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?
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.
I’m a francophone and tried to explain that France is not “dépaysant” enough for a vacation and the closest word I came up with is “exotic”, but it’s not exactly what I want to convey.
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.
I’ve long wondered about how that became a strong profanity
Yeah, I learned this word working with some French Canadians and they also taught me some other church related curse words that I’ve since forgotten.
Being from Vienna, my word is naturally an insult.
“Meine Allerwerterste/Mein Allerwerterster” (female and male version)
On the one hand, it’s a formal and very polite address to someone (meaning something like “my dearest”), but at the same time the word means “my ass”.
So with that word you can sound extremely polite and nice while at the same time calling them an ass.
English - paraprosdokian - it means a sentence that has a surprise twist. eg. Some people are like slinkies: not really good for much, but they bring a smile to your face when you see one tumble down a set of stairs. From the Greek, basically meaning beyond expectations.
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.
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Damn, this guy luftschlosses.
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.
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.
Similar but not exactly the same is the German Klabusterbeere.
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.
