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submitted 3 days ago by Batadon@feddit.org to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

Any language, explain what it means if it's not English.

For example (as a non-native speaker) I've always liked the English word 'unprecedented', mostly in the context of fiction. Especially if it paints some entity to be really mystical or wondrous or it's own never before seen order of magnitude in any way.

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[-] Ibuthyr@feddit.org 1 points 13 hours ago

Lautmalerei.

It's just the German word for onomatopoeia (which also exists in the German language). It could be directly translated into soundpainting I suppose?

[-] ada@friend.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 day ago

Dificilisimo. Spanish word meaning very difficult. I just love the way it sounds though.

[-] 6stringringer@lemmy.zip 1 points 21 hours ago

I like the word “Unexpurgated”.

[-] MrsDoyle@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago

Scots is full of wonderful words - glaiket, baffies, birl, coorie - it's hard to pick a favourite. But I'll go for "thrawn" - it's a kind of perverse stubbornness, a grim grip on a point of view.

[-] GrantUsEyes@lemmy.zip 1 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

I have a few favorite ones in english (which is not my first language) of the top of my head:

-Document/documented (I particularly like the Q sound of the second syllable and the cadence of the pronunciation)

-Cocoon. (Just great. Satisfying to say. Makes me feel cosy. 10's across the board)

-Gazebo. (Very removed from the usual sounds of my native language, unusual but fun)

Edited to add:

In spanish: Panóptico (panopticon) also satisfying to sat and with good cadence

[-] hbar@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 day ago

I have 2, spangled and gumption.

[-] MrBobs@lemmy.one 3 points 1 day ago

Tmesis. Breaking up a word and inserting another word.

Like absolutely becomes....

Abso-bloody-lutely.

Don't think it has to be a swear word, but it seems most common. :)

[-] SlartyBartFast@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago
[-] penguin202124@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (I hope I spelt that right)

[-] Kuma@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

I searched for the meaning and got a video clip instead of a musical about the word, still don't know the meaning and I am fine with that, now I know how to sound precocious ;)

[-] mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Gruntled. It means pleased or contented. It’s the positive form of the much more common “disgruntled”. If someone is caught in the rain, they may be disgruntled about being wet. But you very rarely hear the word “gruntled” used.

Similarly, “whelmed” is a word, which basically means “submerged” or “engulfed”. You can be _over_whelmed by emotion, meaning you were completely overtaken and swept away by the emotion. You can be _under_whelmed by an experience, meaning it failed to fully meet your expectations. But you can also just be whelmed. The experience did exactly what you expected; no more, no less.

[-] skankhunt42@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 day ago
[-] wizzor@sopuli.xyz 27 points 3 days ago

Epäjärjestelmällistyttämättömyydelläänsäkäänköhän.

It's the longest word you can make in Finnish without using compounds, which can be infinite length.

It means, very loosely translated "I wonder if the outcome was a result of their lack of ability to cause others to be disorganized. "

I know, Finnish is an enviable language.

[-] folkrav@lemmy.ca 4 points 3 days ago

Am I understanding that Finnish has a way to combine words without being considered to be a compound? My very limited exposure to compound words (through German) was the very idea of mashing the words together made them compound.

[-] wizzor@sopuli.xyz 3 points 2 days ago

We have a concept of word inflection, which can be used to replace a lot of words that English would use to denote something being a question, ownership markers, causes and effects etc.

Compounds are fun too, since you can do chaining:

Viskibassokitaravahvistinpiiri

Whisky base guitar amplifier circuit

[-] Ephera@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 days ago

We have a concept of word inflection, which can be used to replace a lot of words that English would use to denote something being a question, ownership markers, causes and effects etc.

I don't speak Finnish, but I believe a good example for such an inflection is how in English you can glue an -s to words to make them plural. In some other languages, you say "many word" instead, because they don't have such an inflection.

[-] kdcd@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 days ago

Solamente, it just flows so well. It means only in Spanish.

[-] teawrecks@sopuli.xyz 3 points 2 days ago

I've always liked the word Adenosine. Not sure why, just fun to say.

[-] nebulaone@lemmy.world 15 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

English: Spaghettification (being ripped/stretched apart extremely violently)

Oh and almost forgot: Yeet is an actual word now, so that as well.

German: Zeitgeist (so well known you've probably heard it already ["spirit of the times"])

Programming languages: print("lol, lmao even.");

[-] hperrin@lemmy.ca 11 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I love the word helicopter, because unobviously, the root words aren’t heli and copter, but are “helico”, meaning spiral, and “pter”, meaning wing.

Waffle not the food just the word. It’s fun to say.

[-] daggermoon@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago
[-] FireWire400@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Very versatile word in Straya and NZ

[-] watson387@sopuli.xyz 17 points 3 days ago
[-] hperrin@lemmy.ca 8 points 2 days ago

I love the word trabajaba (pronounced trah-buh-hah-buh). It means “worked” in Spanish.

[-] lemuria@lemmy.ml 6 points 2 days ago

There are plenty of feminine given names that roll off the tongue incredibly well. Names like "Anna" and "Elaine" and "Katherine" do not begin to scratch the surface... But again, I pay more attention to names than the average person because I am obsessed with linguistics, and that obsession is what made me click this thread and type out a reply in the first place.

[-] cy_narrator@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 2 days ago

I knew a girl with such a cute name but she was not very good looking so guys used to say "name scam"

[-] grillgamesh@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 3 days ago

antidisestablishmentarianism. its a fun word to say.

