# Favorite Words or Phrases



## Jeremy Sharpe

Languages are very beautiful things, as we all know, and sometimes a phrase or word just strikes you as beautiful. So, post them here! You can do it in any language you want.

French:
I don't know a lot of vocabulary in French, but I love the way 'Ce dont j'ai besoin...' rolls off the tongue (and rhymes too).

English:
I like the word 'annexation' right now... I can't really explain why. 'x's are good I guess.


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## scandalously in love

oooh ooh oooh!

pourrais-je tout simplement dire, que j'adore l'expression
"Franchement!" en français, (avec plusieurs sortes d'accents!)  

(frééénchment, fronchmont, fronchméént... lol....)

En anglais, on n'a pas ni mot ni phrase tant copieuse que cela... c'est même mieux avec un bon "Ben" québécois avant.... 

*Ben, franchement là!*

je pourrais m'exprimer toutes mes émotions avec ce mot-là!


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## Jeremy Sharpe

scandalously in love said:
			
		

> oooh ooh oooh!
> 
> pourrais-je tout simplement dire, que j'adore l'expression
> "Franchement!" en français, (avec plusieurs sortes d'accents!)
> 
> (frééénchment, fronchmont, fronchméént... lol....)
> 
> En anglais, on n'a pas ni mot ni phrase tant copieuse que cela... c'est même mieux avec un bon "Ben" québécois avant....
> 
> *Ben, franchement là!*
> 
> je pourrais m'exprimer toutes mes émotions avec ce mot-là!



Est-ce que le mot 'franchement' veut dire 'frankly' en Anglais? Comment y a-t-il tous ces sens differents?


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## mirandolina

One of my favourite German words is Gummihandschuh - it only means rubber glove, but I love the sound of it!


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## Agnès E.

When I used to speak German, I loved saying "wissenschaftlich". All these ssssssss and schhhhhhh !!


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## garryknight

Jeremy Sharpe said:
			
		

> I like the word 'annexation' right now... I can't really explain why. 'x's are good I guess.



You're not a remote descendant of the Schickelgruber family, are you? 
Thought not. I'll get my coat...


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## Artrella

I *love* this " ... *, though*" 
To tell the truth, I don't like this word, and it's been very difficult for me to understand.  
But, the fact is that *mi amiga mejor, mi unicornio*, always says that, and I like the way she does it... so now it is my favourite phrase...    

In German I like this *"ich auch"* because the sound is terrible.  For instance you say "Ich liebe dich" and then the other person says "Ich auch", but the sound of these words is so sharp -it sounds like an order, hee hee, that is kind of contradictory...well... it's my opinion..(I hope this is well written, if not my friend Who will correct it, right Who...?)  

In French I like *"je ne sais pas"* and *"qu'est ce que vous cherchez?"... * the sounds are mmmm....so smooth, so sweet...you put your lips in a certain position...  

In Irish >>> *Ble wyt ti isio mynd? I'r dafarn  * = Where are you going? To the pub...  

and in my last acquisition...Italian... *"cosa significa questa parola?"... *


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## Agnès E.

Have you noticed there are many sssssss and shhhhhhh in the proposed words/phrases ? Very interesting, indeed.....


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## belén

In German I like the way this sentences sound:
Uber natürlich - But of course
Uberhaubt nicht - Absolutely no way
Ich bin entaucht - I am disappointed

In Spanish I like:
Encarecidamente - earnestly
Alcachofa - Artichoke

In English I am more into monosyllabes, my favorites being:
Few
Bib

In Portuguese I like mostly all words  but I will chose these 2 today
Allem - Beyond
Foz - Falls (as in the Iguaçu Falls)

And in Catalan I like
Pastanaga - Carrot

Now, psychologists, please proceed...

Cheers,
Be


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## Whodunit

mirandolina said:
			
		

> One of my favourite German words is Gummihandschuh - it only means rubber glove, but I love the sound of it!



Yes, it's funny. The same goes for 'Gummiball (rubber ball)' - also funny in English. The best German word is "Flummi" I don't even know how to translate it. Maybe someone can.



			
				Artrella said:
			
		

> In German I like this "*ich auch*" because the sound is terrible. For instance you say "Ich liebe dich" and then the other person says "Ich auch", but the sound of these words is so sharp -it sounds like an order, hee hee, that is kind of contradictory...well... it's my opinion..(I hope this is well written, if not my friend Who will correct it, right Who...?)



"Ich auch" is correct. I like to pronounce it, but as for "ich liebe dich - ich auch", I have to teach you it's not the best way to say it. We Germans do it better: We add one more a 'ch' to make a finer pronunciation:

Ich liebe dich, mein Schatz. — Ich dich auch.
I love you, darling. — I love you, too.

The best English word ever created is Mississippi. And the best German word is Rehabilitation. I don't manage its pronunciation. The best French one is "propriétaire", because that's almost the first word I learned and it's still hard to pronounce.


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## Whodunit

belen said:
			
		

> In German I like the way this sentences sound:
> *A*ber natürlich - But of course
> *ü*berhaubt nicht - Absolutely no way
> Ich bin ent*ä*u*s*cht - I am disappointed



Before some psychologists proceeds anything, I HAVE to correct your German examples.


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## belén

whodunit said:
			
		

> Before some psychologists proceeds anything, I HAVE to correct your German examples.




Thankssssssss!!!!!! Long time no study German


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## Artrella

> *whodunit*
> Ich auch" is correct. I like to pronounce it, but as for "ich liebe dich - ich auch", I have to teach you it's not the best way to say it. We Germans do it better: We add one more a 'ch' to make a finer pronunciation:
> 
> Ich liebe dich, mein Schatz. — Ich dich auch.
> I love you, darling. — I love you, too.



Danke schön, mein Lehrer!!!   I knew Who would have something to say!!     I'm always expecting Who's corrections... thank you!!!!

PS:  That's why it sounded odd... you don't have to say "ich auch" when someone says "Ich liebe dich".... uuuhhhh!!!... I used to say that... poor my love.....


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## cuchuflete

For sound and sense, the Portuguese word  Saudade is a favorite.



> In his book In Portugal of 1912, A.F.G Bell makes a few disquisitional remarks on the meaning of "saudade" given its intended context:
> 
> "The famous saudade of the Portuguese is a vague and constant desire for something that does not and probably cannot exist, for something other than the present, a turning towards the past or towards the future; not an active discontent or poignant sadness but an indolent dreaming wistfulness."



http://www.saturation.org/saturationblog/archives/000824.html

saludos,
Cuchuflete


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## Whodunit

Artrella said:
			
		

> Danke schön, mein Lehrer!!!   I knew Who would have something to say!!     I'm always expecting Who's corrections... thank you!!!!
> 
> PS:  That's why it sounded odd... you don't have to say "ich auch" when someone says "Ich liebe dich".... uuuhhhh!!!... I used to say that... poor my love.....



Not only that you DON'T HAVE to say it, you SHOULDN'T say it. It sounds really odd.


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## cuchuflete

Now that I see it in print, 





> disquisitional


 is also nice, in a silly way.
The sound is like that of shsssssssing a rowdy person in a theatre or concert, and the word is so pompous as to be amusing.


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## Artrella

whodunit said:
			
		

> Not only that you DON'T HAVE to say it, you SHOULDN'T say it. It sounds really odd.





Danke vielmals Who!!! Ich verspreche "ich dich auch" fürder sagen !!


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## lsp

We have another collection of beautiful sounding words in this thread from a few months ago if anyone is interested in seeing some more contributions.


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## Whodunit

Artrella said:
			
		

> Danke vielmals Who!!! Ich verspreche "ich dich auch" fürder sagen !!



De nada, amiga. What does the underlined word mean? Say it in Spanish or English, please.


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## scandalously in love

Jeremy Sharpe said:
			
		

> Est-ce que le mot 'franchement' veut dire 'frankly' en Anglais? Comment y a-t-il tous ces sens differents?


 

Yes, its true, but the word goes much farther than that...

Think about it, how often do you say frankly?  Besides, you can also say "Etre frânche" to get that meaning. You could use franchement to mean, frankly: ie. Franchement, je pense que le bleu ne va pas avec le rouge. 

However, franchement is often said as an expression when you're surprised, confused, angry, etc, etc.  The closest translations I can come up with, is a mixture of "for crying out loud", "what the heck" and "you can't be serious".... all rolled into one. 

ie.  "Il m'a dit que maintenant, il ne vient jusqu'a samedi... franchement!!"


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## Cath.S.

I love the way the word "perception" sounds in English. I don't like its equivalent in French, though. Maybe because one of its meaning is related to paying taxes!


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## supercrom

I really like these phrases:

*Je nai sais pa.*
because I can say that when someone says to me "Parlez-vous français?" (click)

*Não falo português.*
Idem

*what's the matter?*
I like this but especially with a British accent.

*CROM*


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## ceirun

Artrella said:
			
		

> In Irish >>> *Ble wyt ti isio mynd? I'r dafarn *= Where are you going? To the pub...


Hi Artrella, this isn't Irish but Welsh.  (I like the sentence, *though  *).

One of my favourite words in English is "_gobbledegook_" ...just because it sounds so unusual.


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## Whodunit

ceirun said:
			
		

> Hi Artrella, this isn't Irish but Welsh.  (I like the sentence, *though  *).
> 
> One of my favourite words in English is "_gobbledegook_" ...just because it sounds so unusual.



Is there a difference in usage to goobbled*y*gook? Both of them sound funny, but what's the correct one?


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## ceirun

Hi whodunit,

It's funny you should ask that, because I actually had to check the spelling before writing it.

In my Oxford dictionary it says "gobbledegook", but looking in Google, there is at least one other variation. Take a look here: http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-gob1.htm


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## Whodunit

Thank you Ceirun,

I hope it's clear now.


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## Cath.S.

cromteaches said:
			
		

> I really like these phrases:
> 
> *Je nai ne sais pas.*
> because I can say that when someone says to me "Parlez-vous français?" (click)
> 
> *Não falo português.*
> Idem
> 
> *what's the matter?*
> I like this but especially with a British accent.
> 
> *CROM*


Maintenant, tu sais !


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## mjscott

I like the words:
_albaricoque_
and any word that is an _esdrújula_--for the musicality of it.

I like the word
_esperanza_
in Spanish. In English, _hope _ can be quantified by the measure of hope the person hoping has in something. In Spanish, _la esperanza_ means _the waiting_. It's as if hope has transcended hopelessness, and is now a matter of waiting for what you hope for to come to pass. It's a much stronger word than the English word _hope_.


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## Artrella

ceirun said:
			
		

> Hi Artrella, this isn't Irish but Welsh.  (I like the sentence, *though  *).
> 
> One of my favourite words in English is "_gobbledegook_" ...just because it sounds so unusual.




Hi Ceirun... I knew Welsh and I wasn't aware of it.....  
OOHHHH!!! OK, I will have to go to the pubs in Wales!!! ha ha ha !!!    Maybe with the Prince of Wales...mmmmm...naawwww!!!!!! 


But I will go to the pub in Dublin, and have some pints there..hic!!    >>> Go dtí an teach tábhairne


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## Artrella

whodunit said:
			
		

> De nada, amiga. What does the underlined word mean? Say it in Spanish or English, please.





Ahhhh mein Freund!! Du weisst nicht?... Dieses Wort bedeutet "in future".
At least that is what my LEO dictionary says!!!    Whooooo!!! Why cannot I have one ... only one... a single...sentence totally correct...uuuffaaaaa!!!


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## Whodunit

Artrella said:
			
		

> Ahhhh mein Freund!! Du weisst nicht?... Dieses Wort bedeutet "in future".
> At least that is what my LEO dictionary says!!!    Whooooo!!! Why cannot I have one ... only one... a single...sentence totally correct...uuuffaaaaa!!!



Nein, ich wusste nicht. What a word   . Hm, LEO is wrong, I've never heard it, but it's also marked as obsolete/archaic. Nevertheless, I think you created a thread in the German forum right now.


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## ceirun

Artrella said:
			
		

> Hi Ceirun... I knew Welsh and I wasn't aware of it.....
> OOHHHH!!! OK, I will have to go to the pubs in Wales!!! ha ha ha !!!  Maybe with the Prince of Wales...mmmmm...naawwww!!!!!!


Hi Art. I can't blame you about not wanting to go to the pub with him  ...but funnily enough, "The Prince of Wales" is actually quite a popular pub name in the UK (you can have a look at the 10 most popular ones here: http://www.camra.org.uk/SHWebClass.ASP?WCI=ShowDoc&DocID=3607), so at least you could go to a pub with that name, without having to share his company.


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## beatrizg

My contribution will be in Spanish and Greek, guys. 

A very dear person of mine was called in her youth 
"El alacran dorado".
I not only like the sound, but I also find it poetical.

The Greek language is very musical. I like the name of the island of Serifos... there is a small taverna there calle Kyklopas (Ciclope). The word for sea, Thalassa... 

There are so many more I could think of...


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## garryknight

Spanish has a great many words which sounded very exotic when I first came across them. It was a bit of a let-down when I found out the meaning of one of my favourites, 'basura'. It means 'rubbish'.


