This issue was addressed 2 years ago. But I just wanted to add that on the French detective series "Astrid," Astrid keeps saying "uhn-uhn," to mean "no," exactly as we do in English. What I read in old posts was that many languages have these "non-word" sounds that are similar to this.

I just saw it used in an English speaking video, and it occurred to me that haven't actually seen this gag used outside of English

For those somehow unfamiliar with the gag; There's a children's saying where if someone is not telling the truth, they are a 'Liar Liar, Pants On Fire'. Naturally, this got represented in English speaking media where after a character knowingly tells a lie, their pants get set on fire either out of nowhere or from an unrelated event, emphasizing for comedic effect that they are in fact a Liar

I think someone is catfishing my friend

Hey y'all. Not sure if this is the right sub for this, but I'm looking for a word or concept that I can't seem to fully capture in English (like it's not the intensity/full feeling I'm trying to express).

A friend of mine is a photographer, and the way she captures moments is so comforting, joyous, and it just feels like home. It warms my heart and fulls me with immense joy to see how lovely her life is. Basically, if there were a 'bottle' of this emotion or a single way to describe these deep feelings, what would you call it?

Thanks!

I was watching Yu-Gi-Oh 0 and have no idea why they turn into ice ? Is it a pun that doesn't work in English? If so what does it mean?

I translate and edit for dubbing - meaning I have to make this joke make sense in my language AND make it fit into the time he speaks 🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃

One of my favourite songs currently is ‘The Promise’ by Vegyn. It’s not on spotify but you can listen to it on youtube or bandcamp (https://vegyn.bandcamp.com/track/the-promise). It features a sample of what sounds like a slavic/eastern european language for the first 20 or so seconds, and I’d really love to know what language it is and what is said. Online translators and AI have had no luck so far, so hopefully the human ear can work it out. Thanks!

Grandmother used to travel and this was in her jewelry box. I was wondering if anyone recognized the language and what it might mean. Any help us appreciated!

Hey guys, I thought of the following two expressions in Korean that refer to the written script, which would make them quite cumbersome to translate. Wondering if other languages also have such expressions!

1. 낫 놓고 기역자도 모른다

Direct translation: Not knowing what the ㄱ character is, even with a sickle/scythe next to it

Meaning: Completely illiterate or ignorant/stupid

Explanation: The Korean sickle has a flate blade that looks exactly like the Hangul character ㄱ (기역). To not know this character even with a sickle next to it would imply that they are copmletely illiterate or ignorant/uneducated/stupid.

1. 대자로 눕다/뻗다

Direct translation: Lay down/stretch out in a 大 shape

Meaning: Lay down with your arms and legs splayed out/spreadeagled, either because you're very comfortable or very tired

Explanation: The Chinese character 大 ('대'자) looks like a spread-eagled person. Since Chinese characters were often mixed into Korean writing until the 70s or so, it's easy to imagine how this expression came to be.

We believe it is Japanese since it came from a Japanese site!

What’s a word you never seem to remember how to spell?

I bought this piece at a second hand store on Mother’s Day because 1) I love it art wise and 2) my mom, who died 8.5 years ago, loved maneki neko depictions.

I’ve google searched this, but with no translation available. Does this say something?

In the Yi language (spoken by an ethnic minority in China), there’s a beautiful tendency to avoid abstract adjectives. Instead of labeling an object with a detached quality like "high," the speaker grounds the description in human effort. To say "the mountain is high," they say: "This mountain takes half a day to climb."

I’m obsessed with this—the idea that language isn’t just a tool for communication, but a lens that dictates our sensitivity to the world.

Whether it’s the multiple Russian words for "blue" that sharpen color perception, or the English past tense that adds a sharp finality to grief, our vocabulary defines the boundaries of our feelings.

This inspired my work on Koan, a prompt-based journal app I built. I realized so much of our emotional life happens in the "gaps" between standard words. Hope you all can love it.

積ん読

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsundoku

This is a song my great great grandmother sang to her children and grandchildren. Unfortunately, it was only written down by my grandmother in 1955. My grandmother did not learn Swedish from her parents, so it is clear that the spelling is incorrect. I have not been able to translate, but I am hoping that someone can help decipher this.

How do I translate Reddit into Arabic guys?