Favorite Words or Phrases

[Joyful]

Oh! And one more amazing word!
Spanish meaning 'to roar' I think.
ahorrar
I love the double rr and how it sounds like a cute lil roar when you say it!

 

[Lucien]

From one of Delida's songs.
Je ne sais pas, mais c'est comme ça .
strick

 

[nichec]

In French: Ca ira (sorry for the "c")
In English: I would like to hear it from you

I saw the post of the movie "cinderella man" in Paris, I love the words on it: Vivre, Survivre

 

[Hakro]

In French: Ca ira (sorry for the "c")

Just tonight I learned that in French capital letters they use neither accents (I knew it before) nor the cédille (ç) (I didn't know). So don't be sorry about Ca.

 

[geve]

I'm afraid you've been taught wrong, Hakro... as I've myself discovered pretty recently, capital letters do take accents in French, see this thread:

accents on capital and upper case letters / accents sur les majuscules, capitales accentuées

 

[Hakro]

I'm afraid you've been taught wrong, Hakro... as I've myself discovered pretty recently, capital letters do take accents in French, see this thread Des Accents Sur Des Lettres Majuscules?

Thank you, Geve, for this information!

I was taught, nearly half a century ago, that accents on capital letters are voluntary, but I have always used them just to keep the orthography clear for myself. I didn't know about the change, and apparently many French people haven't heard about it. I was yesterday taught by a Frenchman...

 

[la reine victoria]

I hope it's OK to offer a poem I learnt at school. I find it very beautiful at the start, and funny in the last verse, which is such a deliberate contrast to the others.

Cargoes
by John Masefield
. . . . . . . . . . . .

http://www.psychicworld.net/car.htm​

Edit by moderator: No web pages or copyrighted or plagiarized content may be inserted into WordReference posts. Minor fair use excerpts from dictionaries such as a definition/translation or two is permitted. Other quotes of less than one paragraph (4 sentences) are permitted as well. All other forms of inserted content from press releases, newsletters, web pages, or any other copyrighted content placed into messages will be removed without exception. A link to the content is acceptable and appropriate.

LRV​

 

[Outsider]

Here's another poem: Waiting for the Barbarians, by Constantine Cavafy.

 

[la reine victoria]

Here's another poem: Waiting for the Barbarians, by Constantine Cavafy.

Greatly appreciated, Outsider. I haven't read this before. Thank you for introducing it.



LRV

 

[davidl243]

Someone may have said this already (cos to be honest i haven't read every post!) but the best word in any language must be the German 'Gemütlich' - for both the sound (the way the lips come to a point for the ü, and the beautiful breathy 'ch') and the meaning (cosy, comfortable, just generally wonderful). I find it hard to believe anyone could disagree

 

[Encolpius]

Hello, I've got a small collection of my favourite words, but I won't put them all here. I like Italian and Finnish words when they have the same vowels and double consonants. I like many Hungarian compound words which are made up of two words and the result means something completely different, often very poetic or inventive. Germans also have words like that. Briefly I'd say my favourite words sound a little onomatopoetically. Now I can remember:

the English: daddy-long-legs
or the German: Muskatnuss (heard in a film)
Czech: Mimo provoz (almost only o's, means: out of service)
many many Hungarian words like: papmacska [pap (priest), macska (cat), the result is a type of caterpillar]
Many many Italian: Tutto sotto controllo. recentemente...
Many many Finnish: pikkukaupunki, matkatavarat, rakastajarat, hämärä, käpälä, or words ending in -i in general.
French sentences like: Tu pues du cul.

 

[chifladoporlosidiomas]

Spanish/portuguese: ojala/oxala

 

[Rintoul]

Oh! And one more amazing word!
Spanish meaning 'to roar' I think.
ahorrar
I love the double rr and how it sounds like a cute lil roar when you say it!

Actually 'ahorrar' means 'to save', (as in time, money )
Caja de Ahorros = Savings bank

 

[sakvaka]

ecc. sotto controllo. recentemente...
Many many Finnish: pikkukaupunki, matkatavarat, rakastajarat, hämärä, käpälä, or words ending in -i in general.
French sentences like: Tu pues du cul.

You must mean "rakastajatar" 'mistress'. I hope your illusion doesn't vanish after this correction. BTW, you didn't mention aikamatkaaja!

 

[Hakro]

I like Italian and Finnish words when they have the same vowels and double consonants.
- - -
Many many Finnish: pikkukaupunki, matkatavarat, rakastajat, hämärä, käpälä, or words ending in -i in general.

What do you think about "kastanjavatsakaklattaja" with it's nine a's? It's a bird, Ortalis wagleri.

 

[Encolpius]

What do you think about "kastanjavatsakaklattaja" with it's nine a's? It's a bird, Ortalis wagleri.

Well, I think there is little chance one would use the Finnish equivalent of the rufous-bellied Chachalaca. I wonder if bird specialists in Finnland have heard about that bird at all. BUt could you dissect the word? I know: kastanja is chestnut, vatsa is stomach, then?