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## te gato

Ohhh I have so many...

Yadda, yadda....of course..meaning..and so on..
Supercalafragalisticexpialidocious...from Mary Poppins..
Homonym...funny if you say it fast about ten times...
Zymurgy...or any word that starts with Z...

In German...
Das ist kaputt...

In Dutch..
Lieveling...means..darling...My mother calls me that (among other things  )

In Spanish/Mexican...
Te Quiero..awww

One of my favorite sayings...
If wishes were horses...(aww..sounds so nice..until you say the rest of it)
I would ride the Hell out of here !!

te gato


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## pinkpanter

The most beautiful word ever...

CAXIGALINES

(Asturian)


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## pinkpanter

garryknight said:
			
		

> Spanish has a great many words which sounded very exotic when I first came across them. It was a bit of a let-down when I found out the meaning of one of my favourites, 'basura'. It means 'rubbish'.



 Yes, basura is a very nice word if we forget its meaning


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## Whodunit

Another super English word: "whatchamacallit, what-d'ye-call-it, what-'em-call-it etc."


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## pinkpanter

whodunit said:
			
		

> Another super English word: "whatchamacallit, what-d'ye-call-it, what-'em-call-it etc."



Y *thingamabob *


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## Whodunit

pinkpanter said:
			
		

> Y *thingamabob *



Y *thingumajig*.


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## cuchuflete

One I haven't heard in years, but still brings back nice memories:

Monkeyshines

abrazos,
Cuchu


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## Whodunit

cuchuflete said:
			
		

> One I haven't heard in years, but still brings back nice memories:
> 
> Monkeyshines
> 
> abrazos,
> Cuchu



Isn't it monkeyshines?


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## supercrom

mjscott said:
			
		

> I like the words:
> _albaricoque_
> and any word that is an _esdrújula_--for the musicality of it.
> 
> I like the word
> _esperanza_


 We should never lose even a bit of *esperanza*...

We can easily see that a word is _esdrújula _because it always holds an accent mark.

*CROM*


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## garryknight

whodunit said:
			
		

> Y *thingumajig*.



Not to mention doobry.


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## pinkpanter

garryknight said:
			
		

> Not to mention doobry.



Does "*doobry*" mean the same? I could not find it.


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## pinkpanter

cuchuflete said:
			
		

> One I haven't heard in years, but still brings back nice memories:
> 
> Monkeyshines
> 
> abrazos,
> Cuchu



What is "monkeyshines" Cuchu?


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## weird

Hello, ¡que thread tan gracioso!

My favourite word is:   WEIRD (for this reason it is my nickname)

I love:   ache, almighty, always, ankle, awkward, because, cellar, chemistry, crimson, ice, lizard, luck, mistake, mortgage, necklace, nowhere, owl, purple, scare, shark, snake, swallow, tear, tiptoe, twice, wander, weather, winding, witch, wrinkle, yourself and zip.

¡me encanta el sonido de estas palabras! ¡para un "oido español", son bastante musicales!

En cuanto a las frases:

THE BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
LIKE THE CAT ON THE HOT TIN ROOF

Aunque para mi gusto, todo me suena bien en inglés   

Saludos.-


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## JLanguage

I would say the following are my favorites:

callipygian
ass goblin: (Note: could be considered offensive)
posh
Amurica (emphasising pronunciation)


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## garryknight

pinkpanter said:
			
		

> garryknight said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Not to mention doobry.
> 
> 
> 
> Does "*doobry*" mean the same? I could not find it.
Click to expand...

I told you *not* to mention doobry!  

It means the same here in the UK, at least that's the only way I've heard it used. For example, "Pass me the doobry, will you?". I've even heard "doobry-whatsit" on a couple of occasions.


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## pinkpanter

Thank you Garry!


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## garryknight

As an addendum: I've just had a browse through my dictionaries and 'doobry' doesn't appear anywhere, although I don't have a dictionary of current usage. So I thought that maybe it was a local phenomenon. Then I did a quick check with Google and got about 3,290 hits, including a Usenet newsgroup called alt.doobry.

Perhaps the most relevant comes from here:

"Following my article about words like thingummy which are used as vague terms for something unspecified, another correspondent wrote to ask the origin of the word doobry — another synonym for a thingummy. 

Jonathan Green’s Dictionary of Slang gives three possible spellings — doobrie, doobry and dubry — and says the word originated in the Army around the 1950s, and gained a new lease of life, thanks to the entertainer Kenny Everett, “who used it frequently in the 1970s-1980s”. But Jonathan Green supplies no etymology."


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## LV4-26

When I was young and I used to go to England every summer holidays (or quite), I heard young people of my own age (teenaged) use this word more than all the others : "reckon"
_How much d'you reckon...
What d'you reckon...
_I think I like it so much because it brings back good memories. I like the way they pronounced it.

In French, I just heard a few minutes ago on TV an expression which I had forgotten and which I've always found very amusing :
_Avoir le trouillomètre à zéro _
It's very unformal of course and the literal translation would be something like "to have the "fearmeter" on zero". It really means to be scared to death.
It's made up by using the word "trouille" which is colloquial for "peur" and adding "mètre" (like in thermomètre, parcmètre - parking meter - and so on.) Hence a "trouillomètre" would be a machine designed for measuring fear.


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## CLEMENTINE

Hello

When I was living near London, I loved to hear how people pronouncing the name of the airport *Gatwick*, you could easily know who was Londonian as all Londonians omit the "t" and say "Ga'wick" instead. I also like the word "*wicked*"

In Spanish I love the sound of the word "*jabali*" (a boar)

In Japanese I love the way people say "*nande*" (really? / why?) depending on the context the pronouciation is really different, as well asthe expression on the face of the person... You really have to see it to understand. 

And I would finish with the French speaking part of Switzerland where teens always say "*c'est trop laid*" with their accent (you would hear something like "c'est tra laid"), that would be an equivalent of wicked or, it's crappy.

LV4-26, I totally agree, "trouillomètre" is a funny word and the expression is really amusing ... 

Cheerio


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## Carlos Martínez Riera

LV4-26 said:
			
		

> When I was young and I used to go to
> _Avoir le trouillomètre à zéro _
> Hence a "trouillomètre" would be a machine designed for measuring fear.


Mais si l'on a le _trouillomètre_ à zéro, on devrais pas avoir peur du tout, non? Mais peut-être les expressions suivent sa propre logique.
Carlos


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## CLEMENTINE

Cela ne va peut-être pas dans la logique des choses, mais il est sûr que quand le "trouillomètre est à zéro", "on n'en mène pas large"... Cette expression est apparement rentrée dans le langage populaire dans les années 40.

_"Des pétochards (...)qui couraient sur les routes avec le trouillomètre à zéro"_ (J-P Sartre)


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## NTFS

te gato said:
			
		

> Yadda, yadda....of course..meaning..and so on..
> te gato



ei te gato i know where yadda yadda came from... i've watched this japanese manga "shaider" a monster always says those beautiful words... "Yadda yadda" LOL   


Saludos
NTFS


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## NTFS

I like phrase from the song "Yo te voy amar" the spanish version of "This I Promise You".    Especially the phrase:
"Sigo muriendo por ti
Yo te quiero asi
Sin tu amor en mi vida, mi vida
No se como podre yo vivir"

I also like this phrase
El amor es una mierda --> love sucks... LOL~!


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## oona003

I like these words :

English --> "*Absolutely fabulous*", "*enormously*", "*relaxing*"...

French --> "*Avoir un polichinelle dans le tiroir*" = be pregnant... i couldn't tell the letter-by-letter translation

Spanish --> "*El amor es... un deporte muy raro*"

German --> "*kaogoumi*" , sorry... i don't speak any German, so i may be wrong for the orthography...
Greek --> "*skoulikomyrmigkotrypa*", which meaning in french sounds a bit silly, but quite funny too = "Trou pour les fourmis"

In all these words, I like both the way it is said and also the way it's written...


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## Whodunit

oona003 said:
			
		

> German --> "*kaogoumi*" , sorry... i don't speak any German, so i may be wrong for the orthography...



Not bad.   

It is Kaugummi:

Kau(en) = chew(ing)
Gummi = rubber/gum

Kaugummi = chewing gum


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## o'clock

Buenas noches, 

A mi me gusta mucho: *Like a cat on a hot tin roof*

Me sorprendió mucho su verdadero significado en inglés.

Aquí en España, era el título (traducido al español literalmente), de una película de Elisabeth Taylor y todo el mundo le daba un significado morboso (sobre todo por lo de "tejado caliente").  

Ví la película y no entendía la risita que provocaba el título. Pero ahora al saber su verdadero significado y acordarme de la protagonista lo entiendo mejor.

¡Ay Dios, que retorcida era aquella España!

Un saludo.


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## mirandolina

oona003 said:
			
		

> I like these words :
> 
> 
> French --> "*Avoir un polichinelle dans le tiroir*" = be pregnant... i couldn't tell the letter-by-letter translation
> 
> The English equivalent would be "*To have a bun in the oven*"


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## Markus

My favourite English word is "boulevard".


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## VenusEnvy

English words that I find fun in pronouncing:
Ointment
Chafe
Superfluous
Kiwi

Spanish phrase that I find endearing:
Dar a luz    to give to light    to give birth

French word that I find fun in pronouncing:
ecchymose - bruise (noun)


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## redwine

mine is 'sinta'. another Filipino word for love [a lover,or a term of endearment, though it turns to be poetic o too much mushy but couples who are so much in love mostly use this]

as a term of endearment
Sinta, pakimasahe nga ang likod ko. - Love, could you please give me some backrub.


as a lover:
Naghihintay na sa labas ang aking sinta. - My boo is waiting for me [there or outside]


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## LV4-26

Is it worth waking up this old thread ?

Anyway... I'm watching this DVD (documentary about the making of the Alien franchise) and they keep using the word *bizarre*
As with many other English words spelt like in French, I just love the way the English native speakers pronounce the word "bizarre".


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## araceli

mirandolina said:
			
		

> oona003 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I like these words :
> 
> 
> French --> "*Avoir un polichinelle dans le tiroir*" = be pregnant... i couldn't tell the letter-by-letter translation
> 
> The English equivalent would be "*To have a bun in the oven*"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Or " to have a puppet in the drawer"? Very literal one!
Click to expand...


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## meili

LV4-26 said:
			
		

> Is it worth waking up this old thread ?


 
Yes!  It is worth it! 

My favorite word in Spanish is 'luna', which is moon in English.  I just love the way it sounds, so smooth.. and loving.

I also love 'hasta sangrar'.  It is just so *STRONG, *both in meaning and the way it is pronounced.  I like the way my tongue rolls when pronouncing the 'rrrr'. 

In English, I like the word 'credibility'.    

In Filipino, I just love the native tagalog speakers say the word 'marikit' which means little or tiny (I guess!  - sorry  )


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## sean

azafata, Bernabeu, cicatriz, civilización, hombre, que sí, stalueo (hasta luego), vale

Y todas las paradas del metro de Madrid: 
<bonbonbon>... Próxima estación: Bilbao... Correspondencia con: línea cuatro
Me gusta mucho la de Moncloa.

I also like that "ojo" looks like eyes and a nose, and you're supposed to pay attention when you hear it. And I like that "soy yo" is "it's me." In English "I am I" sounds real weird. "Muy" looks weird too. And I like that animals make different noises p.ej. guau guau, which reminds me that I like the word "guagua" in the DR, which is kind of a bus/van.

I'm sure there are more pero ya


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## chica11

Hi!  I really like the words guacalá and the word ferrocarril (because I love rolling my R's).  
In English I like words: Audacity and magnificent!! 

Saludos!!


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## zazie

In French, I love the word "carrément," which kind of means completely but is actually pretty untranslatable.  Sometimes I use it in English when I'm speaking to my family, who also know French.

In English, a few of my favorite words are spate, dearth, and fecundity.


----------



## Merlin

meili said:
			
		

> Yes! It is worth it!
> In Filipino, I just love the native tagalog speakers say the word 'marikit' which means little or tiny (I guess!  - sorry  )


 
"Marikit" is also referred to the beauty of a woman. Like Dalagang "Marikit". But in some dialect like Pangasinense (a province in the Philippines known as Pangasinan), "Marikit" refers to single and young women. "Marikit" in tagalog is "Dalaga."

English Phrase: *Count that baby and a foul* 
In Tagalog: *Talaga?*
In Spanish: *Gracias!*

I think Lancel0t have another idea on the "marikit" thing.


----------



## Laia

Hi mates!

In *English*, I love how "*nevertheless*" sounds. Also, "*cooker*" and "*moaner*"... they sound very funny... cucáá mounáá   I like "*lolly pop*" too.

In *Catalan* I love "*xiuxiueig*" (whisper) and "*assolellat*" (sunny).

In *Spanish*, "*burbuja*" (bubble) and "*jamón pata negra*"... mmm...


