steviedeluxe

http://sobadsogood.com/2012/04/29/25...st-in-english/

I like this one
I suppose we'd use "building up brownie points" in English?

cricketman

That's a bit of a silly article. There are 100s if not 1000s of words in any language that are difficult to translate into other langauges and so are as "unique" as those stated in the article

Of the top of my head are some Spanish words/phrases that are hard to translate into English - you need to be inventive depending on the context

Que chulo
Cutre
Pringao
Enchufe
Duende
Pagafantas
Capricho
Tener ganas
Estar nervioso

And the other way round, there are an incredible number of ways to describe action in English which you can't do in Spanish, all very difficult to impossible to translate e.g.

Twist
Trounce
Flounce
Trundle
Slouch
Stumble
Swagger
Amble etc

And anything to do with marketing is almost impossible to translate to Spanish e.g.

Insight
Teenager
Focus Group etc

And sometimes very easy English concepts become complicated in Spanish e.g.
To be Ser/Estar
To love Querer/Amar/Encantar

steviedeluxe

I don't think the author ever stated otherwise.
Just an interesting list which I enjoyed reading.
Your list of other words that are difficult to translate between the two specific languages, whilst interesting in themselves, do not detract from the article. In my humble opinion...

rachelk

I like it, have stolen it and have written a 5 word story.

Mamihlapinatapai, Forelsket, Ilunga, Desenrascanco, Backpfeifengesicht.

jonboy

Perhaps it is about the notion of "face", looking good in the "eye" of others?

Domino

it would proabably be more fun trying to find words that are not translatable because the language/society has no need for them

believe there are one or two tribes in Borneo and/or S. America that have no concept of Theft because all property is communal, including women.

.

anonimouse

It's known as Slang