Another interesting word from German: Gabelstaplerfahrer. I wonder what you call it in Finnish.

 

[Hakro]

Well, I think there is little chance one would use the Finnish equivalent of the rufous-bellied Chachalaca. I wonder if bird specialists in Finnland have heard about that bird at all. BUt could you dissect the word? I know: kastanja is chestnut, vatsa is stomach, then?

Another interesting word from German: Gabelstaplerfahrer. I wonder what you call it in Finnish.

The Finnish bird specialists have heard about this bird enough to give it a Finnish name. I heard about it just a few days ago.

Kaklattaja means cackler, chuckler, gaggler, quacker.

"Gabelstaplerfahrer" is called haarukkatrukinkuljettaja in Finnish.

 

[Seica]

I love this mandarin words, all with cat (may be because I love cats too):

xiongmao (lit. bear-cat): panda
lanmao: lazy as a cat
wo de xiao maor (pronounced with the beautiful Beijing accent that lets the -r roll and roll): my little cat

 

[Lopes]

Ik vind de woorden "geenszins" en "alleszins" zeer fraai, en als ik het goed heb begrepen worden die in Vlaanderen ook gesproken, maar in Nederland alleen geschreven. Misschien vind ik daarom de romans van Herman Brusselmans zo vermakelijk?

 

[gatogab]

Spanish/portuguese: ojala/oxala

Yo soy chiflado por las palabras castellanas de origen árabe

 

[Encolpius]

I've just seen this word on TV and I think it's really cool: erection supervisor. I really think thy should call it different.

 

[The Machine of Zhu]

Effortlessly & crestfallen are two of my favourite words.

 

[Cosol]

Spanish Vente a Vodafone (Vodafón), reloj,
Japanese: Moshi moshi
French: Bon-Bon, Culottes, Je m'en fous.
Crotian: Hrvatska
English words which are supposed to come from Italian like Pizza Pepperoni and Tagliatella (and everything ends in -ella like Cindarella)

 

[Plzenak]

English : diarrhoea
Spanish : I see I´m not the only one who likes the word ´reloj´ and I also like chimenea
Slovak : naozaj (= really )
French : ecoute - sounds so funny to me
Czech : Řekni ř ! Neřeknu ! ( = Say ř ! I won´t !)

 

[chamyto]

English = what´s up !
French = moi aussi
Spanish = * maj/s que ná* ( más que nada )

 

[Judica]

I call this the World word = "cafe"
Indigenous = papoose
Indigenous = pachamama
French = savez vous
Spanish = mariposa
English = discombobulate
Arabic = Salam / Hebrew= Shalom

Shortened Phrase (Military/Police) = FUBAR

 

[LV4-26]

This one I've only discovered recently even though it's French.

Esperluette

It refers to the '&' sign (ampersand, I think it is, in English)

I like the way it sounds, pretty, classy, discreetly elegant.

(btw, if you split it -- espere luette -- it means hope uvula. )

 

[Dragonseed]

Thanks LV4-26, I had no idea about the esperluette, and I am French too!... Is it female, as in "une esperluette"? It sounds really cute.
In comparison its cousin the @ (aerobas) sounds drab and boring...


My favorite Spanish word is la madrugada.
In English, I like handkerchief and I don't even know why...

 

[catlady60]

Y thingumajig.

And also, doohickey.

 

[rusita preciosa]

My favorite words are:
Spanish: conejo and oveja because they sound just like these animals look
Russian: давай! /davay/ - let's go! / come on!, because it just sounds cool
French: abandonner, because it has a melancholy ring to it

EDIT: thought of an English one: procrastination
And another one, it doesn’t belong to a language, it’s just a car brand, but I like how it sounds: Suzuki Kizashi

 

[Nonstar]

French: Invraissamblable (This word is invraissamblable! Invraissamblablement!)
English: Transvestitism. Varooka.
Russian: Dorogoy/a
Finnish: Saippuakivikauppias (World's biggest palindrome)
Spanish: Desenchufáááááááááte !

 

[ilocas2]

My favorite English word: a
My favorite Spanish word: y
My favorite Portuguese word: e
My favorite Italian word: o
My favorite Slovak word: i
My favorite Croatian word: u

 

[catlady60]

I have another favorite English word: serendipity! I exclaim that every time I end up in a lucky situation.

 

[Bashti]

De mi idioma me gustan mucho algunas palabras que vienen del árabe, como albahaca, alhucema...

Tengo otra favorita que suele resultar difícil de pronunciar para muchos extranjeros: guijarro. Tengo una amiga francesa que no ha sido capaz de pronunciarla bien nunca, lo mismo que el nombre de la ciudad Guadalajara que, por cierto, también es de origen árabe.

En inglés me encanta la palabra "exhausted". Me suena muy elegante.