----------



## Tiger-Lilly

I love the Irish phrase for saying hello/welcome:

'Cead mile failte romhat' - which literally means- 'A hundred thousand welcomes'. I think that's the best reaction I have ever received when visiting anywhere!!

I also love the English word 'safe'. Just the word alone instills a warmth into me! (And we used to use it as a way of describing something as good!)

My favourite Italian word (don't know many!) would be 'amore'.


----------



## jorge_val_ribera

Agnes E. said:
			
		

> When I used to speak German, I loved saying "wissenschaftlich". All these ssssssss and schhhhhhh !!


 
Haha, then you will love this:

_tschechisches Streichholzschächtelchen  _

(=little czech matchbox)


I liked the German word _*deswegen*_ (=because of that) a lot when I was first learning how to use it, but now it's become too "normal". Now I LOVE some very creative German words:

_*Ohrwurm* _(literally "worm of the ear", but its meaning is actually a "song that you can't get out of you head")

*Warmduscher *(literally "person who showers with warm water", meaning "comfort-loving person")

*Anstandswauwau *(literally "dog of the decence", meaning "chaperone")

Aren't they nice?


----------



## Anastasia

oh mio Dio! non riesco neppure a leggerlo !!è impossibile!!!(oh my God! I can't read that!!It is impossible!!!) 

on "fox" (ok? si dice così?) I've seen "The simple life" with Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie,well,they said all the time "that's hot!"and "that's really hot" and I love it!(in italian is "fico!"oppure "che figata",that's really hot=è veramente fico).

my French teacher always says the sentence with  "quand meme" at the end, example:
tu pourras bien le faire eh, quand meme!!
but she ALWAYS says it!sometimes I want to kill her!!

I love the word "disgust"if you say it...very disgusted!!!

I love the name "Tinkerbell", my boyfriend always call me in this way.


----------



## jemappelleK80

i love the idea of the word:

frou-frou

in French, although the sound of the word isn't that beautiful.  As for sounds:

tintinnabuler, choisissiez (imparfait vous form of "choisir"), volontiers, bouleverser, cueillir, vieille, ananas, pamplemousse, coquelicot, grincer, pétiller, c'est-à-dire, ours en peluche, chômage, autochtone, entretien, fauteuil, louche, piéton, toute-à-l'heure, puis, croquer, cédille, irrégulier, soleil, ce que, ....................

in English:
dumpling, syncope, *MULTIPLICATIVE* (seriously, say this word out loud, how can you not love it?), coulda-woulda-shoulda, academia, leisure (pronounced either way), lackadaisical, chitin, skosh, sockdolager, cretin

in Spanish:
perezoso, every word that ends in -mente (i know, there are a lot!), teléfono

in Italian:
cosa, sprezzatura

And I love the sound of spoken German and Portugese but can't think of any words in particular--those languages are way underrated sound-wise.

i think that's about enough, huh?

~K


----------



## Anastasia

ehm...in italian "sprezzatura"?...sorry,I'm italian but I don't know this word...are you sure? maybe "spazzatura"?


----------



## Like an Angel

I learn it 2 days ago: *pamplemousse*... it's funny


----------



## jemappelleK80

actually, sprezzatura is an english word of italian origin...so it's entirely possible that it no longer exists in italian!  my bad!

~K


----------



## VenusEnvy

Katie: Hello from the DC/MD area!!!   




			
				jemappelleK80 said:
			
		

> actually, sprezzatura is an english word of italian origin...so it's entirely possible that it no longer exists in italian!  my bad!
> 
> ~K


What's it mean in English?


----------



## jemappelleK80

"Sprezzatura is an antique Italian term suggesting spontaneity, expressiveness and an easy, unselfconscious display of virtuosity."

Hello back from the dc/md/VIRGINIA  area

(ps: sorry it took so long to respond!)


----------



## sofiaramos81

The funniest word in spanish: COTONETE !!!!!!!!  (swab´s tradename) and of course: volquete, bonete, colorete, machete. Any word ending in "ETE" makes me smile =) 

In english: Hilarious


----------



## meili

Been using this word for quite a while now.  Came across it in Merriam-webster online.
_confuzzled_ (adj): confused and puzzled at the same time
Jeje!


----------



## Josh_

*Mod Edit:  *This post has been merged to this thread from another thread started by Josh Atkins.  Please use the search feature to look for similar threads before starting one of your own.  Thank you.

Indite -- means to write or compose.  I like this word because it is very uncommon, and always confused with indict.
Imbroglio   – an intricate and complicated situation.  This word just sounds cool.
Oubliette  – a dungeon with the only opening at the top.  Like the previous word this word is cool to say.
Rhubarb  – a heated discussion.  I like this definition of the word because you don't usually associate rhubard with arguing.
Zeugma – A zeugma is a figure of speech, or a rhetorical device, in which two different senses of a word, usually a verb, are used in a sentence. This creates a semantic incongruity. More at Merriam-Webster.  I like this rhetorical device because it usually creates a humorous effect.  examples would be: 
He left in high spirits and a Cadillac.
She stole my heart and my money.
_(Feel free to come up with some of your own zeugmas.)_

Mnemonic   – something that aids in memory retention.
Pneumonic  – relating to the lungs
Gnomonic – a gnomon is that thing that sticks up on a sundial thereby creating the shadow.  Gnomonic is the adjective  of that.

I like the last three words, Mnemonic, Pneumonic, Gnomonic, because they look very different from each other, all start out with silent letters, yet they all have very similar pronunciation.


----------



## Lydia1

bookkeeping
woollen
because both words are fun to spell out loud. 
"bee double oh double k double e etc"
"double u double oh double L etc"

I like the word 'slug'. it sort of rolls off the tongue.


----------



## Mei

Hi all there, 

Here some words that I like to hear: 

Definitely
Mischievous
Naughty
Daughter
Weird
Though
Chivalry

I like thouse words because it was dificult to me to pronounce them. I have more that I like but right now I don't remember.

Mei


----------



## Sonriestar

In english, I love the word _fallacious_ (which means misleading/deceitful)
French: saying the phrase "je ne sais pas." It was the first sentence I learned  
Latin: eheu (oh dear!, or alas!) and circumspectat (because of the hard c)
Spanish: the way the Dominicans say ya.


----------



## blancalaw

To me some of my favorite spanish words are 
lechuga  (like a chu chu train)
sonrisa (rhymes with my name)
juntos (just funny to hear)

In English I like the words...
I love you
I apreciate you
honey
and my personal name

All those are phrases that touch the heart.


----------



## la reine victoria

Some of my favourite English words are -

Precious

Perspicacity

Peaceful

Restoration

Graceful

Gentle

Delicious

In French I like croissant. nom-de-plume, l'heure du café, trésor and 'petit lapin'.

A phrase:  Actually from a poem by W B Yeats - The Lake Isle of Inisfree'

Nine bean rows will I have there,
A hive for the honey bee;
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.​Don't ask me why, I just let my thoughts wander.

I wonder what a psychologist would make of our choices. 

LRV​


----------



## opsidol

A mí me encanta la palabra *murciélago*. Es muy bonita y tiene un sonido tan suave....

También mis palabras rusas favoritas son *действительность *y* зима. *No sé por qué pero me gustan por alguna razón....


----------



## *Cowgirl*

My new favorite word is: gelatonous

I don't even know if its a word, but I love it! 

It means gelatin like.


----------



## Ducken

My favorite English words are:

Brilliant
Cheers
Snarky (I really love to use and hear British words and expressions.)

Ethereal
Effrontery-- This is my absolute favorite word in the English language. Some synonyms are shameless and boldness, but the word effrontery just has a certain edge to it....

Mis palabras favoritas de español son:

arte
reloj
vela
sonreír con desprecio (to sneer)

Y me gusta la expresión:

De acuerdo


----------



## kevinleihuang

I do not have a large English vocabulary. What I use every day is just the common words and phrases. I tend to use "appreciate" and "dedicate" more.


----------



## eleone

My favourite words/expressions are:

*Spanish:*
¡Ya voy! (I'm always saying this  ), cariño, sueño, despedida, enloquecer, disfrutar, ni de coña, anda que... 

*English:*
I can't do that! (long story  ), attorney, concrete, hurt, hesitate, what the hell?, oh my God/gosh, really?, actually, damn it!, be right back, laugh my ass off, even, shut up, shush, eternal, great, right, ramble on...

*French:*
Chercher, même, je ne sais pas, étoile, peut-être, joie, heureusement, mystère...

*Galician:*
Verdadeiro, cousiñas, lembranza...

*Italian:*
Presto, ragazza, in quialsiasi momento...


Those are the ones I can think of at the moment. I'll probably come up with more later, especially in English. There are so many words I love in this language


----------



## Hakro

I like words and expressions that sound like Finnish although the meaning is totally different. For example:

*English:* How many boys - sounds like in Finnish 'the dog went away'
*
French:* Quel luxe - sounds like in Finnish 'one o'clock'

*German:* Nein - sounds like in Finnish 'I marry' or 'I make love'

*Italian:* Impianto - sounds like in Finnish 'a virgin gave'

*Spanish:* Me gusta - sounds like in Finnish 'we p**'

There are more...


----------



## tvdxer

Arabic (bad transliteration): jamil (beautiful)

Croatian: Ljubavi (love?)


----------



## blueberrymuffin

My husband loves the "th" sound in English. It is very similar to the Spanish "z" sound. He just loves the fact that he can pronounce it really well. So, he likes all the words that include a soft "th" sound.


----------



## hess-chan

I am quite fond of the expression "pants", used in a way to express your annoyance over something.


----------



## Jda

*in English -->  *'Approach'  I don't know why but I like to say that 

*in spanish --> ' *Hace mucho calor'

*in italiano -->* ' Arrivederci'  ı always like that words to say

*in German --> *" gar nichts'


----------



## Joyful

What a great thread!! 
I just love the sound of pretty much anything Russian or Italian - they are such musical languages!
I have to agree, anything with sh's in sounds sexy!
Before I learned Russian I loved the word 'Kalashnikov' because of the combination of K's V's and Sh's!
I also love it when Spanish people answer the phone and say 'Si, digame' It is so short and concise but sounds great!
Funnily enough my Dad's favourite German word was 'sind' as in 'wir sind' until he found out it wasn't spelt 'Zint' !!
I love it when French people swear and just string a whole load of words together. To my English ears it still sounds elegant even if the meaning is pure filth!
I like the way Spanish and Italian people call people girl as in 'bella bambina' or just 'chica'.


----------



## Joyful

Oh! And one more amazing word!
Spanish meaning 'to roar' I think.
ahorrar
I love the double rr and how it sounds like a cute lil roar when you say it!


----------



## Lucien

From one of Delida's songs.
Je ne sais pas, mais c'est comme ça .
strick


----------



## nichec

In French: *Ca ira *(sorry for the "c")
In English:* I would like to hear it from you*

I saw the post of the movie "cinderella man" in Paris, I love the words on it: *Vivre, Survivre*


----------



## Hakro

nichec said:
			
		

> In French: *Ca ira *(sorry for the "c")


 Just tonight I learned that in French capital letters they use neither accents (I knew it before) nor the _cédille_ (ç) (I didn't know). So don't be sorry about *Ca*.


----------



## geve

I'm afraid you've been taught wrong, Hakro... as I've myself discovered pretty recently, capital letters do take accents in French, see this thread:

accents on capital and upper case letters / accents sur les majuscules, capitales accentuées

**


----------



## Hakro

geve said:
			
		

> I'm afraid you've been taught wrong, Hakro... as I've myself discovered pretty recently, capital letters do take accents in French, see this thread Des Accents Sur Des Lettres Majuscules?* *


Thank you, Geve, for this information!

I was taught, nearly half a century ago, that accents on capital letters are voluntary, but I have always used them just to keep the orthography clear for myself. I didn't know about the change, and apparently many French people haven't heard about it. I was yesterday taught by a Frenchman...


----------



## la reine victoria

I hope it's OK to offer a poem I learnt at school. I find it very beautiful at the start, and funny in the last verse, which is such a deliberate contrast to the others.

Cargoes
by John Masefield
. . . . . . . . . . . . 

http://www.psychicworld.net/car.htm​ 




> Edit by moderator: No web pages or copyrighted or plagiarized content may be inserted into WordReference posts. Minor fair use excerpts from dictionaries such as a definition/translation or two is permitted. Other quotes of less than one paragraph (4 sentences) are permitted as well. All other forms of inserted content from press releases, newsletters, web pages, or any other copyrighted content placed into messages will be removed without exception. A link to the content is acceptable and appropriate.


 






LRV​


----------



## Outsider

Here's another poem: _Waiting for the Barbarians_, by Constantine Cavafy.


----------



## la reine victoria

Outsider said:
			
		

> Here's another poem: _Waiting for the Barbarians_, by Constantine Cavafy.


 



Greatly appreciated, Outsider.  I haven't read this before. Thank you for introducing it. 



