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  3. What is the most poetic word in your language and why?

What is the most poetic word in your language and why?

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  • V This user is from outside of this forum
    V This user is from outside of this forum
    [email protected]
    wrote on last edited by [email protected]
    #1

    I'll start. Inn Norwegian the word for uterus is Livmor. It literally translates to life mother. I think it is such an expressive and beautiful word. Do you have words like that in your language?

    R N inlandempire@jlai.luI M G 18 Replies Last reply
    7
    • V [email protected]

      I'll start. Inn Norwegian the word for uterus is Livmor. It literally translates to life mother. I think it is such an expressive and beautiful word. Do you have words like that in your language?

      R This user is from outside of this forum
      R This user is from outside of this forum
      [email protected]
      wrote on last edited by
      #2

      And placenta is mother cake

      1 Reply Last reply
      3
      • V [email protected]

        I'll start. Inn Norwegian the word for uterus is Livmor. It literally translates to life mother. I think it is such an expressive and beautiful word. Do you have words like that in your language?

        N This user is from outside of this forum
        N This user is from outside of this forum
        [email protected]
        wrote on last edited by
        #3

        Same language, also poetic, but far from beautiful: Rævsnerk. I'll leave the translation and interpretation as an exercise to the reader.

        Hint: Hot and humid day.

        bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.deB 1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • V [email protected]

          I'll start. Inn Norwegian the word for uterus is Livmor. It literally translates to life mother. I think it is such an expressive and beautiful word. Do you have words like that in your language?

          inlandempire@jlai.luI This user is from outside of this forum
          inlandempire@jlai.luI This user is from outside of this forum
          [email protected]
          wrote on last edited by [email protected]
          #4

          Flâner

          To wander aimlessly, without haste and without a specific goal.

          Basically taking a stroll

          https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/flâner

          ddash@lemmy.dbzer0.comD L ludrol@szmer.infoL 3 Replies Last reply
          3
          • V [email protected]

            I'll start. Inn Norwegian the word for uterus is Livmor. It literally translates to life mother. I think it is such an expressive and beautiful word. Do you have words like that in your language?

            M This user is from outside of this forum
            M This user is from outside of this forum
            [email protected]
            wrote on last edited by
            #5

            in german, the uterus literally translates to birthmither

            an actually poetic word in german is Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz

            not because it is very romantic or sounds nice, but bcs you can basically fill 2 poems with it

            tetris11@lemmy.mlT 1 Reply Last reply
            6
            • V [email protected]

              I'll start. Inn Norwegian the word for uterus is Livmor. It literally translates to life mother. I think it is such an expressive and beautiful word. Do you have words like that in your language?

              G This user is from outside of this forum
              G This user is from outside of this forum
              [email protected]
              wrote on last edited by
              #6

              It’s probably not the most poetic, but I like it:

              Luftschloss

              It literally means „air castle“. It’s a castle made entirely out of air. It looks stunning and grand in your imagination or when you talk about it, but it’s not real.

              It’s like having a dream or a vision that sounds great but is completely unrealistic or impossible to achieve.

              In English, you might say „pipe dream“ or „castle in the air“, but „Luftschloss“ sounds way more poetic and fragile, evoking something beautiful yet intangible.

              There’s another one which is similar, but not the same:

              Hirngespinst

              The literal transition would be a delicate web spun by your mind. In Englisch you’d probably also say „pipe dream“, but there’s a subtle difference between „Luftschloss“ and „Hirngespinst“.

              „Hirngespinst“ is more like an absurd or even silly idea you came up with. By contrast, a „Luftschloss“ tends to describe a beautiful but unrealistic vision with a broader, often more hopeful scope.

              V G 2 Replies Last reply
              9
              • V [email protected]

                I'll start. Inn Norwegian the word for uterus is Livmor. It literally translates to life mother. I think it is such an expressive and beautiful word. Do you have words like that in your language?

                S This user is from outside of this forum
                S This user is from outside of this forum
                [email protected]
                wrote on last edited by
                #7

                It may not be the most poetic, but I'm partial to the word holdfast, which is a biological structure that anchors organisms to surfaces. "Hold fast" was an order given to sailors of yore, telling them to grab tightly onto the ship to avoid being washed overboard in storms. The word suggests images of kelp, mussels, or sponges doing the same, determinedly holding fast against the waves, figurative and literal.

                S 1 Reply Last reply
                3
                • inlandempire@jlai.luI [email protected]

                  Flâner

                  To wander aimlessly, without haste and without a specific goal.

                  Basically taking a stroll

                  https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/flâner

                  ddash@lemmy.dbzer0.comD This user is from outside of this forum
                  ddash@lemmy.dbzer0.comD This user is from outside of this forum
                  [email protected]
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #8

                  I guess the Germans stole that one. In German this is "flanieren".

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • V [email protected]

                    I'll start. Inn Norwegian the word for uterus is Livmor. It literally translates to life mother. I think it is such an expressive and beautiful word. Do you have words like that in your language?

                    D This user is from outside of this forum
                    D This user is from outside of this forum
                    [email protected]
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #9

                    I like widdershins, which just means counter-clockwise, or circling something while keeping to the left.

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    4
                    • V [email protected]

                      I'll start. Inn Norwegian the word for uterus is Livmor. It literally translates to life mother. I think it is such an expressive and beautiful word. Do you have words like that in your language?

