According to estimates from Ethnologue, a research center for language intelligence, roughly 1.528 billion people speak English around the world, making it the most widely spoken language, followed by Mandarin Chinese (1.184 billion), Hindi (609 million), Spanish (559 million), and Arabic (335 million).
That means that about 19% — or 1 in 5 — of the global population are English speakers. However, popularity doesn’t it’s the “best.” (How could someone even quantify the quality of a language?) In fact, a recent discussion among bilingual Reddit users highlighted how many vivid, culturally rich, and deeply evocative words exist in other languages that simply have no direct equivalent in English. These words often express feelings, experiences, or social nuances that English speakers can only describe with a full phrase — if at all.
#1 Mood Weight Gains, Literally
Kummerspeck … Grief (or worry) bacon. It’s the weight you gain from emotional eating.
I also like Backpfeifengesicht … It’s a face just asking to be slapped.
Image credits: Frau-Pfau
#2 When Saying Goodbye Hurts Forever
Irish. Beochaoineadh. Literally “alive crying”. It means a lament for those who still live but you know you may never see them again or is otherwise lost to you in a permanent, painful and irreversible way.
When you consider we’re a nation of people who have a history of leaving our loved ones behind in a desperate search for something better, it makes sense we have such a word.
#3 Mom Level: Unbothered and Unshakable
“Alcahueta” – I learned that from my Colombian husband. It refers to an enabling mom who can see no wrong in their son, who is perfect in their eyes. I use it often when gossiping about relatives 🤣.
#4 Bonus Round: Chatting Calories Don’t Count
Sobremesa, it’s the period of time you stay seated at the table talking after you’re done eating.
Image credits: sapphicor
#5 Name twins, but make it personal
Tocayo/tocaya is a person who shares your first name. I like it because my name is not that common, so I can say “hola, tocaya!” when I notice another one of us :).
#6 Finally, a word for play vibes you actually get
Swedish: Lek (unstructured play or game) and spel (structured play or game).
For example a tug or war with my dog is lek, while monopoly is spel.
I do game design and while i can talk about structured and unstructured play i cant do so effortlessly with people knowing exactly what I mean.
Image credits: elindalstal
#7 That Hurt… But In A Good Way
痛快 (tong kuai) is something you say when something hurts but it feels good in Mandarin, like a super deep massage. It means happy pain :).
#8 French Hitting Us with That Fancy Circumlocution
I got a reverse one; I speak french and we don’t have a word for “Cheap” isn’t that crazy? Such a simple word. We just say not expensive or affordable.
#9 Just enough, not too many
Lagom. It means “the right amount” so “how many cookies do you want?” “lagom.”
#10 When language keeps it extra clear
Lithuanian has two distinct words for law as in laws of physics, and law as in codex. We don’t need to clarify if breaking a law is illegal, or impossible. Feels like a given to have!
#11 Too Rich to Even Care
Vaska (Swedish) = it means pouring something down the “vask” (kitchen sink). usually something expensive, for bragging rights, to show you are rich. you can say vaska about anything you destroy to show you are too rich to care. like, “im gonna vaska this car. god im so rich.”.
Image credits: Konkuriito
#12 Words That Carry Whole Worlds
Considering my language predates all European languages every being spoken in America; In Lakota (Sioux Nation) there are many words and phrases that, while technically have translation to a point, dont embody the cultural or spiritual implications of them in English. So Šúŋkawakȟáŋ would roughly translate to “Spirit Dog” but is a phrase that describes horses in the context of their impact on our people and their spiritual significance. It doesn’t just mean “a horse.” There are also MANY different ways and accompanying words/phrases that can accompany it that would change the implication of the words.
Another example would be Makȟá. The direct translation would be the earth but also means the soil, nature, the spirit of the earth and the creator spirit. Variations of its use would be Makȟáta: to be on the Earth or in nature. Makhíthma: to be in or one with the Earth/nature/the spirit of the creator. Or Uŋčí Makȟá which is used more strictly for ceremonial purposes.
#13 English, Where’s Your Heat Game?
Spanish has caliente and piquante for hot food, meaning two different types of heat. I wish English had that.
Image credits: dogmeat12358
#14 The Ultimate Comeback Word
In German there’s the “Doch”It’s a word that means “nuh-uh”. But it carries such power when being used. You can totally shut down someone’s argument with just that word.