LRV


----------



## davidl243

Someone may have said this already (cos to be honest i haven't read every post!) but the best word in any language must be the German *'Gemütlich'* - for both the sound (the way the lips come to a point for the ü, and the beautiful breathy 'ch') and the meaning (cosy, comfortable, just generally wonderful). I find it hard to believe anyone could disagree


----------



## Encolpius

Hello, I've got a small collection of my favourite words, but I won't put them all here. I like Italian and Finnish words when they have the same vowels and double consonants. I like many Hungarian compound words which are made up of two words and the result means something completely different, often very poetic or inventive. Germans also have words like that. Briefly I'd say my favourite words sound a little onomato*poetic*ally.  Now I can remember:

the *English*: daddy-long-legs
or the *German*: Muskatnuss (heard in a film)
*Czech*: Mimo provoz (almost only o's, means: out of service)
many many *Hungarian *words like: papmacska [pap (priest), macska (cat), the result is a type of caterpillar]
Many many *Italian*: Tutto sotto controllo. recentemente...
Many many *Finnish*: pikkukaupunki, matkatavarat, rakastajarat, hämärä, käpälä, or words ending in -i in general.
*French *sentences like: Tu pues du cul.


----------



## chifladoporlosidiomas

Spanish/portuguese: ojala/oxala


----------



## Rintoul

Joyful said:


> Oh! And one more amazing word!
> Spanish meaning 'to roar' I think.
> ahorrar
> I love the double rr and how it sounds like a cute lil roar when you say it!


 
Actually 'ahorrar' means 'to save', (as in time, money )
Caja de Ahorros = Savings bank


----------



## sakvaka

Encolpius said:


> ecc. sotto controllo. recentemente...
> Many many *Finnish*: pikkukaupunki, matkatavarat, rakastajarat, hämärä, käpälä, or words ending in -i in general.
> *French *sentences like: Tu pues du cul.



You must mean "rakastajatar" 'mistress'. I hope your illusion doesn't vanish after this correction. BTW, you didn't mention _aikamatkaaja_!


----------



## Hakro

Encolpius said:


> I like Italian and Finnish words when they have the same vowels and double consonants.
> - - -
> Many many *Finnish*: pikkukaupunki, matkatavarat, rakastajat, hämärä, käpälä, or words ending in -i in general.


What do you think about "kastanjavatsakaklattaja" with it's nine a's? It's a bird, _Ortalis wagleri._


----------



## Encolpius

Hakro said:


> What do you think about "kastanjavatsakaklattaja" with it's nine a's? It's a bird, _Ortalis wagleri._



Well, I think there is little chance one would use the Finnish equivalent of the rufous-bellied Chachalaca.  I wonder if bird specialists in Finnland have heard about that bird at all. BUt could you dissect the word? I know: kastanja is chestnut, vatsa is stomach, then?      

Another interesting word from German: *Gabelstaplerfahrer*. I wonder what you call it in Finnish.


----------



## Hakro

Encolpius said:


> Well, I think there is little chance one would use the Finnish equivalent of the rufous-bellied Chachalaca.  I wonder if bird specialists in Finnland have heard about that bird at all. BUt could you dissect the word? I know: kastanja is chestnut, vatsa is stomach, then?
> 
> Another interesting word from German: *Gabelstaplerfahrer*. I wonder what you call it in Finnish.


The Finnish bird specialists have heard about this bird enough to give it a Finnish name. I heard about it just a few days ago.

_Kaklattaja_ means cackler, chuckler, gaggler, quacker.

"Gabelstaplerfahrer" is called _haarukkatrukinkuljettaja_ in Finnish.


----------



## Seica

I love this mandarin words, all with _cat _(may be because I love cats too):

_*xiongmao*_ (lit. bear-cat): panda
_*lanmao*_: lazy as a cat 
_*wo de xiao maor*_ (pronounced with the beautiful Beijing accent that lets the -r roll and roll): my little cat


----------



## Lopes

Ik vind de woorden "geenszins" en "alleszins" zeer fraai, en als ik het goed heb begrepen worden die in Vlaanderen ook gesproken, maar in Nederland alleen geschreven. Misschien vind ik daarom de romans van Herman Brusselmans zo vermakelijk?


----------



## gatogab

chifladoporlosidiomas said:


> Spanish/portuguese: ojala/oxala


Yo soy chiflado por las palabras castellanas de origen *árabe*


----------



## Encolpius

I've just seen this word on TV and I think it's really cool: *erection supervisor*.  I really think thy should call it different.


----------



## The Machine of Zhu

Effortlessly & crestfallen are two of my favourite words.


----------



## Cosol

Spanish _Vente a Vodafone (Vodafón)_, _reloj,
_Japanese: Moshi moshi
French: Bon-Bon, Culottes, Je m'en fous.
Crotian: Hrvatska
English words which are supposed to come from Italian like Pizza Pepperoni and Tagliatella (and everything ends in -ella like Cindarella)


----------



## Plzenak

English : diarrhoea 
Spanish : I see I´m not the only one who likes the word ´reloj´  and I also like chimenea 
Slovak : naozaj (= really )
French : ecoute - sounds so funny to me 
Czech : Řekni ř ! Neřeknu ! ( = Say ř ! I won´t !)


----------



## chamyto

English = what´s up !
French = moi aussi
Spanish = * maj/s que ná*  ( más que nada )


----------



## Judica

I call this the World word = "cafe"
Indigenous = papoose
Indigenous = pachamama
French = savez vous
Spanish = mariposa
English = discombobulate
Arabic = Salam  / Hebrew= Shalom

Shortened Phrase (Military/Police) = FUBAR


----------



## LV4-26

This one I've only discovered recently even though it's French.

Esperluette

It refers to the '&' sign (_ampersand_, I think it is, in English)

I like the way it sounds, pretty, classy, discreetly elegant.

(btw, if you split it -- _espere luette_ -- it means _hope uvula_. )


----------



## Dragonseed

Thanks LV4-26, I had no idea about the esperluette, and I am French too!... Is it female, as in "une esperluette"? It sounds really cute.
In comparison its cousin the @ (_aerobas_) sounds drab and boring...


My favorite Spanish word is _la madrugada_.
In English, I like _handkerchief _and I don't even know why...


----------



## catlady60

Whodunit said:


> Y *thingumajig*.



And also, *doohickey.*


----------



## rusita preciosa

My favorite words are:
Spanish: *conejo* and *oveja* because they sound just like these animals look
Russian: *давай!* /davay/ - let's go! / come on!, because it just sounds cool
French: *abandonner*, because it has a melancholy ring to it
 
EDIT: thought of an English one: *procrastination*
And another one, it doesn’t belong to a language, it’s just a car brand, but I like how it sounds: *Suzuki Kizashi *


----------



## Nonstar

French: Invraissamblable (This word is invraissamblable! Invraissamblablement!)
English: Transvestitism. Varooka.
Russian: Dorogoy/a
Finnish: Saippuakivikauppias (World's biggest palindrome)
Spanish: Desenchufáááááááááte !


----------



## ilocas2

My favorite English word: a
My favorite Spanish word: y
My favorite Portuguese word: e
My favorite Italian word: o
My favorite Slovak word: i
My favorite Croatian word: u


----------



## catlady60

I have another favorite English word: _*serendipity!*_  I exclaim that every time I end up in a lucky situation.


----------



## Bashti

De mi idioma me gustan mucho algunas palabras que vienen del árabe, como albahaca, alhucema...

Tengo otra favorita que suele resultar difícil de pronunciar para muchos extranjeros: guijarro. Tengo una amiga francesa que no ha sido capaz de pronunciarla bien nunca, lo mismo que el nombre de la ciudad Guadalajara que, por cierto, también es de origen árabe.

En inglés me encanta la palabra "exhausted". Me suena muy elegante.


----------



## arceki

Pues mi palabra favorita en inglés es Twilight, no sé porque, y no
es por la saga de las pelis, es por el juego de Zelda de la Wii, y no sé 
porque pero me encanta.

y en alemán es: Kokosflocken o algo así no recuerdo bien como se escribe
y es coco rallado, me resultó super graciosa la primera vez que la escuché


----------



## sakvaka

Just found this, and I think this is great!

*Dutch*: hoeveelheid ('howmuchness')

It means "amount".


----------



## gatogab

Álgebra, por su origen.
En árabe significa algo así como _'componer/ajustar huesos'_


----------



## Bashti

catlady60 said:


> I have another favorite English word: _*serendipity!*_  I exclaim that every time I end up in a lucky situation.



I love it too! It reminds me of its equivalent in Spanish, *chiripa, *which sounds very amusing.


----------



## Heredianista

*"Prego!"* is a word a miss a lot here in the US. When someone says, for example, "Excuse me" in order to ask me to move over so she can pass me, I find myself wanting to say "Prego," realizing I _can't_, and then standing there dumbstruck, saying nothing, like my brain has frozen. I hate that feeling. I feel it is a word we need in English and don't have. 

(It is therefore impossible to fully translate into English, but means many things (besides "you're welcome"), along the lines of "please do," "go ahead," "help yourself," and "knock yourself out" — but most especially, it is inviting and kind and warm, and usually happily _emphatic_.) 

I have always loved the word *"ciruela,"* plum, in Spanish. I just think it's gorgeous and musical. 

I'm not from Texas, I'm from Boston. So when I moved here, I was tickled by all kinds of Texan idioms. One I love is *"All hat and no cattle." *(In a Texas drawl, of course.) It means all show and no substance. (As in, 'All talk and no action' or 'All talk and no trousers.') I just love the cartoon image I get of a swaggering cowboy wearing a three-foot-tall cowboy hat... and having no _cattle._ 

I love the way people in Costa Rica say *"con mucho gusto" *(with great pleasure) for "you're welcome," instead of "de nada" (it's nothing/don't mention it). 

I like the "j" sound in Portuguese... (It's the same sound my name begins with, now that I think of it) – and *"juba"* (mane). 

And *"capoeira."*

"¡aaaaaaA*Ándale!*" will always have a special place in my heart. : )

An English word? *Snafu. *

~Genève


----------



## Heredianista

catlady60 said:


> And also, *doohickey.*




And "whatshisface" (what's-his-face).


----------



## LV4-26

I don't know if I've got favorite words or phrases, but I'm aware I've got "verbal tics" in English.
For instance, I've just realized I'm often using _only_ as a conjunction where everyone else tends to use _however, nevertheless, but, ....._.

I guess it comes from a novel I once translated: I got contaminated.


----------



## gatogab

*Dicitencello vuje* = Diteglielo voi

*Lucariè scetate* *songh 'e nnove! *

Puorte o cazone cu 'nu stemma arreto = blue jeans


----------



## Bashti

Encolpius said:


> I've just seen this word on TV and I think it's really cool: *erection supervisor*.  I really think thy should call it different.



And what on earth is *that* supposed to be?


----------



## ilocas2

My favorite word in Czech - *vývěva* - vacuum pump
3 V and no other consonant


----------



## gatogab

Appena arrivato in Italia leggevo un romanzo di Fedor Dostoevskij, il cui nome non ricordo, e mi sono imbattuto in una frase che non ho mai dimenticato.
Eccola:
_'Aveva lo sguardo smarrito in un beato rapimento"_


----------



## Ibermanolo

mjscott said:


> I like the words:
> 
> I like the word
> _esperanza_
> in Spanish. In English, _hope _can be quantified by the measure of hope the person hoping has in something. In Spanish, _la esperanza_ means _the waiting_. It's as if hope has transcended hopelessness, and is now a matter of waiting for what you hope for to come to pass. It's a much stronger word than the English word _hope_.


 
Are you sure of that? maybe you think so because the verb "esperar" in Spanish has different meanings (hope, wait and expect). Sin enbargo el sustantivo correspondiente a cada verbo sería esperanza, espera y expectativa.


----------



## Ibermanolo

Por norma general me gustan las palabras en español de origen árabe que empiezan por "a" y pronunciando las zetas interdentales (como en España).

Azucena
Azahar
Aceite
Acequia
Alhelí
Azúcar


----------



## Heredianista

spoof!

zigzag.

spurious.


----------



## Heredianista

Ibermanolo said:


> Are you sure of that? maybe you think so because the verb "esperar" in Spanish has different meanings (hope, wait and expect). Sin enbargo el sustantivo correspondiente a cada verbo sería esperanza, espera y expectativa.



Hmm. I also find this an unfamiliar definition of "esperanza."

For me, _esperanza_ = _hope_. 

I don't find it stronger in Spanish. 

Do others?

~g


----------



## Spharadi

For me "esperanza" sound very hopeful, so I like this word. I also like these phrases because they are quite philosophical and untranslatable. 
What is the matter? Never mind.
What is mind? It doesn't matter. 
In German I like "wissenschaftlich bewiesen" because it sounds so scientific and awe inspiring, especially if you pronounce it with "true" German accent.


----------



## gatogab

*A tonga da mironga do kabulete.*


> "É uma expressão que não quer dizer nada de bom. Diz-se que em áfrica, quando um africano a diz a outro, parece que as tribos entram em guerras terríveis. E que comem o figado um do outro. Esta última palavra da expressão: "kabuletê", tem algo a ver com mãe de um deles..."


