| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Off topic: Your favorite words in your languages Thread poster: Sara Senft
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Sara Senft 
United States
Local time: 09:51
Spanish to English
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I'm curious....are there words in your native and non-native languages that you especially like?
There are some words in Spanish and English that I especially like. In other words, I love how they sound/"feel"/etc.
Some of my favorites:
--Fickle
--Polemico/a (It's a Spanish adjective meaning 'controversial.')
| | | | | Some of mine | Oct 27, 2008 |
Great thread!
From the top of my head:
- Nuannaarpoq - Years ago, somebody posted that word in these fora. It means 'the extravagant pleasure of being alive' in Innuit. I can't think of a more extraordinary word.
- Mariposa (sp) / butterfly (en) / papillon (fr) / borboleta (pt) - I'm not crazy about the actual butterflies but I love the words
- Aujourd'hui
In English:
... See more Great thread!
From the top of my head:
- Nuannaarpoq - Years ago, somebody posted that word in these fora. It means 'the extravagant pleasure of being alive' in Innuit. I can't think of a more extraordinary word.
- Mariposa (sp) / butterfly (en) / papillon (fr) / borboleta (pt) - I'm not crazy about the actual butterflies but I love the words
- Aujourd'hui
In English:
- Nevermore
- Adobe
- Yearn / yearning
- Evergreen
- Actually
- Azimuth
In Spanish
- Jacarandá
- Renacimiento
- Sí
- Criatura
- Albahaca, lapislázuli, alambre, acicalar, ajorca, berenjena - Pretty much any Arabic loanword
[Edited at 2008-10-27 02:00] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Some of mine! | Oct 27, 2008 |
My favourite ones? Here they are.....
In Hindi, they are
नमस्कार i.e. Namaskar!
हे प्रभु i.e. Hey Prabhu!
a hindi verse
ऐसी बानी बोलिये, मन का आपा खोय.
औरन को सीतल करे, आपहु सीतल होय.
बुरा जो देखन मैं चला, मुझसा बुरा न कोय.
In... See more My favourite ones? Here they are.....
In Hindi, they are
नमस्कार i.e. Namaskar!
हे प्रभु i.e. Hey Prabhu!
a hindi verse
ऐसी बानी बोलिये, मन का आपा खोय.
औरन को सीतल करे, आपहु सीतल होय.
बुरा जो देखन मैं चला, मुझसा बुरा न कोय.
In Nepali, they are
हजुर i.e. A respect giving pronoun- hajura
नमस्कार i.e. Namaskar same as in Hindi.
बाबु-नानीहरू i.e. Babu-nani haru, all kids including boys and girls. I used it while doing teaching in a school in Nepal.
A small verse/poem
कुखुरी काँ, बासी भात खा, खई बासी भात,........
In Sanskrit,
ओम् Om!
कर्मसु कौशलम् Karmasu Kaushalam!
उद्यमेन हि सिध्यन्ति, कार्याणि न मनोरथै:.
न हि सुप्तस्य सिंहस्य, प्रविशन्ति मुखे मृगा:.
विद्या ददाति विनयं, विनयाति याति पात्रताम्,
पात्रत्वात् धनमाप्नोति, धनात्धर्मं ततस्सुखम्.
ओम् ह्रौं जूँ स:, ओम् भूर्भुव: स्व: ....... (महामृत्युंजय मंत्र, mahamrityunjaya mantra)
Also, one more, it's
HAPPY DIWALI TO ALL OF YOU!
PRAKAASH
Freelance Translator of Nepali, Hindi Sanskrit and English to four of the same languages.
Cell No.: 0091-9310999079 ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Favourite words | Oct 27, 2008 |
[quote]Srta Sara wrote:
"I'm curious....are there words in your native and non-native languages that you especially like?"
From the top of my head this morning
English- flummoxed
peeved
countervailing
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| Here are mine! | Oct 27, 2008 |
Swahili:
Shikamoo - Greeting from a younger person to an older person
English:
flabbergasted - greatly surprised
| | | | Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:51
Russian to English
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In memoriam
The names given in different languages to Lewis Carroll's mythical creature from a poem in "Alice Through the Looking Glass":
English: Jabberwock
Danish: Kloppervok
French: Jaseroque
German: Jammerwoch
Russian: Бармаглот
Spanish: Bemboguaba
Italian: Ciarlestrone
Portuguese: Jaguadarte
Polish: Zabrolaki
See als... See more The names given in different languages to Lewis Carroll's mythical creature from a poem in "Alice Through the Looking Glass":
English: Jabberwock
Danish: Kloppervok
French: Jaseroque
German: Jammerwoch
Russian: Бармаглот
Spanish: Bemboguaba
Italian: Ciarlestrone
Portuguese: Jaguadarte
Polish: Zabrolaki
See also http://www.proz.com/forum/literature_poetry/26603-a_difficult_poem_to_translate.html
[Edited at 2008-10-27 15:43] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Already discussed | Oct 27, 2008 |
| | | | | A few English, Chinese and Greek favorites | Oct 27, 2008 |
English:
exuberant
flabbergasted
ooze
congeal
groove
In general, I love how almost anything can become a verb in English and also how many words which originated in foreign languages are now a part of standard English.
