|
That doesn't necessarily mean that it doesn't exist. I once had to explain the abbreviation aka[^] to an Englishman, and he claimed that there was no such abbreviation in the English language...
As for you leaving France a long time ago, that could be a part of it also. I'm Danish, but I've been living in Sweden for 20 years. The Danish language has evolved a LOT during that time (much more than the Swedish), and often when I read Danish newspapers, I will see words that I don't understand. Some times they are easy to figure out, but mostly not.
There could also be local differences, or maybe it's a Canadian French expression?
Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
Anonymous
-
The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
Winston Churchill, 1944
-
Never argue with a fool. Onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.
Mark Twain
|
|
|
|
|
You beat me to it. Actually, I've never heard of "seigneur-terrasse" neither, but then, I am not often out at the bar.
|
|
|
|
|
I agree, even the man Wikipedia(the definitive source of truth for lazy arses) attributes the phrase to does not actually use that phrase. It's a paraphrase of what Denis Diderot wrote.
I have heard it used by English people but never heard it used by a French person.
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
|
|
|
|
|
I can confirm you that "l'esprit de l'escalier" is a real thing, although I knew it better as "l'esprit en escalier".
I did not know "seigneur-terrasse", though...
enum HumanBool { Yes, No, Maybe, Perhaps, Probably, ProbablyNot, MostLikely, MostUnlikely, HellYes, HellNo, Wtf }
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wow! 
|
|
|
|
|
I can relate to number 19, that has happened to me a LOT... 
That - and Butterface[^]
Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
Anonymous
-
The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
Winston Churchill, 1944
-
Never argue with a fool. Onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.
Mark Twain
|
|
|
|
|
For #5 can I offer "Batface[^]" which locally means "a person who needs a baseball bat smashed into their face", similar to definition 2, but without the gender specific component?
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
|
|
|
|
|
'Batface' gives me an image of a person who has a face of a bat 
|
|
|
|
|
Pick up a baseball bat, and listen to any politician on the news - you'll get the idea pretty quickly...
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
|
|
|
|
|
No Dutch!? 
We have the words "dijk" (dyke), "polder" and "apartheid", which are known all around the world, but never translated!
Although we (and especially the SJW) are trying to make the world forget about "apartheid"
|
|
|
|
|
Many languages have picked up the Dutch word for a Turkish turban, though - tulipan 
Also, beskøyter is adopted from Dutch; I do not know how you spell it in Dutch - in English it is biscuits. In Norwegian, beskøyter is not just any kind of biscuit, but a hard, very dry kind that can be stored for a long time aboard the ship - another name for it is skipskjeks ("kjeks" is the general term for biscuits).
Lots of other ship and sailing terms have Dutch origins. You have no reason to feel inferior
|
|
|
|
|
Beschuiten or biscuits (pronounce: biskwie)
skipskjeks -> Kaakje (very dry cookie which you have to 'baptise' in your tea to make it eatable)
In Word you can only store 2 bytes. That is why I use Writer.
|
|
|
|
|
That's interesting - in Norwegian, 'kake' is always soft, often filled/covered with whipped cream or something similar, and always rather sweet (more so than almost all biscuits).
(If you look up 'beskøyter' in a Norwegian dictionary, 'skipskjeks' is given as a synonym. I never was a sailor, but from the descriptions I have heard, is seems to be closer to your Kaakje than to the more common, more or less sweetened biscuits.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
It often happens that the meaning of words are twisted when imported into another language, and more so in daily speech than in the dictionaries. One example: A Norwegian dictionary will still say that a "trailer" is something pulled by a tractor (or 'trekkvogn' in Norwegian - 'traktor' is the kind that the farmer uses out in his fields), but lots of people refer to any large covered truck as a 'trailer', even a single four-wheel unit. (Count 'traktor' as a second example.)
So in Norwegian, beskøyter is skipskjeks - very dry and hard, suitable for long term storage. The English Wikipedia explanation does not apply to the Norwegain meaning of the words.
|
|
|
|
|
digimanus wrote: skipskjeks -> Kaakje (very dry cookie which you have to 'baptise' in your tea to make it eatable)
We call those rusks.
|
|
|
|
|
How on earth did schadenfreude[^] not make it onto the list.
