My favorite not untranslatable word (but with an odd - for English speakers, or at least for me, translation) is the German word "brustwarze". Like many German words, this one is made from combining other individual words, i.e. "brust" and "warze".
When I told my lady boss the meaning of this word and the literal translation, she said, "The saying, 'I love you warts and all.' will never be the same again.
The most interesting thing about other languages for me is that even though the words can possibly be translated, the connotation or impact of phrases can be so completely different due to culture difference. E.g. in English to call a man a "son of a bitch" (often spoken "sonofabitch" or in the South US "sumbitch") is an insult. But the insult is mostly lost by a literal translation to Spanish, "hijo de perra", whereas a similar impact insult might be "hijo de puta". Also in some English speaking circles the term is not an insult at all but somewhat of a friendly greeting as in, "Hey you old sumbitch, I haven't seen you in a coon's age." (please forgive the "southernisms"!)
Basically the untranslatability of words and phrases (or many times the translatability of the words that produce a totally different impact) is what makes communication so fun and, at the same time, so difficult.
|