Sometimes we just have a feeling, a person, or an object that the English language does not have a word for. Luckily languages all around the world have been developing for centuries and have come up with quite a few useful words that are just what you need. Here is a list of twenty foreign words that I think almost everyone can find relatable at some point in their lives.
- Aftselakhis (Yiddish): the desire or impulse to do something because someone else doesn’t want you to
- Cavoil Riscaldati (Italian): the attempt to revive a long finished love affair
- Eleutheromania (Greek): an intense and irresistible desire for freedom
- Fernweh (German): feeling homesick for a place you have never been to
- Hikikomori (Japanese): A teen or young adult that has withdrawn from social life often obsessed with video games or TV
- Iktsuarpok (Inuit): the feeling of anticipation upon waiting for someone that leads you to keep looking outside to see if anyone is coming
- Jayus (Indonesian): a joke told so poorly and unfunny that one cannot help but laugh
- Kuidoare (Japanese): to eat yourself into bankruptcy
- Kummerspeck (German): Weight gained from emotional overeating
- Laotong (Mandarin): a friendship bonding two girls together for eternity as kindred sisters
- L’esprit de L’escalier (French): the feeling you get after a conversation when you think of all the things you should have said
- Mudita (Javanese): taking delight in the happiness of others
- Querencia (Spanish): the place where you are your most authentic self
- Saudade (Portuguese): a haunting desire for what was once loved and now is lost
- Shemomedjamo (Georgian): to eat past the point of being full just because the food tastes good
- Tidsoptimist (Swedish): a person who is always late because they think they have more time than they do
- Tingo (Pascuense): the act of taking objects one desires from the house of a friend by gradually borrowing and not returning them
- Toska (Russian): A dull ache of the soul with no clear cause
- Ubuntu (Nguni): the belief that we are defined by our compassion and kindness toward others
- Voorpret (Dutch): the sense of enjoyment felt before a party or event
Disclaimer: These are not direct translations but rather descriptions I found on the internet that give the gist of what the word would mean for an English speaking person. All translations were found through Pinterest.
