# 7 Foreign Words You Need to Know While Caroline James has [already challenged the belief](http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2014/04/can-word-really-untranslatable/) that there’s anything like an untranslatable word, we nonetheless felt inspired to explore the lexicon of foreign languages in search of interesting words that don’t have an exact equivalent in English. Such an endeavour can often yield amusing results, but also give insight into the peculiarities of other cultures. Here we take a closer look at the complex meanings of eight foreign words and their origins. ### Gezellig [(L)](http://cdn.oxwordsblog.wpfuel.co.uk/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/gezellig.png?ccd1ba) [](http://cdn.oxwordsblog.wpfuel.co.uk/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/gezellig.png?ccd1ba) The Dutch *gezellig* is one such term whose meaning cannot be easily conveyed with a single English word. You might use it when you’re in the pub with friends or having breakfast with your family; even a place like a café or a living room can be called *gezellig*. So, what *does* it mean? The word derives from *gezel *meaning ‘companion’ or ‘friend’ and, depending on the context, can be translated as *close*, *intimate*, *cosy*, *sociable*, *homey*, or *convivial*. It might also simply refer to a nice atmosphere or a general sense of togetherness. ### Sobremesa [(L)](http://cdn.oxwordsblog.wpfuel.co.uk/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/sobremesa.png?ccd1ba) [](http://cdn.oxwordsblog.wpfuel.co.uk/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/sobremesa.png?ccd1ba) A look into the Spanish dictionary reveals that it is not only the Dutch who can be *gezellig*. In Spanish, *sobremesa* is the time spent talking after a meal, an after-lunch or after-dinner conversation. The word is formed from two parts, the preposition *sobre *‘over’ and the noun *mesa* ‘table’, and actually means ‘over the table’. ### Utepils [(L)](http://cdn.oxwordsblog.wpfuel.co.uk/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/utepils.png?ccd1ba) [](http://cdn.oxwordsblog.wpfuel.co.uk/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/utepils.png?ccd1ba) Given the reputation of the Scandinavian winter, it is perhaps no surprise that certain words from the Norwegian vocabulary seem to reflect the excitement Northerners surely must feel once the summer months roll on. *Utepils* is such a word. Literally translating as ‘outdoors lager’ (from *ute *‘out, outside, outdoors’ and *pils* ‘lager’), the term is commonly used for the first beer you drink outside on a warm and sunny day, or generally for a beer you have sitting outdoors. ### Schnapsleiche [(L)](http://cdn.oxwordsblog.wpfuel.co.uk/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/schnapsleiche.png?ccd1ba) [](http://cdn.oxwordsblog.wpfuel.co.uk/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/schnapsleiche.png?ccd1ba) If you drink too many *utepils*, though, you might end up as a *Schnapsleiche*. This German compound combines the two nouns *Schnaps* and *Leiche* (translation: ‘schnapps corpse’) and refers to a person who has passed out from drinking too much. *Schnaps* is the word for any kind of strong alcohol that you drink in one quick sip from a small glass (*Schnapsglas*). The word comes from Low German *Schnap(p)s*, itself related to the verb *schnappen*, and originally meant ‘a mouthful, a quick sip’. Variations such as *Alkoholleiche *(‘alcohol corpse’) and *Bierleiche* (‘beer corpse’) also exist. ### Saudade [(L)](http://cdn.oxwordsblog.wpfuel.co.uk/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/saudade.png?ccd1ba) [](http://cdn.oxwordsblog.wpfuel.co.uk/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/saudade.png?ccd1ba) Moving on to more serious matters, the elusive Portuguese *saudade* is often cited as a famously ‘untranslatable’ word. It describes a feeling of missing someone or something, similar but not equal to nostalgia. The [*Oxford English Dictionary (OED)*](http://www.oed.com/) defines *saudade* as ‘longing, melancholy, nostalgia, as a supposed characteristic of the Portuguese or Brazilian temperament’. It is especially used with reference to songs or poetry. ### Тоска [(L)](http://cdn.oxwordsblog.wpfuel.co.uk/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/tocka.png?ccd1ba) [](http://cdn.oxwordsblog.wpfuel.co.uk/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/tocka.png?ccd1ba) Russian provides more wistfulness with the word тоска (*toska*). Similar to the Portuguese *saudade*, it is often used to describe the Russian condition and has many possible translations in English: melancholy, anguish, boredom, ennui, yearning, nostalgia. In everyday life, however, you might come across a different use of the word – in the phrase тоска по родине (*toska po rodine*), meaning ‘homesickness’. ### Flâneur The noun first appears in French as an isolated attestation in an account of the manners and customs of German courtiers from 1585, but it wasn’t until the 19th century that *flâneur* developed its complex set of meanings. From at least 1806, the term has been in colloquial use with derogatory undertones. In 1808, *flâneur* appears in a dictionary of ‘low language’ with the definition ‘a very lazy person, a slacker, a man of excruciating idleness, who doesn’t know where to parade his burden and his ennui’. Its current meaning of ‘a man who saunters around observing society’ was influenced by French writer Charles Baudelaire who, in his 1863 essay *The Painter of Modern Life*, provides a detailed portrait of the *flâneur* as a modern spectator of urban life. *The opinions and other information contained in OxfordWords blog posts and comments do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of Oxford University Press.*