The other day, my friend Hiral Bhagat shared a picture which had some unique words from different languages! Some of them made me smile, and I wondered how lovely it is that different parts of the world have certain words for feelings or thoughts that we have had, but didn’t have our own word for.

Here’s sharing some of the ones that I loved and have added to my own head. Hope you like them too!

1) Iktsuarpok  (Inuit language) : The Inuits are from the Arctic regions of Greenland, Canada and Alaska. Iktsurapok is the feeling of anticipation that makes you look outside (a window, a door) to see if anyone you are waiting for is coming.

Iktsuarpok

2) Waldeinsamkeit (German) : Imagine this. You’re by yourself in a forest. It’s calm and peaceful. The sun is filtering through the trees and there’s a light breeze. That’s waldeinsamkeit. (How do these Germans come up with such beautiful thoughts) . The Japanese have a word for this too. It’s called ‘Komorebi’.

Waldeinsamkeit

3) Hanyauku (Rukwangali) : Rukwangali is the native language of the Namibians. If you love beaches, you will love this word. It’s pronounced as (ha-ahn-yoh-kuu). It means walking on your tiptoes across hot/warm sand.

4) Trouvaille (French) : Translating to a “lucky find,” this French word can be used for that cute cafe, a pretty alley you never know existed, a quirky craft store that you stumbled upon by chance. Isn’t that one of the best parts of travel, to discover something that makes you smile!

Trouvaille

5) Utepils (Norweigian) : You will all like this word. It means to sit outside on a sunny day and enjoy a beer. Haha,  makes sense for Norway as its so cold, and receives proper sunlight only six months a year. Not surprised that a tropical country like India didn’t come up with that word 😉

6) Lehitkalev (Hebrew) : Since its Hebrew, I assume it comes from Israel. This one might not suit everyone, but every backpacker and budget traveler could/should relate to it. The word translates into “dog it”, which means to accept and deal with uncomfortable travel or living arrangements.

7) Schilderwald (German) : It refers to a street with so many road-signs that you become lost! Hahaha!

Schilderwald

8) Vacilando (Spanish) : If someone is vacilando, it means he is going somewhere , but doesn’t greatly care when or whether he gets there, despite having direction. Basically in that state, the person is more in love with the journey than the destination itself.

9) Rire Dans Sa Barbe (French) : It translates into “laughing into your beard” quietly while thinking about something from the past.

10) Nemophilist (English) : Someone who loves the forest and its beauty and solitude. Reading Nemo I felt it would be about loving clownfish 😉

Nemophilist

11)Smultronstalle(Swedish): It translates to something along the lines of “place of wild strawberries,” but what it really means is something along the lines of a “happy place.” Smultronstalle refers to those semi-secret places you return to time and time again because they’re special and personal to you.

12) Xhiro (Albanian): They say that Albanian people loving evening walks. So much so that they have a word for it “Xhiro”. In many towns, roads close to cars for certain hours. Apartment blocks get empty and everyone gathers at various places walking and talking like late night! It sounded lovely to me that people could be so chill and relaxed and love going on strolls so much that they could actually shut their towns to cars and more.And that’s why I visited Albania, haha!

13) Commuovere (Italian) : Have you ever seen something so pretty, so beautiful that it made you cry? That’s commuovere. It describes the feeling of being moved, overwhelmed or stirred by something you saw. The Japanese have a word that conveys a very similar meaning, and the word is ‘Yugen’.

14) Mamihlapinatapai (Yaghan) : The Yaghan are a tribe that have been living in an archipelago between Chile and Argentina, in the southern tip of South America. They have lived as hunter-gatherers for more than 10,000 years, and their language is rich in words describing the sea and marine life. Today, the tribe’s number is fewer than 2,000 members.

yaghan tribe

The Guiness Book of World Records went on, hehe, record to say its the “most succinct word”. It’s also considered to be one of the hardest words to translate. So what does it mean?

Roughly it translates into “a look shared by two people, without speaking anything, where both want to initiate something but neither does”.

Makes you smile? Definitely made me.

Now, let’s end the post with a proper travel word, eh?

15) Fernweh (German) : Roughly translating into wanderlust, Fernweh is the craving for travel. To be longing for a place you haven’t gone before!

fernweh

Hope you liked our collection! And hope you remember some of them and use it somewhere!