If every single word in a language had a perfect, one-to-one equivalent in another, wouldn’t that just make language learning boring? At the very least, I think so.
A Korean-American upbringing has shown me that, generally, one word in a language will have an alternative in another. Sarang is love. Mul is water. Even entirely Korean concepts such as kimchi could be neatly defined as fermented cabbage.
But every once in a while, I’d encounter an outlier.
By definition, untranslatable words are foreign terms with no direct English equivalents. Personally, I define them as linguistic snapshots of their origin cultures, encompassing complex emotions or distinct cultural experiences that constantly remind me that to learn about language is to learn about people.
There are a few untranslatable words that I’ve found especially memorable, and I go into depth in them below.
Nunchi (눈치)
Nunchi (pronounced NOON-chi) is a Korean word encompassing the subtle art of gauging others’ moods. The two syllables roughly translate to “eye-measure”, which to me evokes the imagery of someone silently but swiftly scanning the room. Similar concepts in English include “reading the room” and “emotional intelligence”, but nunchi differs slightly in that it emphasizes quick thinking; in fact, those able to rapidly yet easily adapt to a social situation are praised for having “quick nunchi”.
Nunchi, an inseparable aspect of Korean culture, reflects its fundamental values of propriety and communal unity. In all honesty, it’s an art: rapidly assessing someone’s emotions, choosing how to direct or redirect the conversation, how to balance subtlety with intent, and how to do so instantaneously. My parents would often scold me as a child when I bluntly said something insensitive. Whether learning to hold your tongue as a child or becoming entangled in office politics as an adult, nunchi is invaluable when navigating the complex social landscape affected by age, social hierarchy, and personal conflict.
Schadenfreude
I discovered schadenfreude tucked innocuously within the pages of a forgotten middle school novel. This German word (pronounced SCHA-den-froy-duh) refers to the experience of pleasure or satisfaction from witnessing the failures or suffering of another—it’s a compound of schaden (“damage/harm”) and freude (“joy”), literally meaning “harm-joy”. It has equivalents in other Germanic languages, such as Dutch, Swedish, and Danish, but we consider it as untranslatable as there is no commonly used, precise English single-word equivalent. If anything, the closest synonym in English would be “epicaricacy”, but this 18th-century word is as obscure as it is difficult to pronounce.
Tutearme
My Spanish professor introduced me to the term a few weeks ago, immortalizing it in a smooth, confident script on the chalkboard. Tutearme (pronounced too-teh-ARE-meh), she explained, is a Spanish word that grants someone permission to use the casual/informal “tú” form when referring to them instead of the more formal “usted”.
In Spanish, there are various personal pronouns with which to address others.“Tú” means “you” (used informally as with friends and siblings), and “usted” also means “you” (used formally as with adults, teachers, superiors, and so forth). There exists cultural variations in the usage of these pronouns, as in some countries “tu” is used more liberally than “usted” and vice versa; for instance, Spaniards generally use “tu” more often while Colombians use “usted” far more frequently. However, the decision to be referred to informally is ultimately up to individual preference.