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Favorite word from another language? | ||
Tags: False friends | Loanwords | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| renaissancemedi Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Greece Joined 4360 days ago 941 posts - 1309 votes  Speaks: Greek*, Ancient Greek*, EnglishC2 Studies: French, Russian, Turkish, Modern Hebrew | Message 9 of 33 10 April 2014 at 10:20am | IP Logged | ||
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My favourite is a swear word from turkish. I will not mention it, but the phrase is accompanied by the greek "go" + turkish word.
Untill recently I thought it meant "go to hell", because that's how we use it and it is used a lot by everyone. However, my recent turkish explorations relvealed that you actually tell people to go complete a particular action, and it isn't going to hell. I actually feel bad using it now. Nobody knows what it really means, by the way, although everybody says it several times a day (especially these days). The greek equivelant is terribly offensive, and you would only use it if you don't mind a full scale fight. I would rather die than say it. Maybe that's why the turkish prhrase survived, as less painful, so to speak... This language learning thing has many upredicted consequences... Edit: reading this again, I should make clear that it's a phrase used a lot to say "damn" if you drop something, etc. We don't go around sending eachother to hell all the time. Edited by renaissancemedi on 10 April 2014 at 11:16am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Medulin Tetraglot Senior Member Croatia Joined 4670 days ago 1199 posts - 2192 votes Speaks: Croatian*, English, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Norwegian, Hindi, Nepali | Message 10 of 33 10 April 2014 at 6:53pm | IP Logged | ||
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I like the Argentine Spanish word laucha (meaning mouse),
and I like Tamil words like குரங்கு (for a monkey) and பாம்பு (for a snake), as well as Chinese word for the Moon: 月亮 Edited by Medulin on 10 April 2014 at 6:55pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Lykeio Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4246 days ago 120 posts - 357 votes | Message 11 of 33 10 April 2014 at 9:46pm | IP Logged | ||
Is it αι + σιχ*** (respecting your wish not to write it out here) I am now uber curious and have no chance of ever learning Turkish so I can't find out for myself. I, too, use it frequently if this is the case. Edited by Lykeio on 10 April 2014 at 9:49pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Mork the Fiddle Senior Member United States Joined 3971 days ago 86 posts - 159 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Norwegian, Latin, Ancient Greek | Message 12 of 33 11 April 2014 at 12:47am | IP Logged | ||
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Schadenfreude*. My country has so many famous smug and pompous people who so richly deserve a come-uppance that when they receive one, I heartily thank our German friends for giving us such a handy word.
* Uncertain this word has indeed been incorporated into English, I just checked the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 6th Ed., 2007. It's there. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| languagenerd09 Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom youtube.com/user/Lan Joined 5102 days ago 174 posts - 267 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Mandarin, Japanese, Thai | Message 13 of 33 11 April 2014 at 5:37am | IP Logged | ||
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My favourite word in English from another language is ketchup. Probably because when I
get my hands on it, I use a lot of it but I was fascinated when I learnt about the origin of the word itself being originally from a Chinese language. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| DaisyMaisy Senior Member United States Joined 5382 days ago 115 posts - 178 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish Studies: Swedish, Finnish | Message 14 of 33 11 April 2014 at 7:02am | IP Logged | ||
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Schadenfreude has to rank as one of my favorites as well. It really encapsulates the sentiment rather well!
Amok is also a great word! It's fun to say and was once used in a Star Trek episode title. What more can you ask? There is an Arabic word that I can't spell (in either alphabet) that a woman at work taught me. She described it as a word used when something inevitably goes awry, usually due to some bureaucratic or other issue, and things get all messed up, but what can you do but shrug and say, "mahlesh". That how it sounds anyway! Maybe someone knows the word she means? We tend to say it at work when our inept management team causes some problem for us all. Since none of our managers has the slightest idea that the word even exists, it's great for muttering in meetings. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| renaissancemedi Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Greece Joined 4360 days ago 941 posts - 1309 votes Speaks: Greek*, Ancient Greek*, EnglishC2 Studies: French, Russian, Turkish, Modern Hebrew | Message 15 of 33 11 April 2014 at 8:29am | IP Logged | ||
Yes it is. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Bas Sma Newbie Netherlands Joined 3883 days ago 5 posts - 5 votes | Message 16 of 33 11 April 2014 at 6:06pm | IP Logged | ||
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I love the angry German words! :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlATOHGj9EY 1 person has voted this message useful |
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