                      M This user is from outside of this forum
                      M This user is from outside of this forum
                      [email protected]
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #10

                      Tabarnak

                      Considered a very strong profanity. It takes the place of "Oh shit!" but with the sting of saying something like the C word in public. Poetic because it's not a bad word at all. It references the tabernacle of a church where communion is kept. It's only hardcore because Quebec is very Catholic, more than half, and it's considered blasphemous. Especially by older folks.

                      jqubed@lemmy.worldJ 1 Reply Last reply
                      6
                      • M [email protected]

                        Tabarnak

                        Considered a very strong profanity. It takes the place of "Oh shit!" but with the sting of saying something like the C word in public. Poetic because it's not a bad word at all. It references the tabernacle of a church where communion is kept. It's only hardcore because Quebec is very Catholic, more than half, and it's considered blasphemous. Especially by older folks.

                        jqubed@lemmy.worldJ This user is from outside of this forum
                        jqubed@lemmy.worldJ This user is from outside of this forum
                        [email protected]
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #11

                        I’ve long wondered about how that became a strong profanity

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        1
                        • V [email protected]

                          I'll start. Inn Norwegian the word for uterus is Livmor. It literally translates to life mother. I think it is such an expressive and beautiful word. Do you have words like that in your language?

                          L This user is from outside of this forum
                          L This user is from outside of this forum
                          [email protected]
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #12

                          In french: "Dépaysement".

                          It's the feeling a person gets when discovering a foreign country, a new culture. It's usually used in a very positive manner.

                          P 1 Reply Last reply
                          8
                          • N [email protected]

                            Same language, also poetic, but far from beautiful: Rævsnerk. I'll leave the translation and interpretation as an exercise to the reader.

                            Hint: Hot and humid day.

                            bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.deB This user is from outside of this forum
                            bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.deB This user is from outside of this forum
                            [email protected]
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #13

                            Similar but not exactly the same is the German Klabusterbeere.

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            2
                            • V [email protected]

                              I'll start. Inn Norwegian the word for uterus is Livmor. It literally translates to life mother. I think it is such an expressive and beautiful word. Do you have words like that in your language?

                              G This user is from outside of this forum
                              G This user is from outside of this forum
                              [email protected]
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #14

                              yeah, in Swedish it's livmoder. Which means the same thing

                              C 1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • V [email protected]

                                I'll start. Inn Norwegian the word for uterus is Livmor. It literally translates to life mother. I think it is such an expressive and beautiful word. Do you have words like that in your language?

                                I This user is from outside of this forum
                                I This user is from outside of this forum
                                [email protected]
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #15

                                Not poetic I reckon, but I like that effective has two Fs and defective only has one. That missing F makes something not work. So, in essence, sometimes, to give an F can help make something work.

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                3
                                • S [email protected]

                                  It may not be the most poetic, but I'm partial to the word holdfast, which is a biological structure that anchors organisms to surfaces. "Hold fast" was an order given to sailors of yore, telling them to grab tightly onto the ship to avoid being washed overboard in storms. The word suggests images of kelp, mussels, or sponges doing the same, determinedly holding fast against the waves, figurative and literal.

                                  S This user is from outside of this forum
                                  S This user is from outside of this forum
                                  [email protected]
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #16

                                  Good one. People do still say "hold fast"!

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  2
                                  • M [email protected]

                                    in german, the uterus literally translates to birthmither

                                    an actually poetic word in german is Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz

                                    not because it is very romantic or sounds nice, but bcs you can basically fill 2 poems with it

                                    tetris11@lemmy.mlT This user is from outside of this forum
                                    tetris11@lemmy.mlT This user is from outside of this forum
                                    [email protected]
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #17

                                    uterus

                                    Isn't that just a Russian girl called Ute?

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • V [email protected]

                                      I'll start. Inn Norwegian the word for uterus is Livmor. It literally translates to life mother. I think it is such an expressive and beautiful word. Do you have words like that in your language?

                                      tetris11@lemmy.mlT This user is from outside of this forum
                                      tetris11@lemmy.mlT This user is from outside of this forum
                                      [email protected]
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #18

                                      Qapla': said to wish fortune on someone, as in "good luck", particularly fortune in some form of honourable battle.

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      3
                                      • V [email protected]

                                        I'll start. Inn Norwegian the word for uterus is Livmor. It literally translates to life mother. I think it is such an expressive and beautiful word. Do you have words like that in your language?

                                        kersploosh@sh.itjust.worksK This user is from outside of this forum
                                        kersploosh@sh.itjust.worksK This user is from outside of this forum
                                        [email protected]
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #19

                                        Not my language, but I like the Dutch word "peperduur" for "very expensive." I like that the meaning has both historical and emotional aspects: pepper was once very expensive, and a high price can be considered spicy.

                                        In English, "crestfallen" is a good one. When I read it I immediately imagine someone hanging their head in dismay.

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        2
                                        • G [email protected]

                                          It’s probably not the most poetic, but I like it:

                                          Luftschloss

                                          It literally means „air castle“. It’s a castle made entirely out of air. It looks stunning and grand in your imagination or when you talk about it, but it’s not real.

                                          It’s like having a dream or a vision that sounds great but is completely unrealistic or impossible to achieve.

                                          In English, you might say „pipe dream“ or „castle in the air“, but „Luftschloss“ sounds way more poetic and fragile, evoking something beautiful yet intangible.

                                          There’s another one which is similar, but not the same:

                                          Hirngespinst

                                          The literal transition would be a delicate web spun by your mind. In Englisch you’d probably also say „pipe dream“, but there’s a subtle difference between „Luftschloss“ and „Hirngespinst“.

                                          „Hirngespinst“ is more like an absurd or even silly idea you came up with. By contrast, a „Luftschloss“ tends to describe a beautiful but unrealistic vision with a broader, often more hopeful scope.

                                          V This user is from outside of this forum
                                          V This user is from outside of this forum
                                          [email protected]
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #20

                                          We have the equivalent luftslott in Norwegian as well. Often used about the things politicians are trying to sell us during their campaigns. I feel like we have a word similar to the second one as well, but I cannot remember what it would be.

                                          We have a lot of the same words as you in general though.

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