Mamihlapinatapai is Yagan, an indigenous language of Tierra del Fuego, an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The word is difficult to translate into English. Its meaning is 'a wordless, yet meaningful look shared by two people with each wishing that the other will initiate something that they both desire but which neither one wants to start.'
Another word is kyoikumama. It's Japanese and means 'a mother who relentlessly pushes her children toward academic achievement.' Here are some words that are almost impossible to translate into English.
(via Reality Carnival)
2 comment(s):
kyoikumama may have been hard to translate in the past, but now we call them tiger moms.
They're not impossible at all, or it would be impossible to write the article. There's no particular mystery that it takes one word to convey in some languages concepts that take several words in English. If it were, German would be the most magical language on Earth.
Post a Comment