----------



## Heredianista

gatogab said:


> *A tonga da mironga do kabulete.*
> Re:
> 
> 
> 
> "É uma expressão que não quer dizer nada de bom. Diz-se que em  áfrica, quando um africano a diz a outro, parece que as tribos entram em  guerras terríveis. E que comem o figado um do outro. Esta última  palavra da expressão: "kabuletê", tem algo a ver com mãe de um deles..."
Click to expand...


Incredibly cool. Thank you for sharing this. 

(They don't seriously eat each others' livers, do they?)

And who would you use *"**A Tonga da Mironga do Kabuletê"* in context? Would you say it to a friend, as if to say "Here comes trouble"?  

Thanks again!

~genève

p.s. For non-Portuguese speakers:

"É uma expressão que não quer dizer nada de bom. Diz-se que em  áfrica,  quando um africano a diz a outro, parece que as tribos entram em   guerras terríveis. E que comem o figado um do outro. Esta última   palavra da expressão: "kabuletê", tem algo a ver com mãe de um deles..."

roughly means:

"It's an expression that doesn't mean anything good. It's said that in Africa, when one African says this to another, it looks like tribes are going to get into terrible wars. And that they each each others' livers. The last word in the phrase, "kabuletê," has something to do with the mother of one of them..."


----------



## Heredianista

Re: *"A tonga da mironga do kabuletê"*

I found this: "A Tonga da Mironga do Kabuletê" on Wikipedia.

I also found a wonderful video on Youtube of Vinicius de Morães & Toquinho on RAI-TV in Italy when Toquinho was SO young... (in 1972).

The music is fabulous, 

and Vinicius speaks quite a bit of Italian! 
(To the sheer delight of the live, on-set audience.) 

~g

P.S.  You can find this video by searching Youtube for: *"*De Moraes and Toquinho - A tonga da mironga do kabuletè*"* and selecting the _second_ video.

The intro text is: "Vinicius De Moraes and Toquinho are guests of italian tv show "Senza  Rete", introduced by Paolo Vilaggio, after a medley of their major songs  they play "A tonga da mironga do kabuletè"(in italian) 1972."

Note: It is *not* the first video (with a url ending in 'C7g9D5VApxE') — although in _that _one, you can hear Vinicius speaking in Spanish!


----------



## Blechi

After spending a few years in Italy, also called "*lo stivale*" (the boot), I wasn't able to live without the word *capito?* (You get it? / Are you with me?). I love "capito?" because it is one word only. And I always use it, no matter what language.
In Spanish I like *piel de toro  *(a nick name again, this time for "Spain").
In FrenchI like the sound of "*j'adore*".
In German I like "_*alles zusammen*_" (all together), "*krankenhaus*" (hospital) and "*unmöglich*" (impossible). Just for their sound.

In Catalan I like almost everything so I leave a refrain: "_*Si vols esser ben servit, fest'en tu mateix el llit*_" (If you want a good treat make your bed yourself)
and the title of a work by Tapies: "*El despertar sobtat*" (Sudden wake up). And by the way look at it!

I am not sure of my Catalan spelling.


----------



## Blechi

Ibermanolo said:


> Por norma general me gustan las palabras en español de origen árabe que empiezan por "a" y pronunciando las zetas interdentales (como en España).
> 
> Azucena
> Azahar
> Aceite
> Acequia
> Alhelí
> Azúcar


 
¡Fenomenal! Tienes un montón de razón. Son palabras preciosas.
Y también suenan de maravilla:

alféizar (me gusta muchísimo)
alcahueta
alcalde
aljibe

En español encontré una palabra "_sobrado_" que es difícil traducir a otros idiomas sin usar paráfrasis. El harén a menudo se esncontraba en el sobrado. Un pueblo en Galicia se llama sobrado de los Monjes y no es fácil explicar lo de _sobrado_.


----------



## Blechi

Heredianista said:


> Incredibly cool. Thank you for sharing this.
> 
> (They don't seriously eat each others' livers, do they?)
> 
> And who would you use *"**A Tonga da Mironga do Kabuletê"* in context? Would you say it to a friend, as if to say "Here comes trouble"?
> 
> Thanks again!
> 
> ~genève
> 
> p.s. For non-Portuguese speakers:
> 
> "É uma expressão que não quer dizer nada de bom. Diz-se que em áfrica, quando um africano a diz a outro, parece que as tribos entram em guerras terríveis. E que comem o figado um do outro. Esta última palavra da expressão: "kabuletê", tem algo a ver com mãe de um deles..."
> 
> roughly means:
> 
> "It's an expression that doesn't mean anything good. It's said that in Africa, when one African says this to another, it looks like tribes are going to get into terrible wars. And that they each  eat each others' livers. The last word in the phrase, "kabuletê," has something to do with the mother of one of them..."


----------



## Heredianista

Blechi said:


>




Oops! Funny. ; ) Thank you. : )


----------



## Spharadi

In Russian I like (sorry for my transliteration)  
Tschus Tschus, means slowly. 
Shurry murry (or something like this) and it means "to bill and coo", "to whisper sweet nothings" .  Of course it's a onomatopoeic expression imitating doves. 
There was a bar/restaurant in St. Petersburg with this name, maybe it's still there.


----------



## rusita preciosa

Spharadi said:


> In Russian I like (sorry for my transliteration)
> Tschus Tschus, means slowly.


I think you are confusing it with Greman *tschüss *(good bye / so long).

The only Russian word that is similar is *tchut-tchut*, it means "a little bit"


----------



## Spharadi

It's not a confusion.  It would be quite fantastic to confuse German with Russian...
You write *чуть-чуть*  and  for  foreign ears *ть* sounds slightly like an *s,  *because of the soft sign.


----------



## Zsanna

Some really nice sounding Hungarian words [with their approximative pronunciation]:
csillan [ʧillɑn] - twinkle, sparkle
szellő [sɛllɜ:] - breeze
fátyol [fɑtjol] - veil
mosoly [moʃoj] - smile
pillangó [pillango:] - butterfly

and some others:
Alhambra; butterfly (also: flutter-by); Ausstellung, Wissenschaft; coquette, faiselle, foudroyant; farfalla, bellino, stella ...


----------



## Blechi

Zsanna said:


> pillangó [pillango:] - butterfly
> 
> butterfly (also: flutter-by); ...
> farfalla, ...


 
*Mariposa* (butterfly in Spanish). Italians love this word. I do not understand why but they do.


----------



## Heredianista

Blechi said:


> *Mariposa* (butterfly in Spanish). Italians love this word. I do not understand why but they do.



Perhaps because in Italian, 'posare' can mean "to gently alight" – exactly as a butterfly does – so this word, "mariposa,' might conjure an image such as: 

"Mari alights (settles gently) ... [on the flower...]"

Just a thought...

~g


----------



## Blechi

2 more! In Spanish again

*ajilimójili* (a-He-lee-'mo-He-lee) a name of a sauce
*altramuz* (al - trah- 'mooth)  Latin name for it: _Lupinus albus_ I am sorry not to know the Englis name of it.


----------



## Zsanna

I know *mariposa* from Italian quiz programmes (they do seem to like it) but (not being Italian) I prefer *ajilimójili* - a very soft sounding word. 
(One could imagine a meaning like "woollen pillow" or something similar to it!)


----------



## gatogab

*Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious*​ 
*roots of the word*​ 
*supe*r- "above",​ 
*cali*- "beauty",​ 
*fragilistic*- "delicate",​ 
*expiali*- "to atone",​ 
*and docious*- "educable",​ 
with the sum of these parts signifying roughly:

_*"Atoning for educability through delicate beauty."*_​


----------



## gatogab

Zsanna said:


> I know *mariposa* from Italian quiz programmes (they do seem to like it) but (not being Italian) I prefer *ajilimójili* - a very soft sounding word.
> (One could imagine a meaning like "woollen pillow" or something similar to it!)


 
*Mariposa *è bella parola, ma anche *farfalla* si fa apprezzare.
Io chiamo *"farfallina"* a mia nipote è lei e tutta contenta e felice.


----------



## Zsanna

Gatogab, this "*Atoning for educability through delicate beauty.*" sounds extremely nice! (Whatever it may mean...)
_Farfallina_ è sempre una bella parola! (Anche se non è per una nipote carinissima.)


----------



## robjh22

Has anyone mentioned "pamplemousse"?


----------



## Zsanna

Yes, this is why I didn't!


----------



## Bashti

And how do you like "chiquitito/a"?


----------



## olaszinho

Hi all,
Portuguese has the nicest words ever 
Borboleta (butterfly)
Names of trees are also beautiful
oliveira
figueira
limoeiro
roseira
Luar is also very romantic
Hungarian has nice words, too
kutya, cica, no'', férfiak, lanyok
My favourite Italian word is: acquerello. Coccinella is nice, too
What about some French words like: coquelicot, rénard, fleur, coquille....


----------



## Arrius

*Like a cat on a hot tin roof o'clock*

The German equivalent of this expression, which is the title of a Tenessee Williams play, is* Die Katze auf dem heissen Blechdach,* which is rather staccato and sounds more agitated*. *However the title used in Spain and Argentina, unlike the German and English, doesn't mention the temperature of the roof*: La gata sobre el tejado de zinc. *And the French title, which does flow more smoothly,  *La chatte sur un toit brûlant, *says that the roof is burning hot but not what it's made of (which the cat would probably not be very interested in, anyway).

But I wanted to mention my favourite German word. It is *Würstchen* (sausage) diminutive of Wurst, a word that has penetrated American but not British vocabulary. _Würstchen_ requires considerable oral gymnastics to pronounce. It turns up in a mouth-watering line from Heine in a poem about his homeland, Germany, from which he was exiled at the time*:  Es jauchzen die Würstchen im spritzenden Fett* (The sausages rejoice in the spitting fat). That is my favourite German sentence.


----------



## livvie

One of my all time favourite English words is : plop.

Plop, plop, plop!


----------



## Arrius

gatogab said:


> *Mariposa *è bella parola, ma anche *farfalla* si fa apprezzare.
> Io chiamo *"farfallina"* a mia nipote è lei e tutta contenta e felice.


The English translation, *butterfly*, despite the title of the Puccini opera, is not phonetically a very beautiful word. But sometimes it is transformed in the mouths of children and whimsical adults into *flutterby* _(flutter by)_, which is quite lyrical. My old English master maintained that* shovel* was the most beautiful word in the language.


----------



## Heredianista

Shovel?!!?

It takes all kinds! ; D

I tend to have different favorite words on different days. I think today's is..._ alabar._.. don't ask me why. ; )

~g


----------



## Nonstar

Love this one:
pastèque (French for watermellon)


----------



## rusita preciosa

A few years ago I worked with a guy called *Elmer*. To me, since I do not have the same background, Elmer sounded very cool, while to most Americans this name sounds ridiculous. 

(He himself said that living through teenage years with the name Elmer builds character)


----------



## gatogab

*"Chachachá"*​


----------



## Arrius

rusita preciosa said:


> A few years ago I worked with a guy called *Elmer*. To me, since I do not have the same background, Elmer sounded very cool, while to most Americans this name sounds ridiculous.
> 
> (He himself said that living through teenage years with the name Elmer builds character)


Elmer Fudd is, of course, the bald-headed nerd with the stutter who is always trying to shoot Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, but it might have been worse if your workmate's dad had called him Sue as in the Johnny Cash song.


----------



## orsopittore

I love the elongated sound of double consonants in Italian.
There are nouns that just sound nice to the ear, like these words 2 of my favorite words in Italian.
Pioggia=Rain
Polpette=Meatballs
I'm in love with these sounds.


----------



## Montesacro

German: _gleichgewicht_ (balance)
Serbian/Croatian: _prst_ (finger)



Arrius said:


> The English translation, *butterfly*, despite the title of the Puccini opera, is not phonetically a very beautiful word. But sometimes it is transformed in the mouths of children and whimsical adults into *flutterby* _(flutter by)_, which is quite lyrical.



I remember a play on words in an old Genesis song (_supper's ready_, 1972):

_(...)
If you go down to Willow Farm,
to look for butterflies, flutterbyes, gutterflies
(...)_


----------



## Vasiliy

Russian: Можно/Mozjno (can)
Russian: Ничего/Nichego (nothing)
Russian: Никого/Nikogo (No one)
English: Comrade
German: Wir sind (we are)
German Achtung (attention)


----------



## Heredianista

I love *Chachachá*! What a great one!

My word of the day is the expression "Sweet!" Or better yet, "Sweeeeeeeeeet!" With two syllables, for _serious_ fabulousness. =D

See definition 2: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=sweet


----------



## Smithy73

My favourite line/phrase comes from a film:
"Right all of you, outside, 5 minutes."

Favourite French word:
Salopard - I like the way that the r rolls at the end when said. Like saloparrrrr.


----------



## gatogab

Del foro castellano-italiano:
*"Sogno nel cassetto"* considero esta expresión una bellísima forma de _'coleccionar anhelos insatisfechos' _, que se encuentran ahí por si algún día... ...


