Slang, aiming as it does to elicit a laugh and a gasp, uses brevity, wit and invention to great effect. It’s also a form of communication that seeks instant resonance, which means it plays on the uber-familiar and hyperlocal. This can make slang an excellent window into a culture. As a philologist, I have collected favourites from around the world. Here are a few, grouped by mood.
Terms for sheer indifference include the Russian “i v oos nye doot”; literally,
Slang, aiming as it does to elicit a laugh and a gasp, uses brevity, wit and invention to great effect. It’s also a form of communication that seeks instant resonance, which means it plays on the uber-familiar and hyperlocal. This can make slang an excellent window into a culture. As a philologist, I have collected favourites from around the world. Here are a few, grouped by mood.
Terms for sheer indifference include the Russian “i v oos nye doot”; literally, to not blow into one’s moustache. The Spanish “no me importa un pepino”; literally, to not care a cucumber. And the rather picturesque French “jeter son bonnet par-dessus les moulins”; to fling one’s hat over the windmills.
Communities with strong traditions of imbibing alcohol have some of the best slang for the phenomenon of the hangover. There’s the Japanese futsukayoi; literally, second day drunk. The evocative and heartfelt Danish word tommermaend; literally, to have carpenters (in one’s head). And the resonant German term katzenjammer; literally, the noise made by mating cats.
How does one convey “pompous” in other languages? Very colourfully. There’s the Spanish “echarse flores”, to shower flowers on oneself. The Chilean-Spanish “tener papas en la boca” to speak as if with potatoes in the mouth. And the Central-American Spanish “creerse la ultima Coca-Cola en el desierto”; to think one is the last Coca-Cola in the desert!
Slang for falling in love can be violent the world over. In Japan, it’s “harawata o tatsu” (to sever one’s intestines). In France, it’s a coup de foudre (flash of lightning). In Columbian Spanish, there’s the endearing phrase “tragado como media de cartero”, to “be swallowed like a postman’s sock”.
The bitter end of a love affair, in Japanese, is likened to “aki ga tatsu”, an autumn breeze beginning to blow. Being dumped, in French, is “plaque” (laid flat or rugby-tackled). Don’t even bother trying to rekindle the flame; it will only feel, in Italian, like cavoli riscaldati, or reheated cabbage.
I particularly love the slang from German and Central-American Spanish for how frank (and rather brutal) it is. Sample the Latin-American Spanish “parece Volkswagen con las puertas abiertas”, for a big-eared person (literally, like a Volkswagen with the doors ajar).
From the German, there’s tantenverführer, a young man of suspiciously good manners whom one suspects of devious motives (literally, aunt-seducer). Torschlusspanik, the fear of diminishing opportunities as one gets older (literally, gate-closing panic). And from the Venezuelan Spanish, “el semaforo de medianoche”, for someone whom no one respects; a pushover (literally, a traffic light at midnight).
(Adam Jacot de Boinod is the author of The Meaning of Tingo and Other Extraordinary Words from Around the World)
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