#15 Soulful hugs only
Apapachar, to hug with all your soul.
#16 When Snacking Becomes a Stretch of Silence
口寂しい ‘Kuchisabishii’ – Lonely Mouth, it’s stress or boredom eating. Eating out of habit? or chewing on something to have something to do.
#17 Waiting, Hoping—Same Word, Different Vibes
On the other hand, Esperar. Means both to wait and to hope, in Spanish. I guess the context helps, but in English we definitely use them in very different circumstances.
#18 Mastering the polite awkward pause
Korean 눈치 (noon-chi)! it means the ability to notice other people’s subtle emotions or thoughts. for example, if someone kept talking about something that clearly bores the other person who is too polite to leave the conversation, you’d that that person doesn’t have noon-chi, or the ability to notice (that they want to talk about something else).
Image credits: GoodEnvironmental788
#19 That’s a mood, honestly
Schadenfreude..🇩🇪.. Rejoicing 😃 in someone else’s misfortune 😔..
#20 Ice Bath or Nah?
Otužovat se = getting your body used to cold temperatures in order to be healthy.
#21 When Pride Gets Complicated
In French we have 2 words for “pride”.
*Fierté* is the usually the pride you feel in your accomplishments or those of someone you like.
*Orgueil* is the pride you feel about who you are. It not as superficial as vanity but often has negative connotations.
Your wealthy boss shares his *fierté* about the money he’s made. But *orgueil* will forever keep him from seeing his employees as an equal.
#22 Just Wandering, Not Lost
Flâner
That’s when you stroll aimlessly through a city, just enjoying the surroundings without a set destination.
#23 Cold? Yep, That’s Me
Friolento! (Friolero in other regions I believe) I’m a persona friolenta myself (Friolento means somebody that’s too affected By the cold weather or it’s constantly feeling cold).
#24 Mastering the “Get It Done” Vibe
In Polish – załatwić. It basically means to get something done, don’t ask me how.
#25 Family tree just got spicy
In English, aunt/uncle are general terms that don’t specify whether the person is from the mother’s side or the father’s side but in Arabic we have 2 different words for that.
Mother’s side : Khal/Khala
Father’s side: Amm/Amma.
#26 That Moment When Words Just Say It All
Eish. Word used as exclamation in South Africa to express a variety of feelings such as surprise, disgust, disappointment, fear, impatience, etc. Example: “Eish! My team lost the game” or “Eish… my manager asked me to work overtime”.
#27 That Respect-But-Not-Shy Energy
In indonesian we have “segan”, which is an unwillingness to do something, but that unwillingness is driven by respect. segan is not reluctance, it is not timidity, it is not shyness, it is not awkward. it’s kind of recognizing that you are bound by social hierarchical obligations/expectations and can’t say or do what you want. like not telling the boss he’s wrong, not challenging your elderly mother.
i guess this would map well to japanese. in indonesia, segan comes from javanese , which has rigid social stratification hard coded in the language.
what a great question, thanks mate!
#28 Waiting for the rain to decide
“Uppehåll” in Swedish. Basically it means “right at this moment it is not raining” and I havent found and equivalent word in English yet.
#29 Specific Enough to Skip the Awkward Intro
In Punjabi we have names for almost every relationship you can imagine. For example, dad’s older brothers wife is “Tha-ee” or your husband’s sisters husband “nandoi” – it’s kinda cool, because you always know who the person is referring to without having to explain.
#30 Why English is still figuring out a gender swap
For me it’s surprising that words “friend” and “cousin” don’t have a gender. So you have to say “female friend/male cousin” instead of using a single word that exist in many languages (e.g. italian amico/amica, cugino/cugina etc).
#31 Snack hacks for the open road
Padkos. An Afrikaans word that literally translates to “road food” aka road trip food. The closest English translation is “provisions” but it’s not quite as specific.
#32 A Whole “Dygn” Vibe
Dygn (Swedish), it’s a 24-hour span of time (and far less ambiguous than a day).
Image credits: ABlindMoose
#33 That Word Hits Different
Portuguese- “saudade” . A feeling of homesickness for something.
#34 Smells Bad, Feels Good
Chulé – bad foot odor
Cafuné – running your fingers through someone’s scalp affectionately
Portuguese.
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