As a manipulator of words, I often am searching for the one that conveys just the right meaning. Pamela Haag has assembled a list of such words, unfortunately, they’re not in English. But who knows, perhaps because of their je ne sais quoi — beating ability or the Weltanschauung they engender, they will come into the Mother Tongue.
Here’s an example:
Mamihlapinatapei (Yagan, an indigenous language of Tierra del Fuego): The wordless yet meaningful look shared by two people who desire to initiate something, but are both reluctant to start.
and here’s the whole list:
The Top 10 Relationship Words that Aren’t Translatable into English
Reposted from march 11, 2012 (because I like it)