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Weird and wondrful foreign phrases..
..that just don't translate
By Nick Webster 23/10/2007
English is a rich and wonderful language - but sometimes it's just not good enough.
For example, have you ever searched around in vain for a word to describe someone who gets excited by eating garlic?
Or wondered why there isn't a nice pithy term for a person who is only attractive if they're standing quite far away?
Other languages do have such words. The extraordinary variety of international speech is captured in Toujours Tingo, a new book which draws on more than 300 languages exploring the areas where English fails us.
英语丰富而美妙，但有时未必十全十美。
比如，你能否找一个词，用来形容吃大蒜的兴奋心情？
或是，为什么找不到一个简洁合适的词汇形容可以用来远远欣赏一个有魅力的人？
其他的语言有。 《Toujours Tingo》这本书里收集了300多种具有独特风格的地方口语，而在英语中却找不到相应的词汇。
So try these words for size...
Kaelling - Danish: a woman who stands on her doorstep yelling obscenities at her kids.
Kaelling －丹麦语：一个站在门口向她的孩子们骂脏话的女人。
Pesamenteiro - Portuguese: one who joins groups of mourners at the home of a dead person, apparently to offer condolences but in reality is just there for the refreshments.
Pesamenteiro －葡萄牙语：去死者家参加葬礼，名为悼念，实为噌饭的人。
Okuri-OKAMI - Japanese: literally a "see-you-home-wolf". A man who feigns thoughtfulness by offering to see a girl home only to try to molest her once he gets in the door.
Okuri-OKAMI－日语：本义为“看家狼”。一个男人假装体贴，为一个女孩子看家门，其实是为了找到机会进去侵犯她。
Jayus - Indonesian: someone who tells a joke so unfunny you can't help laughing .
Jayus－印度尼西亚语：讲了一个超级无聊的笑话，导致别人忍不住笑出来的人。
Spesenritter - German: a person who shows off by paying the bill on the firm's money, literally "an expense knight".
Spesenritter－德语：出于显摆，总是用公司的钱抢着买单的人，字面上的意思“一个公费骑士”。
Kamaki - Greek: the young local guys strolling up and down beaches hunting for female tourists, literally "harpoons".
Kamaki－希腊语：当地年轻男子们，在海滩来回闲逛，目的为追逐女性游客，字面意思“鲸鱼叉”。
Kanjus Makkhicus - Hindi: a person so miserly that if a fly falls into his cup of tea, he'll fish it out and suck it dry before throwing it away.
Kanjus Makkhicus－海地语：一个出奇吝啬的人，如果有只苍蝇掉进茶里，他就捞出来，把沾在苍蝇上的茶水吸干，再把它扔掉。
Giri-GIRI - Hawaiian pidgin: the place where two or three hairs stick up, no matter what.
Giri-GIRI - 夏威夷语：二三根头发竖起来的地方，不管什么原因。？
Pelinti - Buli, Ghana: to move very hot food around inside one's mouth.
Pelinti－加纳语：在嘴里翻动很烫的食物。
Dii-KOYNA - Ndebele, South Africa: to destroy one's property in anger.
Dii-KOYNA - 恩德贝莱语:愤怒地破坏一个人的财产。
Hanyauku - Rukwangali, Namibia: walking on tiptoes across warm sand.
Hanyauku－纳米比亚，鲁旺加语：在热沙子上光脚走路。
Tartle - Scottish: to hesitate when you are introducing someone whose name you can't quite remember.
Tartle－苏格兰语：当你介绍某人时却想不起名字而犹豫中。
Vovohe Tahtsenaotse - Cheyenne, US: to prepare the mouth before speaking by moving or licking one's lips.
Vovohe Tahtsenaotse －美国，切亚尼语：说话前动唇或舔唇的准备动作。
Prozvonit - Czech and Slovak: to call someone's mobile from your own to leave your number in their memory without them picking it up.
Prozvonit－捷克斯洛伐克语：用自己的手机打对方的手，以便使自己的号码留在对方的手机里。
Hira Hira - Japanese: the feeling you get when you walk into a dark and decrepit old house in the middle of the night.
Hira Hira －日语：深更半夜你走进一所又黑又旧的破屋子里的感觉。
Koi No Yokan - Japanese: a sense on first meeting someone that it is going to evolve into love.
Koi No Yokan －日语：见到一个可能与之发生爱情的人的场面。
Cafune - Brazilian Portuguese: the tender running of one's fingers through the hair of one's mate.
Cafune－巴西葡萄牙语：一个人的手指在伴侣的头发里温柔地穿梭。
Shnourkovat Sya - Russian: when drivers change lanes frequently and unreasonably.
Shnourkovat Sya－俄罗斯语：当司机频繁和无缘无故地变换车道的时候。
Gadrii Nombor Shulen Jongu - Tibetan: giving an answer that is unrelated to the question, literally "to give a green answer to a blue question".、
Gadrii Nombor Shulen Jongu－藏语：给出的答案与问题牛头不对马嘴。
Biritululo - Kiriwani, Papua New Guinea: comparing yams to settle a dispute.
Biritululo－巴布亚新几内亚，克里瓦尼语：准备芋头平息纠纷。？
Poronkusema - Finnish: the distance equal to how far a reindeer can travel without a comfort break.