"There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies. The first method is far more difficult." - C.A.R. Hoare
Home | LinkedIn | Google+ | Twitter
|
|
|
|
|
You didn't seriously expect the list to be exhaustive, including every single word in every language of the world, that does not have an English equivalent, did you?
I am quite sure that if you go outside the Western culture (which certainly several of the 38 do), you can find hundreds, probably thousands, of words that could be included. Words that refer to cultural phenomena, or philosophy, where even the concept may be rather unfamiliar to Westeners. Or a concept is understood quite differently.
One example that I have been told of (I have absolutely no knowledge of Chinese myself): In Chinese culture, the difference between a 'truth' and a 'deep truth' is that a deep truth has several different interpretations, which can all be said to be 'correct' and not in conflict with each other. The more interpretations it has, the deeper is the truth. -- This is a kind of truth that I have never seen in our Western culture.
I notice that one Norwegain word was included in the list, I could mention several other without any hesitation, and probably a dozen or two if you gave me some time. Such as:
Hils ham! - Remind him of me when you meet him, bring my greetings.
Jeg unner ham det - the opposite of envy: I am happy that he gets this, it will please him.
And the most specific to Norwegian culture:
Polkø - the long waiting line at the (state monpoly) liquor store. In my childhood, before Christmas and similar celebrations, the line could continue out the door and a block or two down the sidewalk. Nowadays, many (but not all) stores are self-service; you don't have to wait for the person at the counter walk into the storage room to fetch the bottles, one by one, but some places you still see polkøer on the sidewalk before Christmas.
|
|
|
|
|
"schadenfreude" is known in Norwegain as well ("skadefryd"), and can be illustrated by a Norwegian saying that can be translated to something like "Own success is great, but the misfortune of others may be a great substitute" (Egen lykke er bra, men andres ulykke er heller ikke å forakte). That expresses the sentiment of "skadefryd" quite well.
|
|
|
|
|
Why do I get the sneaking suspicion that you are actually Norwegian, and not American as your profile says??? 
Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
Anonymous
-
The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
Winston Churchill, 1944
-
Never argue with a fool. Onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.
Mark Twain
modified 14-Jun-19 9:24am.
|
|
|
|
|
Quite simple: Being American is the default when you sign up as a CP member. I guess I should have non-defaulted my profile, but I never cared to. I guess my philosophy is that people should judge me by what I am saying / writing, not by my nationality.
If I were an American living for 20 years in Norway, speaking Norwegian fluently and feeling very much at home in the Norwegian society, would you then want to judge my statements as made by an American, or by a Norwegian? In which ways, or why, does it matter?
Or the other way around: If I had stayed in the US - I was living there for about a year and a half, thirtyfive years ago, and would probably have been allowed to settle permanently - would you then want me to appear as an American or a Norwegain today? I did not feel very much at home and would probably have been reflecting Norwegian attitudes even after 35 years in the US. Would you then want my statements to be judged as an American or Norwegian? Would it matter?
Non-defaulting my profile is a way of telling the world: I want you to judge what I say/write not only by its contents, but also by my nationality. I do not have such a wish. So my profile still has the default value.
|
|
|
|
|
I don't understand why "Kopfkino" didn't make it on the list...
Who the f*** is General Failure, and why is he reading my harddisk?
|
|
|
|
|
Anything term, phrase, etc, without an English equivalent simply ain't worth sayin'.
Just sayin'...
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
-----
You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
-----
When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013
|
|
|
|
|
Quote: 10. Faamiti (Samoan)
To make a squeaking sound by sucking air past the lips in order to gain the attention of a dog or child.
aka "whistling"...?
Quote: Bakku-shan (Japanese)
Or there's this Japanese slang term, which describes the experience of seeing a woman who appears pretty from behind but not from the front.
Butterface? (ok, still not a real English word, but it's been around...) 
And I've never heard any of their French examples. And they're not single words; they're composites.
|
|
|
|
|
General 
News 
Suggestion 
Question 
Bug 
Answer 
Joke 
Praise 
Rant 
Admin 
Submit an article or tip
