My Knapsack of Pilfered Words

Any­one who’s learned a sec­ond lan­guage is famil­iar with words that are untrans­lat­able. These words typ­i­cally require 2–3+ sen­tences to explain their mean­ing to cul­tural for­eign­ers. The words most mem­o­rable to me are often those express­ing emo­tion. Here, I’ll keep and update, a list of words I find absolutely amaz­ing and worth remem­ber­ing.

• gigil/ˈɡiːɡil/Orig­i­nat­ing from Taga­log and used in Fil­ipino, the word ‘gigil’ refers to the over­whelm­ing feel­ing of want­ing to squeeze or pinch some­thing that is so cute or adorable.

This is dif­fer­ent than “rev­el­ing in some­one’s pain.” Schaden­freude is often a con­flicted feel­ing and very nuanced.

• schaden­freude/ˈSHädənˌfroidə/From Ger­man, the word ‘schaden­freude’ refers to the plea­sure or sat­is­fac­tion one feels at the mis­for­tune of oth­ers.

Have I got­ten any of the def­i­n­i­tions or pro­nun­ci­a­tions incor­rect? Send me an email, I’d love to hear from you.