Languages and Linguistics

Recursion

(56,582 posts) Fri May 3, 2013, 05:44 AM May 2013

What are your favorite non-English words? [View all]

I'll start with বাঁদরামি, "bandrami", a Bengali word. The root is বানর, "bandar", monkey, and the form is a denominative gerund (noun form of a verb derived from a noun), "activities proper to a monkey", or I guess more colloquially "monkey business".

Also good is German Kummerspeck, literally "grief bacon", the weight you put on after eating because you're upset.

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What are your favorite non-English words? [View all] Recursion May 2013 OP

From German: Lydia Leftcoast May 2013 #1

From Japanese: Lydia Leftcoast May 2013 #2

"Nicht schiessen" (German) -- "don't shoot!" nt raccoon Jun 2013 #3

From Italian Starboard Tack Sep 2013 #4

I was always intrigued by the German word ailsagirl Feb 2014 #5

English didn't have an equivalent word, Lionel Mandrake Aug 2014 #12

From German geardaddy Mar 2014 #6

From Welsh geardaddy Mar 2014 #7

Mandarin XiaoXing Jun 2014 #8

Is that the one that means "is"? Recursion Jun 2014 #10

No, that's geardaddy Jul 2014 #11

From Croatian... whathehell Jun 2014 #9

Tea. Sweeney Dec 2014 #13

Nihongo (Japanese) yuiyoshida Jun 2016 #14

Ferrocarril, Spanish for Oldem Oct 2016 #15

Izquierda, the Spanish word for left. The direction. PoindexterOglethorpe Dec 2016 #16

Yes, it's Basque Recursion Dec 2016 #17

Oh, my. I'd thought it was something along those lines. PoindexterOglethorpe Mar 2019 #18

fooly kooly!! yuiyoshida Jun 2019 #19

I love the names of the months in Ukrainian lanlady May 2020 #20

Message auto-removed Name removed Sep 2020 #21

selvflgelig in Danish - 12 letters, 6 sounds, means "of course" flor-de-jasmim May 2022 #22

Norwegian has this same word LearnedHand Mar 2023 #23