----------



## Bashti

When I was twelve or thirteen years old, one of my English teachers, an Irish nun, made us learn by heart and recite a poem by Tennyson: The Lady of Shalott. I loved it, specially these two verses:
_
Willows whiten, aspens quiver,
Little breezes dusk and shiver..._

I could actually "see" the island by the river and feel the breeze in my skin.


----------



## Banbha

Very interesting thread!
We had a competition on the radio before for the nicest word in the Irish language and 'siosarnach' won. Pronounced like 'shishernuck' which basically describes the whistling sound of the wind as it blows through a gap in the window etc...


----------



## rainbow84uk

Have really enjoyed everyone's contributions so far!

I love the way certain Catalan words feel in my mouth, even some that aren't particularly beautiful in their sound or meaning. 

For example, *guardiola*, which means 'money box' (I get to say this a lot since it's also the surname of the FC Barcelona manager, Pep Guardiola...who_ is_ very beautiful!)

And even better, *farmaciola*, meaning 'first-aid kit'. 

There's just something about the length of the words and the wonderful openness of the stressed 'o' and then the final 'ə' that is so enjoyable to say!


----------



## gatogab

*Tiro partido de mim *
(abusou)​


----------



## Heredianista

*                       to gin up: "enliven, make more exciting... " to encourage or spirit one up.*


----------



## rusita preciosa

I just learned a word in Spanish that is my new favorite (the previous one was *disfrutar* - enjoy (lit., "remove fruit")

My new favorite is *atigrado* - tabby / orange cat ("tigered" cat). So cool!


----------



## poetpenpassion

Hello! How are you? I`am fine, thank you! My favorite word is menstruation (in all of languages). I love this word, the sound of this word is like a music for me. Thank you for the interesting theme.  English language is very beautiful. Yelena, Russia, Moscow.


----------



## Nicodi2

Another opinion, dear psychoanalysts:

In Mandarin, the word *meimei* sounds lovely to me

In Mexican version of Spanish, *pendejada* always makes laugh...

In French, *palpiter* gives me a real thrill!

In Catalan, I think *maduixa* is a good one...

In English, Mmh, let's say: *juggernaut*?

Salutations


----------



## Heredianista

What does maduixa mean?


----------



## Nicodi2

Heredianista said:


> What does maduixa mean?



Strawberry


----------



## Heredianista

Nicodi2 said:


> Strawberry



Awesome! Thanks. =D


----------



## irinet

Hello, everyone!
I like the regional verb "a se piti" meaning "to hide" with the accent on the 'ti'.
I also like "Je m'appele" because it rhymes with my name, Irinel.
I love the word ''rose''. In my language we have ''trandafir''; it is too masculine while in English, you use it for girls' names.


----------



## Harry Batt

The word reference is rather ordinary, but in morse code it is a dandy word which swings like no other expression. I'll post the sound of the dots and dashes--dits and dahs--and you will get the swing of it once you have the speed. Par ici: Di-dah-dit Dit! di-di-dah-dit dit di-dah-dit-dit! dah-di dah-di-dah-dit! DIT!
         R           E           F         E       R         E      N          C               E


----------



## Thomas W.

Some of my favorite German words:
zappenduster
Milchmädchenrechnung
Schmuddelwetter
graue Eminenz
Gesamtkunstwerk
Zahldeppen


----------



## Pedro y La Torre

Eejit
Gobshite
Gobdaw
Gombeen

We have a lot of good ones in Ireland.


----------



## Roy776

Spanish:
*Eso no es nada claro.

*Irish:
*Céard a tharla do an t-am nuair a bhí tú sásta? (What happened to the time when you were happy?)

*Polish:
*Piękne słowa mówią wszystko lecz nie zmienią nic. (Beautiful words "explain" everything but change nothing)
Dosyć życia tylko snem. (Tired of life being only a dream)
Słowa nic nie zmienią a jutro trzeba żyć. (Words don't change anything, and tomorrow one must live)

*Czech:
*Není možný vrátit čas. (It's not possible to turn back time.)*


----------



## Minnie121728

weird said:


> Hello, ¡que thread tan gracioso!My favourite word is:   WEIRD (for this reason it is my nickname)I love:   ache, almighty, always, ankle, awkward, because, cellar, chemistry, crimson, ice, lizard, luck, mistake, mortgage, necklace, nowhere, owl, purple, scare, shark, snake, swallow, tear, tiptoe, twice, wander, weather, winding, witch, wrinkle, yourself and zip.¡me encanta el sonido de estas palabras! ¡para un "oido español", son bastante musicales!En cuanto a las frases:THE BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDERLIKE THE CAT ON THE HOT TIN ROOFAunque para mi gusto, todo me suena bien en inglés   Saludos.-


  The beauty is in the eye of the beholder' is an exceptional phrase...and i liked your thread very much...


----------



## Minnie121728

I think i like everything told in Italian...the way they speak, the accents' the words...i love it...but one of my favorites words in spanish (my language) is "ALEVOSIA"...


----------



## Minnie121728

Markus said:


> My favourite English word is "boulevard".


  isn't a french word?


----------



## Minnie121728

sean said:


> azafata, Bernabeu, cicatriz, civilización, hombre, que sí, stalueo (hasta luego), vale Y todas las paradas del metro de Madrid: ... Próxima estación: Bilbao... Correspondencia con: línea cuatroMe gusta mucho la de Moncloa. I also like that "ojo" looks like eyes and a nose, and you're supposed to pay attention when you hear it. And I like that "soy yo" is "it's me." In English "I am I" sounds real weird. "Muy" looks weird too. And I like that animals make different noises p.ej. guau guau, which reminds me that I like the word "guagua" in the DR, which is kind of a bus/van. I'm sure there are more pero ya


 jajajajajaj, i liked your thread, i find it so funny...by the way im from DR, and i can see you were riding in our guaguas'....


----------



## Minnie121728

eleone said:


> My favourite words/expressions are: *Spanish:*¡Ya voy! (I'm always saying this  ), cariño, sueño, despedida, enloquecer, disfrutar, ni de coña, anda que...  *English:*I can't do that! (long story  ), attorney, concrete, hurt, hesitate, what the hell?, oh my God/gosh, really?, actually, damn it!, be right back, laugh my ass off, even, shut up, shush, eternal, great, right, ramble on... *French:*Chercher, même, je ne sais pas, étoile, peut-être, joie, heureusement, mystère... *Galician:*Verdadeiro, cousiñas, lembranza... *Italian:*Presto, ragazza, in quialsiasi momento...  Those are the ones I can think of at the moment. I'll probably come up with more later, especially in English. There are so many words I love in this language


   what does really means this phrase "laugh my ass off", i've seen this one thousand times in fb but i do not understand i know it's something thay may be funny but im not sure, if you can tell in spanish would be better so i could understand it without any doubts...thanks...


----------



## Minnie121728

Joyful said:


> Oh! And one more amazing word!Spanish meaning 'to roar' I think.ahorrarI love the double rr and how it sounds like a cute lil roar when you say it!


  Ahorrar means "SAVE MONEY"...or anything you could just save.


----------



## Minnie121728

ilocas2 said:


> My favorite English word: aMy favorite Spanish word: yMy favorite Portuguese word: eMy favorite Italian word: oMy favorite Slovak word: iMy favorite Croatian word: u


  is this supposed to be funny?


----------



## Minnie121728

olaszinho said:


> Hi all,Portuguese has the nicest words ever Borboleta (butterfly)Names of trees are also beautifuloliveirafigueiralimoeiroroseiraLuar is also very romanticHungarian has nice words, tookutya, cica, no'', férfiak, lanyokMy favourite Italian word is: acquerello. Coccinella is nice, tooWhat about some French words like: coquelicot, rénard, fleur, coquille....


   i don't know a word in portuguese/brazilian, but i like to hear them when they speak, i love it it sounds very sensual to me, i would like to learn to speak it someday...


----------



## rusita preciosa

Minnie121728 said:


> what does really means this phrase "laugh my ass off"


When you laugh so hard your ass falls off.  A slight exaggeration, I'd say...


----------



## kloie

It means when something is very funny and you laugh very hard.


----------



## Minnie121728

ok, now its clear to me, thank guys...its just that sometimes i can't understand any phrase of a foreign language...


----------



## Istriano

lua - the Moon
luau - beach party at moonshine
luar - moonshine 
Luana - a name of a girl (MoonAna)
Luanda - capital of Angola (MoonGoes)

The Moon is everywhere


----------



## Encolpius

Today I've learnt a new nice German word: *Kopftuchpflicht*.


----------



## Minnie121728

Encolpius said:


> Today I've learnt a new nice German word: *Kopftuchpflicht*.


   Ok..but what it means?


----------



## Pretty_Gaella

I really love this Spanish word: *"numero equivocado" *Though I need to talk to the right person but everytime I encoutered a *Wrong Number.. *after saying that word, there's always a  in my face. I don't know why.


----------



## L'irlandais

Pedro y La Torre said:


> ...We have a lot of good ones in Ireland.


My favourite word, at the moment is *plámásaí* (Hiberno-Norman) &/or the verb *plámás*ing that has been derived from it, a sort of Anglo/Hiberno-Norman hybrid.
Links (to related WR forum discussions) added for those curious to know what it actually means.


----------



## irinet

Yes, it is French.
Romanians have it, too: "bulevard", meaning a larger and more important street.


----------



## Scholiast

Minnie121728 (#204) might care to contemplate Byron's words:



 I love the language, that soft bastard  					Latin,
      Which melts  					like kisses from a female mouth,And sounds as if it should be writ on  					satin,      With  					syllables which breathe of the sweet South,And gentle liquids gliding all so pat in,      That not a  					single accent seems uncouth,Like our harsh northern whistling, grunting  					guttural,Which we’re obliged to hiss, and spit, and  					sputter all.


----------



## LilianaB

I really love the Latin phrase: _Amor Vincit Omnia (Love Conquers All)_. I forgot where it originally came from, but I think it is the tile of one of Carvaggios paintings. It is one of the most beautiful phrases in my opinion. (I think it is really Omnia Vincit Amor in its original form).


----------



## Scholiast

LilianaB

Virgil, _Ecl. _10.69, yes "omnia vincit amor".

Great virtuoso that he was, Virgil turned this on his head in the _Georgics_:_ labor omnia vincit_ [or _vicit_] _improbus_: "nasty, grinding toil takes over everything".


----------



## LilianaB

Thank you -- the second one is great too. (I think nasty, constant toil may take away everything -- that is of any value).


----------



## Scholiast

Thanks Liliana, and yes it is indeed the title of one of Caravaggio's paintings, now (I believe) in Berlin.

Blessings for the New Year.


----------



## LilianaB

Thank you. For you too. And, Happy New Year to Everyone.


----------



## germanbz

I love an unfortunatly old-fashioned word in Spanish, or al least little used nowadays. I mean the word: "*Circunspecto*". I like that succesion of sounds K/P/T. In Catalan language I love one expression to indicate the moment of the day equivalent to the sunset. The expression is "*a poqueta nit*". It could be translate to "_at little night_"


----------



## arielipi

I love the word stam סתם in hebrew  theres no easy way to deliver it in english, it acts as when you want to say something as an example, or with no importance, or a retro-correct of things.
It still doesnt deliver it, but its the most common use of it...


----------



## Halfdan

I always crack up when I hear the Swedish _vad fan_ [ˈvɑː ˈfɑːn]. It essentially means "what the f**k", but for the record, I liked it before I knew the meaning.


----------



## Encolpius

Encolpius said:


> Today I've learnt a new nice German word: *Kopftuchpflicht*.



I am here again to share another beautiful German word I learnt recently and became my favourite one.

*Kindergeburtstagsnicherscheinungsgebühr* - it is the money you are obliged to pay if your child does not show up at a birthday party of another kid


----------



## francisgranada

Blechi said:


> *Mariposa* (butterfly in Spanish). Italians love this word. I do not understand why but they do.


This is interesting ... I can confirm it.  Many years ago I used this word when speaking with my Italian friends, as I didn't know the Italian equivalent (_farfalla_). Their spontaneous reaction was something like "what a beautiful word".

I like some Spanish toponyms, especially those that consist of more than one word:
_Santiago de Compostela
Sierra Nevada
Santa Mónica
Espíritu Santo
Buenos Aires
Última Esperanza
Río Grande
Río Bravo del Norte_
etc ...


----------



## RM1(SS)

Callipygian.


----------



## Cacorc

Istriano said:


> lua - the Moon
> luau - beach party at moonshine
> luar - moonshine
> Luana - a name of a girl (MoonAna)
> Luanda - capital of Angola (MoonGoes)
> 
> The Moon is everywhere



Wow, _luar _is my favourite one too. What a beautiful word!


