English words that cannot be translated

22.04.2016

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Untranslatable words can be found in many languages. They are a nightmare for even the most professional translators. Where do such words come from?
Such words are called realias (objects, historical facts that have no equivalent in other cultures). For instance, dishes (hamburger, okroshka), names (Pushkin, Shakespeare), objects that simply don’t exist in other cultures — such words are untranslatable.
There are words in some languages that describe phenomena that are present in all cultures, but don’t have a name for that. The Japanese language has a word karoshi that means «die, because you work too hard». Other languages don’t have a similar word, but the phenomenon itself is present in many cultures.
What is a translator supposed to do with such words? There are a few options:

give a definition, to explain what the word means (pretty much what we did with karoshi);
transliteration (spelling the words using the alphabet of the language one is translating into);
give a rough translation, which describes the object partially (drugstore can be an example, because it’s not just a place where they sell medicine, but also food, drinks and newspapers).

The English language is quite rich in terms of words that can’t be translated into other languages. We’ll talk about the most interesting of them:

Football widow A woman, whose husband is too interested in football, is called like this. The thing is, during a world championship men are temporarily gone. Nowadays, this expression is changing: a popular online game «World of Tanks» also took lives of many men, so their wives can be called «Tanks widows».

Bioaccessory This is a pretty rude word that describes a person who is used to look well compared to him or her. Imagine two teenage girls, one of whom is way more good-looking that another. It is likely that the prettier is using the other one to look better.

Closet music This is a kind of music you can only listen to when you are alone to avoid embarrassment. Picture a brutal man, who is a fan of Justin Bieber. I don’t think he will tell his biker friends about his tastes.

Facepalm. You definitely know that feeling when you hear someone say something so stupid that you want to put your palm on your face. This is facepalm.

Girlfriend button. This expression is used for the button on the gaming console controller that men push when their girlfriends need to talk to them.

Gobbledygook. Did you find this words difficult to read? That’s the point! The words means writing or speech that is extremely difficult to understand. It refers to professional law jargon, for instance. Some people use long and strange words just to seem more intelligent.

Serendipity. An unexpected, yet fortunate coincidence is called serendipity. If you find a 10-euro bill on your way home, you can use this word.

Bromance (from brother and romance). This word can be explained in any language, but the word exists only in English. A friendship between two male friends is called bromance. Important: we mean friendship!

Stage–phoning. Imagine a guy seeing a beautiful girl, taking his cell and starting to talk about his new Mercedes and his house in Miami trying to attract the girl’s attention. Like an actor on stage.

Brandalism (from brand and vandalism). When a city is covered with banners it is called brandalism.

Sibling. In Russian we ask: «Do you have any brothers or sisters?» In English we can say: «Do you have any siblings?» We don’t have to use two words. Just one.

Hopefully, you found this information interesting and useful. We wish you more interesting language discoveries and success in studying English!

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