14 Great Words the English Language Lacks

Have you ever felt tartled?
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 16, 2013 5:39 PM CST
Updated Jan 19, 2013 7:00 PM CST
14 Great Words With No English Equivalent
Koi No Yokan, maybe?   (Shutterstock)

You're stuffed, but you just can't stop eating because the meal is so delicious. What's the word for that again? Right, there is none, at least in English. But Georgians sum it up as "shemomedjamo." It's one of 14 interesting foreign words rounded up by the Week (via Mental Floss) that have no equivalent in America. Also:

  • Koi No Yokan (Japanese): The feeling that you and the person you just met are going to fall in love.
  • Tartle (Scots): The panic you feel when you're about to introduce somebody but have forgotten the name.
  • Zeg (Georgian): The day after tomorrow.

  • Rhwe (Tsonga, South Africa): "To sleep on a floor without a mat, while drunk and naked."
  • Greng-jai (Thai): The feeling when you don't want someone to do you a favor because it would be a big hassle for that person.
  • Kaelling (Danish): A woman who stands at her door or in any public place cursing at her kids.
Read the full list here. (More language stories.)

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