----------



## olaszinho

Only two words in the following languages:
Italian: *anatroccolo* (duckling) - *coccinella* (ladybird) I do like most Italian words with geminate consonants.
Spanish: *amanecer* (dawn - daybreak) - *callejuela* (narrow street) and many more...
Portuguese:* luar* (moonlight) -  *leão *(lion). It is really hard to pick up just two words in this beautiful language.
Catalan: *ratolí *(mouse)- *tothom *(everybody).....
Hungarian: *hó *(snow) - *cipő* (shoes)
French: *crépuscule *(twilight)  *coquelicot *(poppy)
German: *Heimat *(homeland)- * Weltanschauung* (worldview)
Russian: *Любовь *(love) - *Зима *(winter)
Sardinian:* Yaya* (grandma) - *cua cua *(on the sly)

Last but not least:
English: *Nightingale* and *Oblivion*


----------



## Encolpius

olaszinho said:


> Hungarian: *hó *(snow) - *cipő* (shoes)



Then I am sure your favourite Hungarian word could be hócipő.  And you could choose one more word.


----------



## olaszinho

Yes... Anyway I particularly like very short words in Hungarian such as...*fa *(tree) -  *lò *(horse) - *tò *(lake)  and *hò. *I don't know exactly why, but they remind me of Japanese.


----------



## francisgranada

Szia Olaszinho.

Which do you like better, those with *ó* or with *ő*? E.g._ ló, tó, hó, szó, só ._.. or _lő, tő, hő, sző, vő, nő ..._?

A question for curiosity: do you also (being Italian) like the Spanish word _mariposa_?


----------



## olaszinho

Szia Francis 
I do like both sounds, but only the words with _ó _remind me of Japanese. Yes, I like _mariposa, _but I adore a few Spanish diminutives as in _riachuelo, polluelo,_ _ratoncillo_. In my opinion, Italian also has gorgeous diminutives as in _fiumiciattolo, lupacchiotto, pezzettino, venticello._


----------



## francisgranada

olaszinho said:


> ... but only the words with _ó _reminds me of Japanese.


Perhaps because of the long *ó *at the end of the word ... I have noticed something similar in case of some Hungarian words with double consonants like _mellett, menni, alatt, vallattam, állat, állam_,etc. I like them and somehow they remind me the Finnish language ...


----------



## olaszinho

francisgranada said:


> Perhaps because of the long *ó *at the end of the word ... I have noticed something similar in case of some Hungarian words with double consonants like _mellett, menni, alatt, vallattam, állat, állam_,etc. I like them and somehow they remind me the Finnish language ...




By the way, the verb *menni* (to go) is very similar to the Finnish *mannä*. In this case, the common Ugro-Finnic origin is very clear.


----------



## olaszinho

Quisiera añadir otra palabra española que me fascinó muchísimo desde el primer momento que la encontré en una novela que estaba leyendo. Me refiero al término *hojarasca*; me parece una palabra muy bonita y particular dado que no existe una traducción exacta ni en italiano ni en inglés. Por ejemplo, se podría traducirlo al inglés con *fallen leaves or dead leaves*. ​


----------



## francisgranada

olaszinho said:


> Me refiero al término *hojarasca*; me parece una palabra muy bonita y particular dado que no existe una traducción exacta ni en italiano ni en inglés. Por ejemplo, se podría traducirlo al inglés con *fallen leaves or dead leaves*.


Tal vez te interese: el conjunto/estrato de las hojas (ya secas) que han caído del árbol, en húngaro se llama _*avar*_.

P.S. A propósito de los diminutivos: me gusta la palabra _scalinatella _y los demás  diminutivos en esta canción napolitana.


----------



## olaszinho

Szia Francis. köszönöm szépen! Tetszik nekem ez a szép és érdekes szó!
Most spanyolul írok. 

Intenté escuchar la canción de Ranieri pero no lo conseguí. Voy a intentarlo otra vez. De hecho, los sustantivos alterados (aumentativos, despectivos, diminutivos afectuosos son algo muy hermoso en muchas lenguas romances, en particular español e italiano. Permiten una variedad increíble de matices lingüísticos. Por ejemplo, el idioma francés carece de esto.


----------



## francisgranada

Szia Olaszinho, se trata de las siguientes palabras (en napolitano): _'nnammuratella,_ _scalinatella, strettulella, zucculillo, scarrupatella, sciaguratella_. Aren't they beautiful (with Neapolitan pronunciation, of course) ? ....


----------



## olaszinho

¡Por fin he conseguido escuchar la canción! Ya la conocía aunque no me acordaba de ella. El napolitano suena muy bien cantado... Con respecto a los diminutivos en –_ello/ella_, he de decir que hay bastantes en italiano también, tal como: _cordicella, catinella_, _venticello_; _poverello, fraticello _y más.


----------



## apmoy70

Greek:

*«Φλοίσβος»* [ˈflizvos] (masc.) --> _the sound of small sea waves rippling ashore_.
*«Φιλαυτία»* [filafˈti.a] (fem.) --> _self-love_.
*«Παλινόρθωση»* [paliˈnorθosi] (fem.) --> _restoration_.
*«Παραγκωνισμός»* [paɾaŋgoniˈzmos] (masc.) --> _exclusion, marginalization, crowding-out_.
*«Εκατόμβη»* [ekaˈtomvi] (fem.) --> _carnage, hecatombe sacrifice_.
*«Στιλπνός»* [stilpˈnos] (masc.) --> _glossy_.
*«Στίλβη»* [ˈstilvi] (fem.) --> _coruscation, brilliance_.
*«Σφουγγοκωλάριος»* [sfuŋgokoˈlaɾi.os] (masc. & fem.) --> _crony, brown noser_ literally _arse-wiper_.


----------



## Perseas

olaszinho said:


> Sardinian:* Yaya* (grandma)


In Greek we have the same word (γιαγιά)!


----------



## velisarius

"Στιλπνός" is one of my favourites too, apmoy, along with "σμαραγδένιος" (_adj_. "emerald") and the surname "Κάσδαγλης".


----------



## 810senior

My beloved phrase is なせばなるnaseba-naru composed of only five syllables, which means 'it will be answered if you try'. I like a word spelled as 雪月花setsu-gekka(snow, moon and flower), too.


----------



## apmoy70

velisarius said:


> "Στιλπνός" is one of my favourites too, apmoy, along with "σμαραγδένιος" (_adj_. "emerald") and the surname "Κάσδαγλης".


Indeed general  σμαραγδένιος is a nice word too.
One of my favourites (which I forgot earlier) is *«παραπινάκης»* [paɾapiˈnacis] which was the epithet of the Byzantine emperor Michael VII Doukas, and describe his stinginess. Michael's daily provisions to feed all his subjects, were a quarter short (παρὰ πινακίῳ parà pinakíǭ > parapinákēs) than his predecessors.


----------



## Uriel-

I like the word dragonfly.  A Spanish-speaking friend once said he thought it was stupid word, because the insect doesn't look anything like a dragon.  I was scandalized.  I guess the English common name has always made the beautiful creature seem that much more magical in my mind.  Way prettier than libelula!


----------



## eno2

I love cognates in general and some cognates in particular. Like elucubrations.  




> *Définitions : élucubration - Dictionnaire de français Larousse*
> www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/élucubration/28472
> Vertaal deze pagina
> Production déraisonnable, absurde, issue de recherches laborieuses ; divagation, extravagance : On ne peut pas prendre au sérieux ses _élucubrations_.



In English it has a very narrow definition. And is "obsolete"

Antiloquesea  (Spanish). Sounds nice, Isn't nice.

παραλία
playa

p ...aa...aa

That's where the life is.


----------



## velisarius

_Elucubrations_? - That takes me back a bit. Good old _Europe n° 1 _ 





_παραλία_ and_ παρά θίν' αλός _


----------



## Red Arrow

In Dutch:
*kamperfoelie *(honeysuckle)
*flierefluiter* (a careless person)
*boompje* (a little tree)

In Swedish:
*fjord
två* (two)
*lögn* (lie)
*namn *(name)

In English:
*huge
human
bath *(British pronunciation)

In Bulgarian:
*флюс*

In Icelandic:
*fljótt* (quickly)

I really like certain consonant combinations, in particular /mp/, /mn/, /ŋn/, /fl/, /fj/, /flj/ and /çj/ 
I also really like the voiceless th and the a-sound in father.


----------



## ilocas2

Serbian:

*čedomorstvo* - murder of new born baby after birth


----------



## Kotlas

Jeremy Sharpe said:


> Languages are very beautiful things, as we all know, and sometimes a phrase or word just strikes you as beautiful. So, post them here!


I like the way you can "juggle" words in English, creating meaningful sentences. I can't do this in my native language because it is highly inflected. But English is not, that's why it produces such neat phrases as this:

"If you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail."


----------



## eno2

velisarius said:


> _Elucubrations_? - That takes me back a bit. Good old _Europe n° 1 _
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _παραλία_ and_ παρά θίν' αλός _



A bit late, I didn't get notice, but thank you for that. I'll use it in a thread elsewhere about elucuthings...


----------



## Amapolas

In Italian: dimenticare (forget). Love the combination of sounds and the cadence, the rhythm. 
Luckily, it's something I've learnt to do over the years. Memory is good, but not too much of it.


----------



## eno2

Very musical

Non moi 'je ne regrette rien, rien de rien',  mais j'oublie tout....

Dementicare makes me think of dementeren in Dutch = suffer (from) dementia in English.

The Italian word demente seems to  be a true cognate
Dement (Dutch)
dément (French)
demente Spanish
Demented English
demente Portugees

-----

*La Catalina* for 'the moon' in Spanish. A friend uses that word, I don't know where it comes from....


----------



## L'irlandais

eno2 said:


> -----
> 
> *La Catalina* for 'the moon' in Spanish. A friend uses that word, I don't know where it comes from....


This has been discussed on WR previously, What are genders good for?


----------



## eno2

Thank you for that.


----------



## Oddmania

Very interesting thread! I would say my favourite words are _encore _("Keep going..."), _oublieux _("oblivious"), _chérir _("cherish")_,_ _fantaisie _("fantasy") and _météore _("meteor").


----------



## tsoapm

I’m a big fan of heteronyms, basically words which are written the same but have different meanings with different pronunciations (that is perhaps not a watertight definition, but that’s the way I like to think of them, the ones that I like anyway). There’s a list of them in that Wikipedia article, but I had a nice time with a colleague coming up with them without such assistance. The one that always comes to mind is ‘*en*trance’/‘en*trance*’, also because the second is just a lovely word.


----------



## Red Arrow

I see now that this is not only about words that sound nice, but also about words that have fun or beautiful meanings.

I find "Put a sock in it!" a fun expression in English. It gives me the image of a Brit actually putting a sock in his mouth 

In Dutch I like "Wie de bal kaatst, kan hem terug verwachten!" = Those who bounce the ball can expect it to come back
Meaning: You reap what you sow


----------



## eno2

In het hol van Pluto (Dutch)

Used for: (living or being in) an isolated location. Hol=cave

In the cave of Pluto (=Cerberus, the Guardian of the Greek underworld at the southernmost tip of the European continent  in Mani, Peloponnese)

But it sounds even nicer when you know that 'hol' also means 'ass'…


----------



## Red Arrow

eno2 said:


> But it sounds even nicer when you know that 'hol' also means 'ass'…


Oh yes, Holland = assland in Dutch.


----------



## eno2

-----



> Martin Luther King: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” I have to believe that.



'I have to believe that' is from Emmilou Harris...

I also have to believe that...

-----

*Pame Gi Allou*
George Dalaras

I've been going to the beach for the last 22 years, daily....


----------



## Red Arrow

I can't say the Hungarian word "hogy" without smiling. What a beautiful word 

It means "that".


----------



## Encolpius

Red Arrow, I think you would like more the word "on women" in Hungarian. Do you know how you say "on women" in Hungarian?


----------



## Red Arrow

I can't speak Hungarian, sorry, but it's nőken, isn't it?

That reminds me of the Dutch expression "klaar is kees". Klaar is Dutch for ready, kész/kees is Hungarian for ready. Klaar is kees.


----------



## Encolpius

It is rather nőkön.


----------



## King Crimson

tsoapm said:


> I’m a big fan of heteronyms, basically words which are written the same but have different meanings with different pronunciations (that is perhaps not a watertight definition, but that’s the way I like to think of them, the ones that I like anyway). There’s a list of them in that Wikipedia article, but I had a nice time with a colleague coming up with them without such assistance. The one that always comes to mind is ‘*en*trance’/‘en*trance*’, also because the second is just a lovely word.



One such nice example in Italian would be the pair _àncora _(anchor) - _ancóra _(again, still); we could even create a small sentence using both terms: _ancóra all'àncora _(still riding at anchor).


----------



## Encolpius

I've heard *шушулка *recently and fell in love wit it.


----------



## eno2

<Estoy aquí por estar
Y la nieve sigue cayendo>
Issa (maestro Zen)


----------



## Amapolas

I've fallen in love with this phrase that our friend Elcanario has chosen for his signature:

_Belief is a weak force, when it comes to moving mountains, gravity wins every time._

By the great Terry Pratchett


----------



## Elcanario

Amapolas said:


> I've fallen in love with this phrase that our friend Elcanario has chosen for his signature:
> 
> _Belief is a weak force, when it comes to moving mountains, gravity wins every time._
> 
> By the great Terry Pratchett


Ahhh dear Amapolas, When I remember me reading Terry's books I always picture myself with an ear-to-ear grin and you know, the filthy lucre can't pay that bill. This thought makes me recall another memorable adage, _poderoso caballero es Don Dinero_, its author and the work that left me astonished,  Gracias y desgracias del ojo del culo, dirigidas a Doña Juana Mucha, Montón de Carne, Mujer gorda por arrobas. Escribiolos Juan Lamas el del camisón cagado.
I know, I know, strange train of thought. Sometimes I can't help it.

