Unique words

Albanian

• hundekuq: a bulbous nose, red at the tip 
• kacadre: a moustache with turned-up ends
• vetullhen: an eyebrow arched like the crescent moon
• pagezuar: the state of dying before enjoying the happiness that comes with being married or seeing one’s children married

Bosnian

• gunj: a vest worn by the shepherds during winter, made from sheep skin

Catalan

• seny: a combination of well-pondered perception of situations, level-headedness, awareness, integrity and right action
• coentor: it literally means "stinging" but it's used to describe something or someone provincial, gaudy, and wealthy at the same time

Croatian

• pivopija: someone who likes to drink beer, literally "beer drinker"

Czech

• prozvonit: to call someone's mobile from your own without the other person picking up with the intention of leaving your number in their phone's memory

Danish

• hyggelig: its “literal” translation into English gives connotations of a warm, friendly, cozy demeanor

Dutch

• gezellig: depending on context, can be translated as convivial, cosy, fun, quaint, or nice atmosphere, but can also connote belonging, time spent with loved ones, the fact of seeing a friend after a long absence, or general togetherness. The word is considered to be an example of untranslatability, and is one of the hardest words to translate to English.
• broodje-aap: an awful, often invented story that is told as being true, thus becoming a myth. Literally: a monkey-meat sandwich 
• regelneef: a person who loves organizing even without being asked to

English

• higgledy-piggledy: disordered, jumbled, not neat and tidy. According to Oxford Dictionary, probably used initially with reference to the disordered herding together of pigs
• dilly-dally: to move or act too slowly

Estonian

• koerailm: cat-and-dog weather; really bad weather
• kalailm: good weather for fishing

Finnish

• hiukaista: to feel hungry for something salty 
• poronkusema: the distance equal to how far a reindeer can travel without a comfort break (about 5 kilometres) (literally, reindeer’s piss)
• kuunsilta: the long reflection of the moon when it is low in the sky and shining on the calm surface of a lake (literally, moon bridge)

French

• yaourt: English pop music sung without any understanding of the meaning; singing to create something that sounds like English pop music but actually isn’t (literally, yoghurt)
• metro-boulot-dodo: the daily grind (literally, ‘tube-work-sleep’)
• chabrot: to put red wine in your soup, when there is little soup left

Galician

• morriña: longing of our homeland, Galicia, when we are away from it

Georgian

• genatsvale: I appreciate you very much

German

• Zechpreller: someone who leaves without paying the bill 
• Ohrwurm: a catchy tune that gets stuck in the brain or a tune that rapidly obsesses an entire population (literally, an ear worm) 
• Torschlusspanik: the fear of diminishing opportunities as one gets older, especially the fear of not having a relationship or becoming too old for a baby
• Gemütlichkeit: feeling comfortable, like in one's home
• Schadenfreude: pleasure derived by someone from another person’s misfortune

Greek

• kamáki: the young local guys strolling up and down beaches hunting for female tourists (literally, harpoons)
• μάγκας/mangas is a young man who is very self-confident and behaving in a macho way but still being respected and even admired by others.
• meraki: doing something with soul, creativity, or love: putting something of yourself into what you're doing
• filotimo: 

  the intense feeling of personal honour and dignity

Hungarian

• csókolgat: to shower with kisses
• verbunkos: a dance performed to persuade people to enlist in the army     

Icelandic

• eldhus-fifi (Old Icelandic): an idiot who sits all day by the fire
• af-vegar (Old Icelandic): fallen on the back and unable to rise
• féauðnu-maðr (Old Icelandic): a man lucky with his sheep

Irish

• plubairnigh: a verb specifically used to describe that distinctive thick, bubbling sound that porridge makes when it is boiling. "Bhí an leite ag plubairnigh sa phota" ("The porridge was 'plubairnigh-ing' in the pot").

Italian

• mammismo: maternal control and interference that continues into adulthood
• abiocco: deriva dal verbo abioccare, abiocarsi, nella maggioranza dei casi definisce lo stato di sonnolenza, di affaticamento

Korean

• 사랑해 ~ Saranghae: "I Love You". "Sa-" means die; "Rang-" means together and "Hae" means doing. When say "Saranghae" to someone you mean "let's live until we die together."

Latvian

• vientuliba: loneliness, solitude

Lithuanian

• žlugtas: laundry which is watered before washing
• brekšti: a verb which is used to describe a moment between the night and the dawn
• rymoti: to lean on something (arms, fence, etc.) for some time
• brukti: to suggest something in a very annoying and irksome way
• davatka: a person who is too pious and likes to gossip

Norwegian

• kram snø: snow which is sticky (excellent for making snow-balls and snowmen)
• fiskevaer: good weather for fishing
• sjøstygg: being so ugly that the tide won’t come in, if you’re on the shore (literally, sea ugly)
• giftekniv: a person trying to get two people married
• Pålegg: whatever you put on your bread or bagel

Portuguese

• chico-esperto: used to describe someone who is smart enough to take advantage of situations even if damaging someone else's interests
• saudade: homesickness, longing, missing, heartache, nostalgia
• desenrascanço: capacity to get oneself out of trouble or one who is clever enough to improvise creative solutions to seemingly impossible situations. The closest English equivalents are the colloquial "hack"
• compincha: someone who is always ready to join in a programmme of fun or drinks

Romanian

• dor: a feeling of melancholy as a result of the desire to see someone or something you love

Russian

• postrich' ochen korotko: to cut one’s nails too short 
• deryabnut’:  to drink quickly in order to warm up
• dakat’: to keep saying yes
• teplushka: heated goods van used for carrying people
• obkurit'sya: to make oneself ill by excessive smoking
• zalipat': stand at gaze

Serbian

• inat: spite, defiance; when you do or don't do something (often to your detriment) just to prove someone else wrong

Slovak

• prezvoniť: to call someone's mobile from your own without the other person picking up with the intention of leaving your number in their phone's memory
• škodoradosť: pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune

Slovenian

• Zlovešč: someone who predicts harm/evil
• Krščen matiček: holly the little one

Spanish

• chupotero: a person who works little but has several salaries
• piropo: a compliment paid on the street (which ranges from polite to raunchy)
• vergüenza ajena: feeling of shame on behalf of someone else
• sobremesa: sitting on after a meal
• malaje: saying about a person: disagreeable, that has bad (wrong) shade 
• jajajear: to laugh in a mocking way 
• repeío: a person who is very pompous and considers others in a lower level than him/her
• tuerto: a person or thing with one eye
• empalagoso: sickly sweet

Swedish

• lappsjuka: a melancholy through being so isolated
• fika: coffee-break or an overall word for buns and other snacks that you eat on coffee-breaks
• lagom: not too little or not too big, just right
• myrornas krig: when the television screen turns black and white (with spots) it looks like ants are having a war
• mångata: the glimmering, roadlike reflection that the moon creates on water

Welsh

• cwtch: an affectionate hug - provide a 'safe' place in someone's arms, a rather special one, blessed with the warmth and generosity of the Welsh, a truly free flowing expression of love and acceptance

The concept and original examples featured on this page have been provided by Adam Jacot de Boinod