English/Latin:
sine qua non
Chinese:
葡萄牙(Putaoya)- Portugal, but it literally reads "grape teeth."
美国 (Meiguo)- America, but the "mei" means "beautiful" as well.
糟糕(zaogao)-... See more English:
exuberant
flabbergasted
ooze
congeal
groove
In general, I love how almost anything can become a verb in English and also how many words which originated in foreign languages are now a part of standard English.
English/Latin:
sine qua non
Chinese:
葡萄牙(Putaoya)- Portugal, but it literally reads "grape teeth."
美国 (Meiguo)- America, but the "mei" means "beautiful" as well.
糟糕(zaogao)- "darn!"but literally "rotten cake!"Reminds me of the old Batman show.
云雨 (yunyu)- literally "clouds and rain," but actually, making love.
Greek:
agape
It's so interesting how different languages view and talk about (or don't talk about) love- but this could be a whole different thread ▲ Collapse
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| Yes, I'm weird. | Oct 27, 2008 |
My absolutely favorite word in English is "dingleberry" - it just sounds really funny for some reason, even if the meaning is gross It also reminds me of "jingle" (as in "jingle bells"), which is another word I like. I bet you didn't really need the mental image of jingling dingleberries, did you now? Well, too bad
In my native Polish, I love the word ... See more My absolutely favorite word in English is "dingleberry" - it just sounds really funny for some reason, even if the meaning is gross It also reminds me of "jingle" (as in "jingle bells"), which is another word I like. I bet you didn't really need the mental image of jingling dingleberries, did you now? Well, too bad
In my native Polish, I love the word "wyszczerzyć", that might be translated to "snarl" or maybe "bare (one's teeth)", but it is also sometimes used to mean "to smile very broadly"
In Japanese, I love あららら (pronounced "ararara" - with as many "ra"s as you can manage - you can go from a simple "ara" denoting a mild surprise to a prolonged "arararararara" that would mean something along the lines of "goodnes gracious oh me oh my!"), おっとっとっと (pronounced "ottottotto". Different meanings depending on the context, so hard to translate - "ahh" maybe? You can add more "tto"s for a slightly comical effect) and よっこらしょ ("yokkorasho" - Can't think of any good English translation, but it's used mainly by older people when doing something mildly strenuous, like lifting something, climbing a flight of stairs, getting out of bed and so on. "Aaand, here goes nothing!" is the closest English equivalent I can think of right now). ▲ Collapse
| | | | Amy Duncan (X)
Brazil
Local time: 10:51
Portuguese to English
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| Nice to have the other links, but... | Oct 27, 2008 |
Do I get the feeling you're saying it shouldn't be discussed again? Maybe there are new people who missed those earlier links, and I doubt that most people would be bothered to look in the archives...I know I wouldn't. I don't care how many times a topic has been discussed...I always like to hear new ideas and views.
| | | | Arianne Farah
Canada
Local time: 09:51
Member (2008)
English to French
| Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens... | Oct 28, 2008 |
Sorry, that was favourite things
My word would be:
Wanderlust
Because it's not only a beautiful word composed of beautiful words - wander & lust - but it completely and utterly defines me!
I also have a soft spot for "quintessential" for some reason, oh and "supercalifragilistic expialodocious"
In Fr... See more
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Amy Duncan wrote:
Do I get the feeling you're saying it shouldn't be discussed again? .
Not at all! I was just meaning "look at here, you will get other ideas".
But I must add that since the poll was lauched last February - i.e. not that long ago - why not carry on this thread instead of starting a new one ?
Stéphanie
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SilviuM
Romania
Local time: 16:51
Romanian to English
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| Great thread, strange idea | Oct 28, 2008 |
Well, I gotta hand it to you, this IS a great thread, but it's also a... strange idea, sorta.
Hm, my fav. word in Romanian... That's a tough one!
I think it's... "(a) analiza", vb. -> "(to) analyse"
| | | | | some of mine | Oct 29, 2008 |
English: gasp - doesn't it sound beautiful!
German: Edelstahleckeinbauspüle - this is obvious 5 in 1
| | | | Anita du Plessis
South Africa
Local time: 15:51
Member (2008)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| My Afrikaans Favourites | Nov 4, 2008 |
I love these words because they sound so nice and they also have double meanings (Quite humorous I might add):
Trapsuutjies - it means tread lightly in a literal sense and is the name for a chameleon. But it can also mean a very slow person.
Kruidjie-roer-my-nie - type of bush with very sensitive leaves. If you touch it, the leaves curl up and close. It can also be used for an overly sensitive person.
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