Poronkusema－芬兰语：相当于一只驯鹿不停蹄地跑的一段距离。
Gamadj - Obibway, North America: dancing with a scalp in one's hands, in order to receive presents.
Gamadj －北美，欧比威语：手里拿着一块头皮跳舞，为了得到奖赏。
Baling - Manobo, Philippines: the action of a woman who, when she wants to marry a man, goes to his house and refuses to leave until marriage is agreed upon.
Baling－菲律宾，曼挪波语：一个女人想嫁给一个男人，去他家，拒绝离开，直到他同意为止。
Dona - Yamana, Chile: to take lice from a person's head and squash between one's teeth.
Dona－智利，雅玛那语：把虱子从头上摘下，然后放在嘴里咬死。
Oka/SHETE - Ndonga, Nigeria: urination difficulties caused by eating frogs before the rain has duly fallen.
Oka/SHETE －尼日利亚，东加语：雨水如期而至之前吃青蛙导致排尿困难。？
Pisan Zapra - Malay: the time needed to eat a banana.
Pisan Zapra －马来语：时间需要吃香蕉。
Physiggoomai - Ancient Greek: excited by eating garlic.
Physiggoomai －古希腊语：吃大蒜产生兴奋。
Baffona - Italian: an attractive moustachioed woman.
Baffona－意大利语：迷人的长髭女人。
Layogenic - Tagalog, Philippines: a person who is only goodlooking from a distance.
Layogenic－菲律宾，它加朗语：一个人只有远远看才漂亮。
Rhwe - South Africa: to sleep on the floor without a mat while drunk and naked.
Rhwe－南非语：醉酒后裸睡在地毯上。
Shvitzer - Yiddish: someone who sweats a lot, especially a nervous seducer.
Shvitzer －依地语：一个汗如雨下的人，尤指一个紧张的玩弄女人者。
Gattara - Italian: a woman, often old and lonely, who devotes herself to stray cats.
Gattara －意大利语：一个年老而孤独的女人，与猫相依为命。
Creerse La Ultima Coca-COLA EN EL DESIERTO - Central American Spanish: to have a very high opinion of oneself, literally to "think one is the last Coca-Cola in the desert".
Creerse La Ultima Coca-COLA EN EL DESIERTO －中美西班牙语：对某人印象极佳，字面义“认为某人是沙漠里的最后一瓶可口可乐”。
Vrane Su Mu Popile Mozak - Croatian: crazy, literally "cows have drunk his brain".
Vrane Su Mu Popile Mozak －克罗地亚语：疯癫的，字面义“母牛吸了他大脑”。
Du Kannst Mir Gern Den Buckel Runterrutschen Und Mit Der Zunge Bremsen - Austrian German: abusive insult, literally "you can slide down my hunchback using your tongue as a brake".
Du Kannst Mir Gern Den Buckel Runterrutschen Und Mit Der Zunge Bremsen －奥地利德语：恶毒地侮辱，字面义“你可以从我的驼背上滑下来，用舌头刹车。”
Tener Una Cara De Telefono Ocupado - Puerto Rican Spanish: to be angry, literally "to have a face like a busy telephone".
Tener Una Cara De Telefono Ocupado －波多黎各西班牙语：生气了，字面义“有张脸像忙碌的电话”。
Bablat - Hebrew: baloney, but is an acronym of "beelbool beytseem le-lo takhleet" which means "bothering someone's testicles for no reason".
Bablat－希伯莱语：baloney，但这是“beelbool beytseem le-lo takhleet”的缩写，意为“无缘由地猥亵某男的性器官”。
Vai A Fava - Portuguese: get lost, literally "go to the fava bean".
Vai A Fava－葡萄牙语：迷路，字面义为“跟着蚕豆走”。
Rombhoru - Bengali: a woman having thighs as shapely as banana trees.
Rombhoru－孟加拉语：一个拥有香蕉树般大腿的女人。
Tako-NYODU - Japanese: a baldy, literally an "octopus monk".
Tako-NYODU －日语：一个秃子，字面义为一只“章鱼和尚”。
Snyavshi Shtany, PO VOLOSAM NE GLADYAT - Russian: once you've taken off your pants it's too late to look at your hair.
Snyavshi Shtany, PO VOLOSAM NE GLADYAT －俄罗斯语：一旦你脱掉了裤子，就顾不上你的发型。？
Mariteddu Tamant'e Un Ditu Ieddu Voli Essa Rivaritu - Corsican: a husband must be respected even if he is very short.
Mariteddu Tamant'e Un Ditu Ieddu Voli Essa Rivaritu －科西嘉语：丈夫必须得到尊重，即使他非常短小。
Bayram Degil (SEYRAN DEGIL ENISTE BENI NIYE OPTU? - Turkish: there must be something behind this. Literally "it's not festival time, it's not a pleasure trip, so why did my brother-in-law kiss me"?
Bayram Degil (SEYRAN DEGIL ENISTE BENI NIYE OPTU?－土耳其语：这背后一定有猫腻。字面义为：“既不过节，也没有高兴，我的一担挑干嘛要吻我？”
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