Un saludo y felices fiestas.


----------



## tsoapm

I was just looking at the word ‘compliant’: I know that it’s really formed from the verb ‘comply’, but at a glance you might break it down as com- + ‘pliant’, which is semantically quite different, but ends up not being entirely unrelated all the same. That’s nice.


----------



## Ballenero

Hi there,
These are some of my favo(u)rites words in English:

_Wavelength._
I love its sound. It be a cause of the elegance. 
I have fun also because I have to stick my tongue out of my mouth to say it, same as:
_Strength.

Temptress. _
There is a smile in your face at the end.

_Prompt_.
I pronounce it and my head moves up and down.

_Wolf_.
Effective. Round.
King of animal names.
Atavistic. 
_'From a meet at night
The beast's howl and the human voice
Lost in the mists of time
Already the barking dog'_


----------



## eno2

As I don't like creation beliefs, theories and myths, I was happy to discover the word 'abiogenese' (Dutch) a few years ago, which means
<het ontstaan van levende uit niet-levende substantie, spontane generatie= =autogenese, zelfwording..DVD>

*



			Abiogenesis
		
Click to expand...

*


> , the idea that life arose from nonlife more than 3.5 billion years ago on Earth. Abiogenesis proposes that the first life-forms generated were very simple and through a gradual process became increasingly complex. Biogenesis, in which life is derived from the reproduction of other life, was presumably preceded by abiogenesis, which became impossible once Earth’s atmosphere assumed its present composition.



abiogenesis | Definition & Theory

Makes me think of Ancient Greek Spermatikos Logos and Latin Latin _Generatio spontanea_ but that's not quite the same though:




> Although many equate abiogenesis with the archaic theory of spontaneous generation, the two ideas are quite different. According to the latter, complex life (e.g., a maggot or mouse) was thought to arise spontaneously and continually from nonliving matter. While the hypothetical process of spontaneous generation was disproved as early as the 17th century and decisively rejected in the 19th century, abiogenesis has been neither proved nor disproved.


----------



## eno2

Amapolas said:


> I've fallen in love with this phrase that our friend Elcanario has chosen for his signature:
> 
> _Belief is a weak force, when it comes to moving mountains, gravity wins every time._
> 
> By the great Terry Pratchett


On the other hand, they say the sky is the limit


----------



## MrMuselk

French: Chose, and cuisine
(The way they sound  : Shos, and cwisiin)
English:
Blotto, mufti, thyme
(The number of times I’ve seen people mix up time and thyme)


----------



## Amapolas

MrMuselk said:


> (The number for times I’ve seen people mix up time and thyme)


And sometimes mix up _for_ and _of_.


----------



## Roxxxannne

I like persiflage:

light, bantering talk or writing.
a frivolous or flippant style of treating a subject.
To me it sounds like a mixture of minced parsley, garlic and other green leafy herbs.


----------



## Amapolas

Roxxxannne said:


> I like persiflage:
> 
> light, bantering talk or writing.
> a frivolous or flippant style of treating a subject.
> To me it sounds like a mixture of minced parsley, garlic and other green leafy herbs.


A sort of veggie camou*flage*.


----------



## L'irlandais

Roxxxannne said:


> I like persiflage:
> 
> light, bantering talk or writing.
> a frivolous or flippant style of treating a subject.
> To me it sounds like a mixture of minced parsley, garlic and other green leafy herbs.


Ooh, I learnt a new word.  The etymology is interesting : persiflage | Origin and meaning of persiflage by Online Etymology Dictionary


----------



## MrMuselk

Amapolas said:


> And sometimes mix up _for_ and _of_.


Oh, shoot! Now corrected. Thanks for the reminder.


----------



## aldonzalorenzo

eno2 said:


> *La Catalina* for 'the moon' in Spanish. A friend uses that word, I don't know where it comes from....


It's from a popular song: "Al sol le llaman Lore, Lorenzo, y a la luna, luna, Catalina, lina. Cuando Lorenzo se acuesta, cuesta, se levanta, vanta, Catalina, lina".

Popular meaning traditional, not well-known.
Yes, I know it should be 'lo' llaman.


----------



## Penyafort

I love words in general, so it's always hard for me to choose.

Only focusing on Catalan and on those which I like for more than a couple of reasons, I'd find hundreds of them. Just to name a few:

*celístia *_'starlight',* regalim *'steady trickle', *cantimplora *'canteen bottle', *deixondir-se* 'awake from drowsiness', *capvespre *'dusk', __*tarannà *'frame of mind, mood', *corfondre's* '(lit., melt one's heart with) feel united/blended with', *atzavara *'American aloe', __*xiuxiuejar *'whisper', *eixerida '*clever', *daina *'fallow deer', *carena *'mountain ridge', *basarda *'dread, awe', *queixalada *'bite', *onada *'wave',__*emmirallar-se* 'see oneself mirrored/reflected', *daltabaix *'disastrous setback', *terrabastall *'hullabaloo', *xerinola *'party noise, revelry', etc._​


----------



## Welsh_Sion

I like the different concepts involved in something which is supposed to be identical or at least very similar. Doubtless this list can be extended and maybe other variants applied.

Using English '*fortnight*' as the base concept.

English: '*fortnight' = 4 + 10 night*
Welsh: '*pythefnos*' *=* *5 + 10 night*
French: '*quinzejours' = 15 days*
Spanish: '*dos semanas*' *= 2 weeks*
Chinese: *= half a moon* *(*This is anecdotal and I have no proof if this is correct, nor how to write it).


----------



## Amapolas

Welsh_Sion said:


> Spanish: '*dos semanas*' *= 2 weeks*


In one word: quincena (15 days).


----------



## L'irlandais

Welsh_Sion said:


> French: '*quinzejours' = 15 days*


In French : Une quinzaine

Quinze jours is written as two separate words. Fortnight - English-French Dictionary WordReference.com


----------



## L'irlandais

Welsh_Sion said:


> I like the different concepts involved...
> Chinese: *= half a moon* *(*This is anecdotal and I have no proof if this is correct, nor how to write it).


Hello again,
I took the liberty of checking on the Chinese forum;
*半个月。*_Bàn gè yuè_ =  _half a month_ in Chinese.  See here for details Fortnight


> 半月 (bàn yuè) means  half-moon



For a similar concept, to fortnight, one member suggested 旬 - WordReference 汉-英词典
As in the first 10 days of a month.


----------



## pacegiulia

Some of my favourite words are:

In Italian:
- *idraulici *(although it only means "plumbers", I love the "au" sound - this is definitely my favourite word of all)
- *asciugamano* (this means "towel")

In French:
- *écrire* (which means "to write")

In Spanish:
- *estrella *(which means "star")

In Norwegian:
- *sommerfugl *(which means "butterfly")

And in English:
- *petunia *(which is a flowering plant)

It is very hard to choose, because there are so many nice words! 😊


----------



## Włoskipolak 72

Why do I love French ..!? 


Qu'est-ce que c'est que ça  ....   It took me a long time to learn , how to write it without faults.......

 j'en ai marre = I'm fed up!

Vachement beau, bien, dur; bouquin vachement intéressant; film vachement bien..

il ne faut pas *s'en faire* pour rien; il y a toujours une solution. Do not stress for nothing; there is always a solution.

_œil-de-bœuf_ * = *circular/oval window
petit matin ..
dépaysement = the feeling of being in another country
_flâner_ = to stroll aimlessly
_pamplemousse_ = grapefruit
cliché
chouchou
rendez-vous
désenchanté
silhouette
bagnole = voiture
Champs-Élysées
c'est-à-dire

éteindre ;

j'éteins
tu éteins
il éteint
j'ai éteint
tu as éteint
(avoir) éteint..etc

They all sound the same....


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## Włoskipolak 72

Why do I love Italian ? 

Se avessi saputo che oggi avrebbe piovuto, avrei preso l'ombrello... 


pazzesco = mad , insane , senseless , incredible
che figata  = so cool , that's cool
andare in visibilio = reaching a state of strong exaltation due to great joy or admiration.
non rompere le palle ..
ma smettila ! = oh come on !
dai pelandrone = c_ome on, you lazy thing_
cazzeggiare_ = _to waste time
furbetto = mischievous ?


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## Yendred

Włoskipolak 72 said:


> silhouette


Do you know that this word comes from a proper name, Étienne de Silhouette? He was a Controller-General of Finances in the 18th century, and is known to have launched reform projects that were always unfinished.
From that time, his name has been associated with unfinished projects, and then by extension, with the outline or shape of a person or an object.


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## AutumnOwl

Swedish: Kura skymning (cuddle dusk) meaning sit somewhere and see the dusk fall, and relax after a day's work. It's both a word and a feeling.

French has L'heure bleue (the blue hour) about the same time of the day, while the blue of the twilight darkens into the blackness of the night.
Blue hour - Wikipedia


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## Roxxxannne

AutumnOwl said:


> Swedish: Kura skymning (cuddle dusk) meaning sit somewhere and see the dusk fall, and relax after a day's work. It's both a word and a feeling.
> 
> French has L'heure bleue (the blue hour) about the same time of the day, while the blue of the twilight darkens into the blackness of the night.
> Blue hour - Wikipedia


T. S. Eliot, _The Waste Land_, II.220-221:

At the violet hour, the evening hour that strives
Homeward, and brings the sailor home from sea
...


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## Włoskipolak 72

Yendred said:


> Do you know that this word comes from a proper name, Étienne de Silhouette? He was a Controller-General of Finances in the 18th century, and is known to have launched reform projects that were always unfinished.
> From that time, his name has been associated with unfinished projects, and then by extension, with the outline or shape of a person or an object.


Thanks Yendred !

Je ne le savais pas .., by the way I heard  ''_profil à la silhouette'' , _a type of portrait that came into fashion in the second half of the 18th century. Moreover in Italian_  trick films _means_ '' film di silhouettes '' ! _
In the first years of film, especially between 1898 and 1908, the trick film was one of the world's most popular film genres.


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## dojibear

I like the English word "mugwump". It means a person who can't decide which side they are on. We also say they are "on the fence", because they are not in THIS yard or THAT yard. They are in-between. When I was a kid, the word was explained to me as someone (a cat, perhaps?), sitting on fence with his MUG (face) on one side and his WUMP on the other side.


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## Roxxxannne

dojibear said:


> I like the English word "mugwump". It means a person who can't decide which side they are on. We also say they are "on the fence", because they are not in THIS yard or THAT yard. They are in-between. When I was a kid, the word was explained to me as someone (a cat, perhaps?), sitting on fence with his MUG (face) on one side and his WUMP on the other side.


I thought it was from an Algonquian word for 'big shot.'


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## dojibear

Roxxxannne said:


> I thought it was from an Algonquian word for 'big shot.'


It probably was. But that part was not explained to me when I was a kid.


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## RM1(SS)

dojibear said:


> I like the English word "mugwump". It means a person who can't decide which side they are on. We also say they are "on the fence", because they are not in THIS yard or THAT yard. They are in-between. When I was a kid, the word was explained to me as someone (a cat, perhaps?), sitting on fence with his MUG (face) on one side and his WUMP on the other side.


Richard Armour said they were called "mugwumps" because they sat on the fence with their mugs on one side and their wumps on the other.


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## Encolpius

Most languages use an ugly word for the hot drink made by pouring boiling water onto the dried leaves an evergreen shrub native to China, India and other East Asian countries, but in *Polish *it is *herbata - herbatka. ❤️❤️❤️*


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## Welsh_Sion

Agree as to 'herbata', enco, but which word were you thinking of in the first part of your sentence: *chai *(and its variants) or *tea* (and its variants)?

And in Cockney you have 'Rosie/Ros(e)y' [Lee] = tea.


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## dojibear

Encolpius said:


> Most languages use an ugly word for the hot drink made by pouring boiling water onto the dried leaves...


...of almost anything. In US stores it is called "herbal tea". That means "contains no actual tea".

And that term is ugly, at least to me.


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## Encolpius

Welsh_Sion said:


> Agree as to 'herbata', enco, but which word were you thinking of in the first part of your sentence: *chai *(and its variants) or *tea* (and its variants)?
> 
> And in Cockney you have 'Rosie/Ros(e)y' [Lee] = tea.


Both chai & tea.


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## Henares

“Herbata” is from Latin “herba thea“ so in English you can coin a similar word: “herbtea”


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## Encolpius

I somehow fell in love with the German word *Lebenskraft *and realized words with E-E-A are so fascinating, so have collected some of them: Gegenwart, Hexenjagd, Gegenstand, liebeskrank, while E-E-U has a completely different effect, I think, like the beautiful word *Lebenslust*, sounds happier, or Regenwurm, no?


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