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What Is Your Favorite Word? (INTERNATIONAL EDITION!)


emmaki

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I was just messing about with some Greek grammar and I wondered what your favorite word was in your language.

I quite like “to besmirch”, a verb (“you besmirched me!”) that means harm/damage. So, maybe next time you issue a complaint about a lying crappy buyer/seller, you could say “I was besmirched, besmirched, I tell you!”

So I want to hear weird words in other languages with examples of contemporary usage (and English translations I guess).

The world gets a little smaller when we share 🙂

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I’m going offline for my daily beauty sleep soon eyelash flutter, but please do! I read recently that India 100 years ago was incredibly diverse when it came to languages, but many have died out. I can’t post the link as it was just something I read and I can’t remember where it was, but the link also didn’t source this claim. So if you can shed light on that, that would be awesome too.

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One of my favorite words is “Gazebo.” What it means is okay and all, but I just like the way it sounds. I was delighted when someone showed me this video after I told them I loved the word. I can’t remember if this video is entirely “safe for work” but it’s very funny and about words. Edit (I just re-watched it and it’s pretty safe.):

A favorite phrase used in my region which is certainly not grammatically correct is “I’m fixin to.” I love it and use it a lot. Literally it’s still just “I’m fixing to” although no one here says it like that. “Fixin” rhymes with vixen. (That’s a fun word too!) When you say it, though, it means “I am about to do that” as in, “quit asking, I’m fixin to take out the trash!”

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There is this saying in Hungarian: ˝Kinek nem inge ne vegye magára˝. If it is translated word by word (literally) means if it is not your shirt don´t put it on. But it actually means if it is not about you, don´t take it personal (don´t make it as your problem). So whatever people say about you, if it is not true then just don´t bother.

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I like the word " ichigeki hissatsu" in Japanese which means something like
"to kill in one blow."
I guess back then it was used when the samurais made sure to end their enemies’ lives in one blow, but nowadays it’s more like “give it your best shot.” or “knock 'em dead.” 😛

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Speaking of German, we should have a “longest word” competition. No scientific/chemical words allowed.

Antidisestablishmentarianism? Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious?

Here’s a nice German one I just found:

Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz
(Cattle marking and beef labeling supervision duties delegation law–sexy!)

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Another subcategory! Funny place names. There’s just too many in the UK for me to recount here, so here’s a Google image search. Some fruity language included.

https://www.google.gr/search?q=funny+uk+place+names&newwindow=1&espv=2&rlz=1C1CAFA_enGR619GR619&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj4mKijucjLAhXMuBoKHcCqAwgQsAQIKg&biw=1600&bih=799

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