We aussies have a remarkable knack for stealing phrases from other languages and shoe-horning them into our vernacular, often murdering the meaning or pronounciation in the process. "Par-don-em-waahh?" I hear you interject in defiance, "Say-imp-poss-see-blah!"
Here's a few I've come across that I intend to steal in the near future.
L'esprit de l'escalier
Literally means "the spirit of the staircase". It's a French term used to describe those moments when you think of the most intelligent, witty, ego-deflating retort, five hours after the opportunity to deliver said brilliance has passed.
Backpfeifengesich
A German word (yes, that's a single word) that means, "A face crying out for a fist in it"
Tingo
A Pascuense word that means "To borrow things from your friend's house one by one until there's nothing left"
Kummerspeck
Literally "grief bacon". German for weight gain caused by eating your feelings.
Schadenfreude
Again, German for "Happiness at the misfortune of others". How Germanic is that?!
No comments:
Post a Comment