Words English Doesn't Have

by Vocafy Verifierat

Engelska (USA) C1 10 frågor Words & expressions History & culture

Explore ideas that other languages name neatly, and discover how English expresses them through phrases and borrowed words.

1. 1. Välj rätt svar.

   Snow canceled their evening plans, so they stayed in, shared soup, and talked by the fire. The furniture was shabby, but nobody felt the need to impress anyone. Their Danish friend called it hygge. What made the evening fit that description?

   • The excitement of an unexpected adventure
   • The comfortable, unhurried sense of being together
   • The luxury of an impressive setting
   • The chance to withdraw from all company

   Notice how the guests feel, rather than how the room looks.

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   • The comfortable, unhurried sense of being together

   The Danish word “hygge” often describes a cozy atmosphere of ease and contentment. Expensive surroundings are not essential.

2. 2. Välj rätt svar.

   The office show-off's presentation froze just as he announced that he never made mistakes. Mara felt a flicker of schadenfreude: she enjoyed seeing his smug confidence punctured, although his failure brought her no advantage. What was she taking pleasure in?

   • Her own success in solving a technical problem
   • A colleague's willingness to admit a mistake
   • The discovery that nobody had noticed her error
   • Another person's embarrassing setback

   Whose experience causes Mara's pleasure?

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   • Another person's embarrassing setback

   English borrows the German word “schadenfreude” for pleasure at someone else's misfortune. The pleasure need not involve any personal gain.

3. 3. Välj rätt svar.

   Under the trees, bright patches trembled across the path whenever the breeze stirred the canopy. A Japanese visitor called the effect komorebi. There were no lamps or pools of water nearby. What produced the effect?

   • Sunlight filtering through leaves
   • Sunlight reflected from water onto leaves
   • Light emitted by insects beneath the trees
   • A pale glow created by mist above the trees

   Consider what the moving canopy does to the sunlight.

   Show solution

   • Sunlight filtering through leaves

   The Japanese word “komorebi” names sunlight filtering through trees. English usually describes this effect with a phrase.

4. 4. Välj rätt svar.

   In a Spanish memoir, lunch ends with the plates being cleared, but nobody leaves. Over coffee, a brief exchange becomes a long conversation about family memories. The writer treasures this sobremesa more than the meal itself. When does sobremesa happen here?

   • While the guests prepare the meal together
   • During the pause between the main course and dessert
   • After the meal, while people remain at the table talking
   • Before the meal, while people wait to be seated

   The food is finished, but the gathering continues.

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   • After the meal, while people remain at the table talking

   In this use, the Spanish word “sobremesa” refers to time spent lingering at the table after eating, often in conversation.

5. 5. Välj rätt svar.

   The Portuguese narrator does not regret moving abroad. Yet an old recording of her mother's singing brings both warmth and an ache: the life she loves now cannot replace the people and places she misses. Which phrase best captures her saudade?

   • An affectionate longing for someone or something absent
   • Regret focused on a decision she wants to reverse
   • Impatience to experience something entirely unfamiliar
   • Relief at having escaped an unhappy past

   Her feeling includes affection and absence, but not a wish to undo her decision.

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   • An affectionate longing for someone or something absent

   “Saudade” can combine longing with tender remembrance. Missing a former life does not necessarily mean rejecting the present.

6. 6. Välj rätt svar.

   The first office layout crammed in every possible desk; the second left half the room needlessly empty. The Swedish designer called the final version lagom: it met the team's needs without crowding or waste. Which comment preserves that idea?

   • The fewer resources we use, the better, regardless of our needs.
   • Every employee must receive exactly the same amount of space.
   • We have enough for our purpose, without unnecessary excess.
   • We should use all available space, even if we do not need it.

   Neither extreme satisfied the designer.

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   • We have enough for our purpose, without unnecessary excess.

   The Swedish word “lagom” often means an appropriate amount: neither too much nor too little. It is not simply a demand for minimalism.

7. 7. Välj rätt svar.

   Only on the train home did Nina invent the devastating reply she could have made to a dismissive remark at dinner. In her essay, she calls this l'esprit de l'escalier. Which English sentence preserves her rueful meaning?

   • I deliberately saved my strongest reply for another occasion.
   • I finally remembered the exact reply I had given at dinner.
   • I reconsidered my reply and decided that silence had been wiser.
   • I thought of the perfect comeback once the moment had passed.

   Distinguish a newly invented reply from one remembered or deliberately withheld.

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   • I thought of the perfect comeback once the moment had passed.

   The French expression “l'esprit de l'escalier” names the frustration of finding a witty response too late to use it.

8. 8. Välj rätt svar.

   Leila was disappointed not to receive the fellowship, yet her delight at her friend's success was genuine. In a discussion of Buddhist practice, she described that delight as mudita—not a polite performance or a hope of sharing the reward. What does mudita name here?

   • Acceptance of one's own disappointment
   • Joy in another person's good fortune
   • Courtesy that conceals resentment
   • Satisfaction at an expected personal benefit

   Leila's disappointment and her delight have different objects.

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   • Joy in another person's good fortune

   The Pali term “mudita” is often expressed in English as appreciative or sympathetic joy. Another person's happiness is itself the source of delight.

9. 9. Välj rätt svar.

   The potter repaired an old bowl rather than replacing it. She valued its uneven rim and worn surface as traces of its history, without claiming that every crack made it better. Her reference to wabi-sabi suggests which view of beauty?

   • An object becomes more beautiful whenever it suffers damage.
   • Restoration succeeds only when it erases every sign of age.
   • Beauty can include imperfection and the visible passage of time.
   • Caring for an object prevents its natural beauty from emerging.

   Her appreciation of wear does not amount to a blanket preference for damage.

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   • Beauty can include imperfection and the visible passage of time.

   The Japanese aesthetic idea “wabi-sabi” includes appreciation of imperfection and impermanence. It does not make neglect or damage automatically desirable.

10. 10. Välj rätt svar.

    At dinner, the host noticed that a guest's polite smile faded whenever work came up. Rather than announce that she knew what was wrong, she gently changed the subject and watched the guest relax. Her Korean friend praised her nunchi. What does it involve here?

    • Reading indirect social cues and responding tactfully
    • Knowing another person's private thoughts with certainty
    • Following a fixed rule against discussing work at dinner
    • Requiring an explicit explanation before adjusting the conversation

    The host responds to a pattern of behavior without claiming access to the guest's thoughts.

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    • Reading indirect social cues and responding tactfully

    The Korean word “nunchi” refers to sensitivity to social cues and the situation around you. It involves attentive judgment, not mind reading.