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rico (he/him)@lemmy.blahaj.zone to Asklemmy@lemmy.mlEnglish · 3 months ago

what’s the weirdest word in your language?

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what’s the weirdest word in your language?

rico (he/him)@lemmy.blahaj.zone to Asklemmy@lemmy.mlEnglish · 3 months ago
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  • DerisionConsulting@lemmy.ca
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    3 months ago

    In English, it has to be any of the Contronyms. We have so many, and it really makes it hard for newer speakers to understand some things.

    You dust a cake by adding powder, you dust a table by removing powder.
    You seed a field by adding seeds, you seed a fruit by removing the seeds.

    • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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      3 months ago

      Cleave is my personal favorite

      • neidu3@sh.itjust.works
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        3 months ago

        Almost as good as Greater Cleave

        • joelfromaus@aussie.zone
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          3 months ago

          I hear that when a greater cleave consumes enough souls it becomes a Cleave Lord.

    • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
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      3 months ago

      Seeded is, indeed, the most worthless of adjectives.

      • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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        3 months ago

        My poppy seed bagel has entered the chat…

      • corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
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        3 months ago

        Seeded is, indeed, the most worthless of adjectives.

        … until someone uses ‘literally’ as an adjective; and in that moment you are enlightened.

    • poweruser@lemmy.sdf.org
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      3 months ago

      Shelled and unshelled both also mean unshelled and shelled, respectively

  • neidu3@sh.itjust.works
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    “Rævsnerk”

    Noun: That moist substance between your ass cheecks on a hot and humidity day when you haven’t showered for too long.

    Ræv = ass.
    Snerk = that membrane-like substance that forms on top of soups and sauces that have been left in room temperature for too long.

    • phdepressed@sh.itjust.works
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      3 months ago

      In English this is called swamp ass.

    • rico (he/him)@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOP
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      3 months ago

      what language is that? that’s so interesting that there’s some very specific words out there that can’t be explained in other languages.

      • neidu3@sh.itjust.works
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        3 months ago

        Norwegian. Middle-north dialect, to be specific

        • joelfromaus@aussie.zone
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          I’ll admit I read that as Middle-Earth dialect on first glance.

          • neidu3@sh.itjust.works
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            3 months ago

            According to swedes, that’s not far off: https://youtu.be/CEnRaW9zcBc

        • rico (he/him)@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOP
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          3 months ago

          awesome to see more people speaking norwegian, im trying to learn it a little because my mom has some norwegian ancestry :)

          • neidu3@sh.itjust.works
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            3 months ago

            There are dozens of us!

            Det er dusiner av oss! (Although that sounds a bit… off)

            • rico (he/him)@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOP
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              3 months ago

              (lol, what would be a better way to say it?)

              det er så kult!

              • espentan@lemmy.world
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                3 months ago

                “Det finnes dusinvis av oss” would perhaps be a better translation, but it’s not really an expression commonly used in Norway, so it still feels a bit awkward to say.

            • GB19@lemm.ee
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              3 months ago

              Jeg studerer norsk også :) Hei

  • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
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    3 months ago

    Flammable, Imflammble, and Inflammable.

    • SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      “imflammable” is not a word.

      • GB19@lemm.ee
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        3 months ago

        it is if you try hard enough

      • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
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        It is - though it may be fair to consider it jargon. It is a word that explicitly means “Can be set aflame” as chosen by people working with hazardous materials.

        • SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          Even jargon can be found in a dictionary.

    • MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca
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      3 months ago

      Inflammable and flammable mean the same thing? What a country!

    • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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      3 months ago

      Those burn me up!

      Ooops, time for my meds…

  • superkret@feddit.org
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    3 months ago

    Klabusterbeeren
    Klabusterbeeren are “berries” out of cotton and hair, which you can only harvest from your ass crack.
    Also known as Winterkirschen (winter cherries).

    • mub@lemmy.ml
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      3 months ago

      We call those Clag nuts or Dangle berries.

      • BurntBlueberry@literature.cafe
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        3 months ago

        I’m heard dingle berries, dingle like single

    • NichtElias@sh.itjust.works
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      3 months ago

      I’d like to add the longest German one-syllable word: schleichst

  • brbposting@sh.itjust.works
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    3 months ago

    Mr. Speers you here?

  • Object@sh.itjust.works
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    3 months ago

    연패

    Can mean “to lose multiple times in a row” (連敗) or “to win multiple times in a row” (連霸).

    • msage@programming.dev
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      3 months ago

      So… ‘a streak’?

      • Object@sh.itjust.works
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        3 months ago

        No, not a mix of both. Either exclusively wins only, or losses only. Only way to tell these two apart is to see if this information is being celebrated or not…

  • drathvedro@lemm.ee
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    Some Russian ones:

    недоперепил: недо - not quite, пере - overdid, пил - drank. Sounds weird due to opposing suffixes, basically means “haven’t drunk enough to get completely wasted”, in my circles we use it to describe displeasure when the alcohol runs dry on events we’ve set to get wasted all along.

    опердень: Due to how it’s only used in professional circles and how language is structured, someone hearing it for the first time might think it’s a word rooted from “пердеть” (to fart), and based on the suffixes assume it relates to some kind of creature that farts (or get farted) all over. But it’s actually a shorthand for Операционный День (processing day) which is how finance guys call their banking software as it basically replaced said processing day in their work.

    Same for “опсос” - sounds like “someone who sucks all over something” but is just a shorthand for “оператор сотовой связи” - phone service provider.

  • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
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    3 months ago

    It’s not weird, and it’s not my first language, but “equivocado” is one of the funnest words to say in the world.

    • rico (he/him)@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOP
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      i always think of avocados when i see it

    • Mothra@mander.xyz
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      … You’re wrong :)

  • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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    3 months ago

    The word ‘weird’ is pretty weird.

    • davel@lemmy.ml
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      It has a weird & witchy history.

      • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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        I like the idea that Shakespeare was looking for some uncommon word and remembered hearing ‘weird’ and running with it.

        Thanks.

  • Akasazh@feddit.nl
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    ‘Zuignapje’ -> a little suction cup to attach things to windows.

    • Björn Tantau@swg-empire.de
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      Hey, using any Dutch word is cheating!

      • Akasazh@feddit.nl
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        3 months ago

        We can tie words together like you guys, but our consonant/vowel interaction is better

        • pet1t@lemm.ee
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          3 months ago

          jemig!

        • GB19@lemm.ee
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          3 months ago

          Learning Norwegian, det kan vi også 😜

  • Fleppensteyn@feddit.nl
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    English speakers always seem to like mierenneuken: nitpicking, or literally, ant-fucking.

    Or maybe fokker, meaning breeder (and a famous last name; and speaking of names, we have first names such as Fokko and Fokje).

  • Ada@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    3 months ago

    Weirdest

    • davel@lemmy.ml
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      Ya can’t beat a superlative is what I always say.

      • Hadriscus@lemm.ee
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        3 months ago

        except with a hyperlative

        • BumpingFuglies@lemmy.zip
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          Or a super-duperlative.

  • PandaDEV@lemmy.ml
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    „Chrüsimüsi“ belief me or not but it means chaos

    • cazssiew@lemmy.world
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      We have tohu-bohu in french, same meaning

      • PandaDEV@lemmy.ml
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        Yeah I know it as „Thou-Wabohu“

  • FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world
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    Fustigate and discombobulate are a couple of my faves.

  • auraithx@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    Scots - I like fannybaws.

    (Vagina testicles)

    • rico (he/him)@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOP
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      whoa no way i like fannybaws too

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