this post was submitted on 12 Jul 2025
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Any language, explain what it means if it's not English.

For example (as a non-native speaker) I've always liked the English word 'unprecedented', mostly in the context of fiction. Especially if it paints some entity to be really mystical or wondrous or it's own never before seen order of magnitude in any way.

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[–] wizzor@sopuli.xyz 27 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Epäjärjestelmällistyttämättömyydelläänsäkäänköhän.

It's the longest word you can make in Finnish without using compounds, which can be infinite length.

It means, very loosely translated "I wonder if the outcome was a result of their lack of ability to cause others to be disorganized. "

I know, Finnish is an enviable language.

[–] folkrav@lemmy.ca 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Am I understanding that Finnish has a way to combine words without being considered to be a compound? My very limited exposure to compound words (through German) was the very idea of mashing the words together made them compound.

[–] wizzor@sopuli.xyz 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

We have a concept of word inflection, which can be used to replace a lot of words that English would use to denote something being a question, ownership markers, causes and effects etc.

Compounds are fun too, since you can do chaining:

Viskibassokitaravahvistinpiiri

Whisky base guitar amplifier circuit

[–] Ephera@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 months ago

We have a concept of word inflection, which can be used to replace a lot of words that English would use to denote something being a question, ownership markers, causes and effects etc.

I don't speak Finnish, but I believe a good example for such an inflection is how in English you can glue an -s to words to make them plural. In some other languages, you say "many word" instead, because they don't have such an inflection.

[–] watson387@sopuli.xyz 17 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] nebulaone@lemmy.world 15 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

English: Spaghettification (being ripped/stretched apart extremely violently)

Oh and almost forgot: Yeet is an actual word now, so that as well.

German: Zeitgeist (so well known you've probably heard it already ["spirit of the times"])

Programming languages: print("lol, lmao even.");

[–] grillgamesh@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 2 months ago (1 children)

antidisestablishmentarianism. its a fun word to say.

[–] lattrommi@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

i feel the same way about pneumonoultramicroscopicsyllacovolcanoconiosis. it's fun to say!

it's not considered a real word anymore (and from what i gather, never really was a real word, in the opinion of the english nerds who decide such things) but i learned how to say it, dammit! i can't unlearn that!

i might have even learned how to spell it correctly. i didn't check the spelling as i wrote it in this comment but i also don't think it matters if i incorrectly spell a word that isn't really a word. so... yeah...

anyways, it was possibly used as a complicated version of what was known as 'black lung' disease, which coal miners in the appalacians contracted from inhaling silica dusts, for anyone curious.

[–] anothermember@feddit.uk 12 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Steadfast. As a native English speaker it feels like a very strong, grounded word which also suits its meaning. Originally literally means fixed in place, it's come to mean loyal and unswerving.

[–] Bldck@beehaw.org 3 points 2 months ago

Stalwart Stolid Solid

[–] chaosCruiser@futurology.today 11 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

Subtle, rhythm, and Wednesday. The spelling is just absolutely wild.

It’s about as messy as old British coins and Roman measures.

[–] Ephera@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I also enjoy "one". There's just a random "w" in there when you pronounce it.

[–] chaosCruiser@futurology.today 2 points 2 months ago

Yeah, “wan” would make 5000% more sense.

[–] mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Gruntled. It means pleased or contented. It’s the positive form of the much more common “disgruntled”. If someone is caught in the rain, they may be disgruntled about being wet. But you very rarely hear the word “gruntled” used.

Similarly, “whelmed” is a word, which basically means “submerged” or “engulfed”. You can be _over_whelmed by emotion, meaning you were completely overtaken and swept away by the emotion. You can be _under_whelmed by an experience, meaning it failed to fully meet your expectations. But you can also just be whelmed. The experience did exactly what you expected; no more, no less.

Waffle not the food just the word. It’s fun to say.

[–] daggermoon@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] FireWire400@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

Very versatile word in Straya and NZ

[–] Suck_on_my_Presence@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Anesthetize

The 'esth' right into a t is just about the coolest combination of word sounds in any word in English.

Second favorite is cwm. :)

[–] lattrommi@lemmy.ml 5 points 2 months ago

As someone with a lisp who tends to turn 's' and 'z' sounds into a 'th' sound, i will respectfully disagree that it is a cool combination. it hurts me a little that i can't always say words properly but i suppose i could always ask a doctor to aneththetithe me.

[–] Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

autodefenestration is a fun one

[–] lattrommi@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 months ago

defenestratafenestra isn't a real word but i use it to tell people i stopped using Windows and switched to Linux.

