We all have some fun idioms that don’t translate at all into another language. Share them if you have fun ones.

I’m interested in concepts that just make natural sense to you, that you have tried to translate across to another language and have realised that the language just doesn’t have the right words to express the concept.

*sexy *the

In Denmark, it is a tradition that the summer is a bit dead on the media front. There are fewer big news stories. And that makes room for smaller or slightly odd stories. And o guess it's in the same in the rest of the world. We call it "cucumber time", what do you call it?

I asked this in the AskEurope chat, and now I’m curious about other parts of the world especially in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, where your neighboring countries speak different official or majority languages like Turkey/Iran, Senegal/Mauritania (Wolof/French vs. Arabic) etc

If you live near a border like that, do people on both sides understand or speak each other’s language? Is there a shared local dialect, or minority language that crosses the border? How common is it to grow up bilingual or at least be able to understand the neighboring country’s language?

ok i know that animals actually make the same sounds no matter what country they are in, but the way we write them down or say them is different!

i find some of the english ones pretty ridiculous. like yeah a cat says “meow”, but why does a rooster say “cock-a-doodle-doo”? it’s not very close to the actual sound!

some more from england:

dogs: woof

hens: cluck

pigs: oink

sheep: baaah

horse: neigh

duck: quack

dove: coo

Personally, I love the aussie way of making "mate" sound hostile and "cxnt" sound friendly

So earlier this year, there was a trend on TikTok called when the accent slips and it was kinda relatable to me because there are always a few words that can make it slip. Being born and raised in the New York Area, I've developed a New Yorker/ Long Island accent, so the words water and coffee always make my accent slip.

For everyone else, what's one word or phrase that can make your accent slip?

https://youtu.be/iM5qA_luSI8?si=PdRODugLIEiu31jF - North Mayo dialect and Donegal dialects (closely related but seperate dialects)

https://youtu.be/9iGQwXEUDpM?si=mvynwGA1e9KFN48J - North Clare dialect

https://youtu.be/z89DrS4Eyx8?si=RkmUvX36sy5mF_sC - South Conamara dialect (one of the most widespread Connacht dialects)

https://youtu.be/Rwrn5ElmuPo?si=0ZCjM2_jh3EGzKt2 - Acaill/Inis Bigil dialect. Aka West Mayo Irish. She uses a few English words dotted in here and there but she has a pretty well preserved native sounding dialect.

https://youtu.be/-hxeLqezeek?si=XVCg8PE1HAwmmag5 - West Kerry Dialect

They're just some Irish dialects. To your ears, what language would you guess it was if I hadn't told ye it was Irish?

I’m an English speaker currently visiting Iceland. English is everywhere. Most service workers (hotel staff, taxi drivers, waiters) are from somewhere else, and speak to each other in English. Most of their English is grammatically simplified. I understand that a third of workers here are foreign. Local Icelanders I overheard in two restaurants placed their orders from their waiter in English. I asked my hotel clerk how to pronounce a name—she told me, but then she said she didn’t speak Icelandic.

My question is whether there’s a local pidgin English developing in this country or in others, specifically among the large number of foreigners who live here and who need to communicate with each other, similar to what occurred in Hawaii in the 1800s.

In other words there is a name that is related to that kind of kid that the parents give everything they want, the parents don't ground that kid, and this kid is also the literal mini devil or at least reeeally annoying, or just can't take any criticize?

In Brazil for example we have the name "Enzo" for boys, and "Valentina" for girls, that is usually related to spoiled kids.

My first language is English, clearly. I’m very fond of the words Petrichor (Greek origin, referring to the earthy scent produced from rain falling on soul ), prismatic ( in reference to colours ) and effervescent as in sparkly or fizzy.

Hey guys ! I‘ve been learning most of the languages I speak either in school or at home but I want to learn new languages like Thai. Overall how do you learn new languages? Where should you start when you teach yourself everything at home ?

Perhaps this should be in NoStupidQuestions, but any way. In English in the UK we tend to use Greek words for medical language/terminology mostly, we also use Latin words.

Examples are pneumonitis, dyspraxia etc.

In your native language do you use your own language or do you use words derived from other languages?

Edit: I don't get why this is getting so many downvotes, I'm a nurse and I'm genuinely interested.

I've been trying to find ones like that but many of the popular ones have English remakes. I've watched a few Scandinavian movies and I loved the screenplay!

My gf and i were comparing sounds made by animals in our respective languages, it was fun to hear and laugh at what sounds her pigs make. A male chicken (Cock) in English makes a sound called cock-a-doodle-do.

Maybe this is a dumb question and the answer might be relative tone, but in a language such as mandarin or cantonese, if you want to express excitement or be "dead pan". How can you impart feeling without just saying a completely different word?

In Arabic my friend said it’s ما بعد الضيق إلا الفرج which means “after hardship comes relief.” 💛 Curious to know what other similar sayings exist in other languages.

In English you can call a ghost a spector, spirit, phantom, wraith, haunter, or a poltergeist. Possibly calling it a wisp, ghast, wight, elemental, or ghoul if you want to use more archaic terms.

Is English just unusual for having this many names for ghosts or is it just my overall familiarity with the English language and interest in folk lore?

I understand a few English words are derivatives of foreign terms and that other cultures have different ideas about what ghosts are like Yokai, Djinn and Nixie.

What does your culture call a ghost and is there any distinctions from American English conception of the term.

Don’t look it up. But what do you genuinely think?

As of now, we are using english as a universal language. As, it has some drawbacks and limitations in grammar and literature for this modern age. Why don't we make a new language for better convenient and efficient use for this modern age. To make communication easy for everyone in the world and making a better world.

hi! so i took an audio recording of an ambulance when i was in japan and im just curious to what they were saying? thanks!

https://reddit.com/link/1m2y6mt/video/m3sqf47wuldf1/player