25 Handy Words that simply do not exist In English

Approximately 375 million people speak English as their first language, in fact its the 3rd most commonly spoken language in the world (after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish). Interestingly enough its the number 1 second language used worldwide which is why the total number of people who speak English, outnumber those of any other. But whilst its the most widely spoken language, theres still a few areas it falls down on (strange and bizarre punctuation rules aside). We look at 25 words that simply dont exist in the English langauge (and yet after reading this list, youll wish they did!) 1 Age-otori (Japanese): To look worse after a haircut 2 Arigata-meiwaku (Japanese): An act someone does for you that you didnt want to have them do and tried to avoid having them do, but they went ahead anyway, determined to do you a favor, and then things went wrong and caused you a lot of trouble, yet in the end social conventions required you to express gratitude 3 Backpfeifengesicht (German): A face badly in need of a fist 4 Bakku-shan (Japanese): A beautiful girl as long as shes being viewed from behind 5 Desenrascano (Portuguese): to disentangle yourself out of a bad situation (To MacGyver it) 6 Duende (Spanish): a climactic show of spirit in a performance or work of art, which might be fulfilled in flamenco dancing, or bull-fighting, etc. 7 Forelsket (Norwegian): The euphoria you experience when you are first falling in love 8 Gigil (pronounced Gheegle; Filipino): The urge to pinch or squeeze something that is unbearably cute 9 Guanxi (Mandarin): in traditional Chinese society, you would build up good guanxi by giving gifts to people, taking them to dinner, or doing them a favor, but you can also use up your gianxi by asking for a favor to be repaid 10 Ilunga (Tshiluba, Congo): A person who is ready to forgive any abuse for the first time, to tolerate it a second time, but never a third time 11 Lesprit de lescalier (French): usually translated as staircase wit, is the act of thinking of a clever comeback when it is too late to deliver it

12 Litost (Czech): a state of torment created by the sudden sight of ones own misery 13 Mamihlapinatapai (Yaghan): A look between two people that suggests an unspoken, shared desire 14 Manja (Malay): to pamper, it describes gooey, childlike and coquettish behavior by women designed to elicit sympathy or pampering by men. His girlfriend is a damn manja. Hearing her speak can cause diabetes. 15 Meraki (pronounced may-rah-kee; Greek): Doing something with soul, creativity, or love. Its when you put something of yourself into what youre doing 16 Nunchi (Korean): the subtle art of listening and gauging anothers mood. In Western culture, nunchi could be described as the concept of emotional intelligence. Knowing what to say or do, or what not to say or do, in a given situation. A socially clumsy person can be described as nunchi eoptta, meaning absent of nunchi 17 Pena ajena (Mexican Spanish): The embarrassment you feel watching someone elses humiliation 18 Pochemuchka (Russian): a person who asks a lot of questions 19 Schadenfreude (German): the pleasure derived from someone elses pain 20 Sgriob (Gaelic): The itchiness that overcomes the upper lip just before taking a sip of whisky 21 Taarradhin (Arabic): implies a happy solution for everyone, or I win. You win. Its a way of reconciling without anyone losing face. Arabic has no word for compromise, in the sense of reaching an arrangement via struggle and disagreement 22 Tatemae and Honne (Japanese): What you pretend to believe and what you actually believe, respectively 23 Tingo (Pascuense language of Easter Island): to borrow objects one by one from a neighbors house until there is nothing left 24 Waldeinsamkeit (German): The feeling of being alone in the woods 25 Yoko meshi (Japanese): literally a meal eaten sideways, referring to the peculiar stress induced by speaking a foreign language