[–] lemuria@lemmy.ml 6 points 2 months ago (1 children)

There are plenty of feminine given names that roll off the tongue incredibly well. Names like "Anna" and "Elaine" and "Katherine" do not begin to scratch the surface... But again, I pay more attention to names than the average person because I am obsessed with linguistics, and that obsession is what made me click this thread and type out a reply in the first place.

[–] cy_narrator@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 2 months ago

I knew a girl with such a cute name but she was not very good looking so guys used to say "name scam"

[–] DJDarren@sopuli.xyz 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Vegemíté, as pronounced by Gloria in Modern Family.

Every time I open the cupboard that has a jar, it brings me joy.

[–] daggermoon@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

It's good shit. I ain't even an Aussie but that shit makes everything better.

[–] pineapple@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

No way, I've never met anyone who didn't grow up with Vegemite but still enjoys it.

[–] DJDarren@sopuli.xyz 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Thing with Vegemíté is that it's like Marmite, but not fucking awful.

[–] daggermoon@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

I like Marmite too lol

[–] Quilotoa@lemmy.ca 4 points 2 months ago

Paraprosdokian. A sentence with a twist in it. Eg. Some people are like slinkies: not really good for much but they bring a smile to your face when you see one tumble down a set of stairs.

[–] SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 months ago

Sunwise and widdershins.

[–] kdcd@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 months ago

Solamente, it just flows so well. It means only in Spanish.

[–] ada@friend.blahaj.zone 3 points 2 months ago

Dificilisimo. Spanish word meaning very difficult. I just love the way it sounds though.

[–] teawrecks@sopuli.xyz 3 points 2 months ago

I've always liked the word Adenosine. Not sure why, just fun to say.

[–] skankhunt42@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 months ago
[–] hbar@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 months ago

I have 2, spangled and gumption.

[–] penguin202124@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (I hope I spelt that right)

[–] Kuma@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I searched for the meaning and got a video clip instead of a musical about the word, still don't know the meaning and I am fine with that, now I know how to sound precocious ;)

[–] penguin202124@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 months ago

Remember to say it loud enough!

[–] MrsDoyle@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 months ago

Scots is full of wonderful words - glaiket, baffies, birl, coorie - it's hard to pick a favourite. But I'll go for "thrawn" - it's a kind of perverse stubbornness, a grim grip on a point of view.

[–] SlartyBartFast@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 months ago
[–] 6stringringer@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 months ago

I like the word “Unexpurgated”.

[–] Ibuthyr@feddit.org 1 points 2 months ago

Lautmalerei.

It's just the German word for onomatopoeia (which also exists in the German language). It could be directly translated into soundpainting I suppose?

[–] replicator@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 months ago

The Trinity of Doo: doobie, doofus, doodle.

[–] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 0 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Brobdingnagian

It's a reference to the giants of Brobdingnag from Gulliver's travels. It means that something is absurdly large. It is also a large word making it delightful in that way. It also rolls off the tongue musically.

Coming in a close second is petrichor or petrichorian.

Petrichor is the word for the smell of the earth right after a rain. Petrichorian obviously means that something smells similar, or can be used to reference petrichor. I love the word for multiple reasons. First that it just sounds wonderful. Second that there's a word for describing this one specific smell that is a universal human experience to anyone not anosmic out of all other smells that are similarly universal.

Third that it approaches onomatopoeia on that it sounds like the way the smell smells. The earthy petri combined with the grounded ring of chor (pronounced like core, and references that the smell is a core thing of rain and earth) is the verbal sound of the way the smell tickles the nose and makes many people walk around sniffing like hounds on a walk through the woods after weeks in the city.

Petri chor. It's like the tinging of raindrops off of a piece of granite or marble in the mountains while you shelter under a tree and revel in the scents of it all.

I mean, it's no Brobdingnagian, but as words go petrichor is a bit magical. It invokes and evokes almost as much as tintinnabulation, but does so for a smell, which is so much harder to do. That, btw, is an excellent word: tintinnabulation. Of the bells, bells, bells, which may be the most enjoyable poem to read aloud, ever.

There's some other words that have the ability to invoke phantoms of their related senses. Cadaverine and putrescine come to mind; both names of chemicals involved in the putrescent smells of decomposition of flesh. Knowing their meaning brings forth memories of their smells. Not quite as effective in that, because you do have to know what they mean for the incantation to work, but still quite wonderful words. Sulfurous is similarly scent summoning. Flinty works as well, but is less musical as it resonates in the oral cavity and echoes off the teeth.

Look, I can do this all day. There's a word for people like me: logophile. There's a fancy word for people that are into words. How awesome is that?!

Oh, that ?! Even has a word! The interrobang! Ain't English awesome?!

And yes, at this point, the entire comment is sigogglin' (or sigoggly, or sigoggledy depending on where in the Appalachians you are), which is a twisty and crooked word for something that is twisty and crooked.

Loquacious, no?