Does That Mean What You Think It Means?

As anyone who's ever taken a foreign language in school knows, there are some words in every language that just don't translate word-for-word into another. I am sure Mrs. Kindley taught us some of those, but they have slipped my mind in the intervening 35 years. ¡Silencio, por favor!, on the other hand, is still firmly in my brain.

The good folks at the maptia blog assembled a few words from other languages that represent concepts which take several English words -- and a little cartoon into the bargain -- to explain. Several of them are very interesting.

No. 5, for example, is the Russian word pochemuchka, which describes someone who asks a lot of questions, perhaps too many. Historically, the number of questions which crosses that line in Russia is a low one. Especially if they are the wrong kind of questions, such as, "Well, what did happen to those farmers, Mr. General Secretary?"

No. 9 is the French word dépaysement, which roughly translates as "the feeling that comes from not being in one's own country." Since it's French, the alternate meaning, of course, is "an overwhelming desire to surrender."

No. 7 is one which I and my clergy colleagues often experience Sunday morning. The Indonesian word jayus describes a joke so unfunny or told so poorly that listeners can't help but laugh -- not at the joke, but at the person who told it. In German, this word can be translated "gottfried," in French "saget" and in Hungarian "szekely" or "cee-kay." All three, however, are much more dour than the Indonesian word, as they denote attempts at humor so unfunny some listeners actually wish for death.