[-] lattrommi@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 days ago

i feel the same way about pneumonoultramicroscopicsyllacovolcanoconiosis. it's fun to say!

it's not considered a real word anymore (and from what i gather, never really was a real word, in the opinion of the english nerds who decide such things) but i learned how to say it, dammit! i can't unlearn that!

i might have even learned how to spell it correctly. i didn't check the spelling as i wrote it in this comment but i also don't think it matters if i incorrectly spell a word that isn't really a word. so... yeah...

anyways, it was possibly used as a complicated version of what was known as 'black lung' disease, which coal miners in the appalacians contracted from inhaling silica dusts, for anyone curious.

[-] hperrin@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

It should be “silico” instead of “syllaco”. It comes from “silicon”, like the dust you mentioned.

[-] anothermember@feddit.uk 12 points 3 days ago

Steadfast. As a native English speaker it feels like a very strong, grounded word which also suits its meaning. Originally literally means fixed in place, it's come to mean loyal and unswerving.

[-] Bldck@beehaw.org 3 points 2 days ago

Stalwart Stolid Solid

[-] Suck_on_my_Presence@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago

Anesthetize

The 'esth' right into a t is just about the coolest combination of word sounds in any word in English.

Second favorite is cwm. :)

[-] lattrommi@lemmy.ml 5 points 2 days ago

As someone with a lisp who tends to turn 's' and 'z' sounds into a 'th' sound, i will respectfully disagree that it is a cool combination. it hurts me a little that i can't always say words properly but i suppose i could always ask a doctor to aneththetithe me.

[-] chaosCruiser@futurology.today 11 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Subtle, rhythm, and Wednesday. The spelling is just absolutely wild.

It’s about as messy as old British coins and Roman measures.

[-] Ephera@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 days ago

I also enjoy "one". There's just a random "w" in there when you pronounce it.

[-] chaosCruiser@futurology.today 2 points 2 days ago

Yeah, “wan” would make 5000% more sense.

[-] hperrin@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 days ago

The subtle debt rhymed in rhythm on Wednesday.

[-] DJDarren@sopuli.xyz 4 points 2 days ago

Vegemíté, as pronounced by Gloria in Modern Family.

Every time I open the cupboard that has a jar, it brings me joy.

[-] daggermoon@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

It's good shit. I ain't even an Aussie but that shit makes everything better.

[-] pineapple@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 days ago

No way, I've never met anyone who didn't grow up with Vegemite but still enjoys it.

[-] DJDarren@sopuli.xyz 3 points 2 days ago

Thing with Vegemíté is that it's like Marmite, but not fucking awful.

[-] daggermoon@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

I like Marmite too lol

[-] Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago

autodefenestration is a fun one

[-] lattrommi@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 days ago

defenestratafenestra isn't a real word but i use it to tell people i stopped using Windows and switched to Linux.

[-] Quilotoa@lemmy.ca 4 points 2 days ago

Paraprosdokian. A sentence with a twist in it. Eg. Some people are like slinkies: not really good for much but they bring a smile to your face when you see one tumble down a set of stairs.

[-] SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml 4 points 3 days ago

Sunwise and widdershins.

[-] replicator@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 days ago

The Trinity of Doo: doobie, doofus, doodle.

[-] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 0 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Brobdingnagian

It's a reference to the giants of Brobdingnag from Gulliver's travels. It means that something is absurdly large. It is also a large word making it delightful in that way. It also rolls off the tongue musically.

Coming in a close second is petrichor or petrichorian.

Petrichor is the word for the smell of the earth right after a rain. Petrichorian obviously means that something smells similar, or can be used to reference petrichor. I love the word for multiple reasons. First that it just sounds wonderful. Second that there's a word for describing this one specific smell that is a universal human experience to anyone not anosmic out of all other smells that are similarly universal.

Third that it approaches onomatopoeia on that it sounds like the way the smell smells. The earthy petri combined with the grounded ring of chor (pronounced like core, and references that the smell is a core thing of rain and earth) is the verbal sound of the way the smell tickles the nose and makes many people walk around sniffing like hounds on a walk through the woods after weeks in the city.

Petri chor. It's like the tinging of raindrops off of a piece of granite or marble in the mountains while you shelter under a tree and revel in the scents of it all.

I mean, it's no Brobdingnagian, but as words go petrichor is a bit magical. It invokes and evokes almost as much as tintinnabulation, but does so for a smell, which is so much harder to do. That, btw, is an excellent word: tintinnabulation. Of the bells, bells, bells, which may be the most enjoyable poem to read aloud, ever.

There's some other words that have the ability to invoke phantoms of their related senses. Cadaverine and putrescine come to mind; both names of chemicals involved in the putrescent smells of decomposition of flesh. Knowing their meaning brings forth memories of their smells. Not quite as effective in that, because you do have to know what they mean for the incantation to work, but still quite wonderful words. Sulfurous is similarly scent summoning. Flinty works as well, but is less musical as it resonates in the oral cavity and echoes off the teeth.

Look, I can do this all day. There's a word for people like me: logophile. There's a fancy word for people that are into words. How awesome is that?!

Oh, that ?! Even has a word! The interrobang! Ain't English awesome?!

And yes, at this point, the entire comment is sigogglin' (or sigoggly, or sigoggledy depending on where in the Appalachians you are), which is a twisty and crooked word for something that is twisty and crooked.

Loquacious, no?

this post was submitted on 12 Jul 2025
40 points (97.6% liked)

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