Schadenfreude and language envy

Thanks to “Avenue Q”, we all know what “Schadenfreude”* means. What a great word it is: it describes something we’ve all felt, and we know exactly what it is. And yet we have no word in the English language to describe that very specific and identifiable experience.

Here below is a list of other words (or phrases) that have no English equivalent. Thank you mental_floss. Trust the Japanese to come up with a simple three words to capture that most poetic sensation upon first meeting someone that the two of you are going to fall in love. And the pragmatic Norwegians have a way of describing any food item that can be put between two slices of bread to create a sandwich. Why didn’t we Brits – masters of the art of the sandwich – think up an English pålegg?

Holes such as these in our vocabulary do suggest that language doesn’t necessarily define or mold thought, as many believe: we don’t always think just within the confines of  the language we speak.  Who doesn’t know that panicky thing you feel just before you have to introduce someone whose name you can’t quite remember? You don’t have to know the Scots’ word ‘tartle’ to know that feeling …

* it’s a German word meaning the feeling of pleasure you get from witnessing someone else’s misfortune


Earlier this year, Bill DeMain introduced us to 15 Wonderful Words With No English Equivalent. Now that you’ve integrated those into your vocabulary, here are 14 more.

1. Shemomedjamo (Georgian)

2. Pelinti (Buli, Ghana)

3. Layogenic (Tagalog)

4. Rhwe (Tsonga, South Africa)

5. Zeg (Georgian)

6. Pålegg (Norweigian)

7. Lagom (Swedish)

8. Tartle (Scots)

9. Koi No Yokan (Japanese)

10. Mamihlapinatapai (Yaghan language of Tierra del Fuego)

11. Fremdschämen (German); Myötähäpeä (Finnish)

12. Cafune (Brazilian Portuguese)

13. Greng-jai (Thai)

14. Kaelling (Danish)

Read the full text here:
–brought to you by mental_floss!

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