spanish equivalent: una malfollada.

Honto ne - Japan

Boufff - France

jag älskar dig - Sweden!!

[s]Romanes eunt domus[/s]

Cunning swear filter avoidance there.

Cunning swear filter avoidance there.

Sadly i think it was the third person plural present active of eo - to go i.e eunt.

I've just asked my son to translate the Welsh phrases above- watch out boyos, here comes the ban hammer!

Anyway- Khodomodomo is the Sesotho word for dinosaur. Invaluable if you are a visiting palaeontologist in Lesotho, otherwise pretty useless. But a great word nonetheless.

Meanwhile, in Norway...
[img] [/img]
(courtesy of The Poke)

The swear filter is Welsh! (It just can't read)

Quod non erat demonstrandum is useful. Once used it very successfully to a boss who was a complete idiot - just before I walked out of the job never to return.

Malacca doesn't go down well with the Greeks. Even though the restaurateur was indeed being rather difficult. He said he was going to call the police - I said 'Please go ahead, I'd like a word with them about you too', or words to that effect (and I class myself as an Hellenophile - just not in this particular instance!)

wot, no [i]fin du cloche[/i]?

I use a range of non-English swearing. I am most proficient in French, but I think German carries more force...

http://www.sbjf.org/sbjco/schmaltz/yiddish_phrases.htm

???

I like Fanuloni which is Tuscan Italian slang for lazy bones.
I use it when ever I refer to my BIL who we have the misfortune of part owning an overseas property with.