 

[arceki]

Pues mi palabra favorita en inglés es Twilight, no sé porque, y no
es por la saga de las pelis, es por el juego de Zelda de la Wii, y no sé
porque pero me encanta.

y en alemán es: Kokosflocken o algo así no recuerdo bien como se escribe
y es coco rallado, me resultó super graciosa la primera vez que la escuché

 

[sakvaka]

Just found this, and I think this is great!

Dutch: hoeveelheid ('howmuchness')

It means "amount".

 

[gatogab]

Álgebra, por su origen.
En árabe significa algo así como 'componer/ajustar huesos'

 

[Bashti]

I have another favorite English word: serendipity! I exclaim that every time I end up in a lucky situation.

I love it too! It reminds me of its equivalent in Spanish, chiripa, which sounds very amusing.

 

[Heredianista]

"Prego!" is a word a miss a lot here in the US. When someone says, for example, "Excuse me" in order to ask me to move over so she can pass me, I find myself wanting to say "Prego," realizing I can't, and then standing there dumbstruck, saying nothing, like my brain has frozen. I hate that feeling. I feel it is a word we need in English and don't have.

(It is therefore impossible to fully translate into English, but means many things (besides "you're welcome"), along the lines of "please do," "go ahead," "help yourself," and "knock yourself out" — but most especially, it is inviting and kind and warm, and usually happily emphatic.)

I have always loved the word "ciruela," plum, in Spanish. I just think it's gorgeous and musical.

I'm not from Texas, I'm from Boston. So when I moved here, I was tickled by all kinds of Texan idioms. One I love is "All hat and no cattle." (In a Texas drawl, of course.) It means all show and no substance. (As in, 'All talk and no action' or 'All talk and no trousers.') I just love the cartoon image I get of a swaggering cowboy wearing a three-foot-tall cowboy hat... and having no cattle.

I love the way people in Costa Rica say "con mucho gusto" (with great pleasure) for "you're welcome," instead of "de nada" (it's nothing/don't mention it).

I like the "j" sound in Portuguese... (It's the same sound my name begins with, now that I think of it) – and "juba" (mane).

And "capoeira."

"¡aaaaaaAÁndale!" will always have a special place in my heart. : )

An English word? Snafu.

~Genève

 

[Heredianista]

And also, doohickey.

And "whatshisface" (what's-his-face).

 

[LV4-26]

I don't know if I've got favorite words or phrases, but I'm aware I've got "verbal tics" in English.
For instance, I've just realized I'm often using only as a conjunction where everyone else tends to use however, nevertheless, but, ......

I guess it comes from a novel I once translated: I got contaminated.

 

[gatogab]

Dicitencello vuje = Diteglielo voi

Lucariè scetate songh 'e nnove!

Puorte o cazone cu 'nu stemma arreto = blue jeans

 

[Bashti]

I've just seen this word on TV and I think it's really cool: erection supervisor. I really think thy should call it different.

And what on earth is that supposed to be?

 

[ilocas2]

My favorite word in Czech - vývěva - vacuum pump
3 V and no other consonant

 

[gatogab]

Appena arrivato in Italia leggevo un romanzo di Fedor Dostoevskij, il cui nome non ricordo, e mi sono imbattuto in una frase che non ho mai dimenticato.
Eccola:
'Aveva lo sguardo smarrito in un beato rapimento"

 

[Ibermanolo]

I like the words:

I like the word
esperanza
in Spanish. In English, hope can be quantified by the measure of hope the person hoping has in something. In Spanish, la esperanza means the waiting. It's as if hope has transcended hopelessness, and is now a matter of waiting for what you hope for to come to pass. It's a much stronger word than the English word hope.

Are you sure of that? maybe you think so because the verb "esperar" in Spanish has different meanings (hope, wait and expect). Sin enbargo el sustantivo correspondiente a cada verbo sería esperanza, espera y expectativa.

 

[Ibermanolo]

Por norma general me gustan las palabras en español de origen árabe que empiezan por "a" y pronunciando las zetas interdentales (como en España).

Azucena
Azahar
Aceite
Acequia
Alhelí
Azúcar

 

[Heredianista]

spoof!

zigzag.

spurious.

 

[Heredianista]

Are you sure of that? maybe you think so because the verb "esperar" in Spanish has different meanings (hope, wait and expect). Sin enbargo el sustantivo correspondiente a cada verbo sería esperanza, espera y expectativa.

Hmm. I also find this an unfamiliar definition of "esperanza."

For me, esperanza = hope.

I don't find it stronger in Spanish.

Do others?

~g

 

[Spharadi]

For me "esperanza" sound very hopeful, so I like this word. I also like these phrases because they are quite philosophical and untranslatable.
What is the matter? Never mind.
What is mind? It doesn't matter.
In German I like "wissenschaftlich bewiesen" because it sounds so scientific and awe inspiring, especially if you pronounce it with "true" German accent.