English is so limited sometimes . There are so many kickass parole in other language , that describe conception that we just do n’t have one word for in English . And that ’s a shame , because sometimes we find ourselves in office that English just ca n’t describe .
Science fabrication and fantasy are full of those sorts of far-out site and concepts , in fact . Here are 10 run-in that have no English equivalent weight , and the science fabrication and phantasy classic that you ’d want to use them to describe .
10 . Aware ( Japanese )
The Meaning : Aware is a discussion , quite well - live , for the bittersweetness of a abbreviated and fading moment of transcendent beauty . It ’s that “ last flare-up of summer ” feel , or the transience of former bound .
The Work : The Lord of the Rings is the work that most want this word to describe it . sure as shooting , it ’s an adventure and philology taradiddle , but backing the engagement is an ever - present tone . The whole level of this phantasy trilogy is a chronicling of the end of an era . The days of magic , both abysmally malevolent and extraordinarily beautiful , are coming to an end . With death of the ring — the ultimate evil in the world — all the good of the dwarves and hobbit and elves retreat from the humanity as well , and the age of myth give way to the more prosaic age of humans .
9 . Maya ( Sanskrit )
The Meaning : This Good Book is one that could be utilize to a lot of protest movements and many political oral communication . It refer to belief — the often unfortunate belief — that the symbol of a thing is the same as the thing itself . It ’s the , “ Ceci n’est pas une tube , ” of the literary world .
The Work : pentad for Vendetta is a study that plays with symbolization and how symbolisation becomes real in the center of the populace . The eponymic V is fortify with a mountain of symbols , from the letter and roman numeric of his name to a special kind of rose to London buildings to the Guy Fawkes mask that he always break . Whether this mistaken belief — that a cat playing around with fuzz and bombs can free a whole land — would in reality direct to the kind of sweeping societal change depict in the book is up to you to decide .
8 . Wei - wu - wei ( Chinese )
The Meaning : Wei - wu - wei is conscious nonaction . It ’s a calculated , and principled , decisiveness to do nothing whatsoever , and to do it for a particular rationality .
The Work : Zone One , by Colson Whitehead is the non - action zombi novel . provide by stunned comparing in reviews that shall remain linkless , it is an understandably frustrating playscript . The narrative meanders through the current clean - up Book of Job , past wanderings , and protract social commentary of a mankind in a post - revelatory zombie waste . It ’s light on activeness and heavy on verbal description and sustained metaphor . Whether you imagine this is a good thing or a bad thing , you know it ’s a measured thing . Our ownCharlie Jane Anders review of the bookstates , “ you get the signified , after a while , that Whitehead is deliberately trying to deny the reader any feeling of narrative expiation , through denseness and obfuscation . ” It ’s a definite wei - wu - wei novel .
http://io9.com/5871998/colson-whiteheads-zone-one-shatters-your-post+apocalyptic-fantasies
7 . Bricoleur ( French )
The Meaning : A bricoleur is someone who get progress something with no well-defined programme , adding number here and there , cobbling together a whole while fly by the rear end of their pants .
The study : Oh , golly . We can all believe of at least five different series that were work on by some real bricoleurs , ca n’t we ? But I ’d have to say that Lost is the most late , and the most startling , one of them . They seemed to be making it up since the beginning and hop no one noticed . Bricoleurs do n’t always make a shambling of things . The word of honor can also refer to someone whose loose and improvisational fashion lead to an inventive and engaging whole . Dr. Who , in its continuous broadcasting under many different creative directors , can be aver to be a , um , bricolage ? And the series has built an engaging world with something for everyone .
6 . Verschlimmbesserung ( German )
The Meaning : A verschlimmbesserung is a supposed improvement that makes thing regretful . There are actually a lot of words for this in a lot of spoken communication , and that makes me cogitate that English needs to get on the ball and coin a aboriginal Son for this conception . Everyone needs it .
The Work : Did the great unwashed want the ‘ first ’ episodes in the Star Wars series ? You wager they did . Did they necessitate them ? Debatable . Did that new - former trilogy bestow anything to what was already there ? No . Quite the opposite . And you could say the same for the many re - release CGI upgrade that the original movies received over the years . Some thing should n’t be improved . Or at least , certainly not in the way they were .
5 . Orenda ( Huron )
The Meaning : Orenda is the conjuring of the office of human will to change the public around us . It is set up to be the pit force to fate or fate . If brawny effect beyond your mastery are trying to force you one way , orenda is a kind of vocalise summoning of personal force to alter fate .
The Work : For me , the most interesting part of the Matrix Trilogy was the part that can be distinguish by orenda . I was n’t too impressed by the first movie ’s reveal of Neo as the chosen one , or the idea of all of reality being fake . What I liked was when we fetch to the second motion-picture show , and all that ‘ chosen one ’ stuff fell victim to the power of predictability and statistic . Neo was n’t the choose one . He was a familiar protocol , and he and his fellow mankind would obey the dictates of that communications protocol . Changing that , and the moment when he go from embracing his ‘ fortune ’ to oppose it , was the point of the serial , I thought .
4 . Gâchis ( French )
The Meaning : This one means ‘ a squandered chance . ’ Specifically it means an opportunity that was wasted by ineptness being hurled at it from all counseling .
The piece of work : Sounds like the on - atmosphere run of Firefly to me . I ’m not among those fans who reckon that Firefly would have been a runaway succeeder . It was a endangerment . It was a niche genre in a ecological niche genre . Still , it seems like jumble up the episodes and airing them , you know , whenever , was a bad direction to care an original concept .
3 . Weltschmerz ( German )
The Meaning : It could be term world - weariness or ennui , but this finicky has the crotchet of almost only being utilize to privileged young people .
The oeuvre : Can anyone place the follow lyrics : Life ca n’t be easy/ It ’s not always swell./ Do n’t tell me true statement hurts , little girl./ ‘ Cause it hurts like hell . The fact that this was let the cat out of the bag to , and about , a fifteen - yr - honest-to-goodness LARPing suburbanite with a room over - crowded with toys , a wardrobe full of costume , and a patriotic virgin - bred sheep dog makes Labyrinth the perfect picture to embody this word . What makes it even better is it is a call for such people to grow up and be more mature , all the while bring in enough dramatic elements that real - life people in the same position ( and countenance me reluctantly raise my handwriting , here ) feel that it really talk to them . I still love Labyrinth . It ’s a playfulness and well - done movie . But it definitely resonated with a certain demographic .
2 . Kalpa ( Sanskrit )
The significance : clock time passing on a cosmic scale
The Work : That ’s what 2001 : A Space Odyssey is all about . Everything , from the music to the dependent matter to the measured conjuring of Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe and symbolic representation as a path of signalling both modification and persistence , was meant to show how the ‘ cosmic ’ passing of unimaginable amount of clock time . Since we ’re now well past 2001 , perhaps Kalpa would have been a practiced title for the picture show , and novel , in the first shoes . But who knew – for indisputable – that it had that form of staying power ?
1 . Razbliuto ( Russian ) Update : Or English !
The Meaning : This Son , pronounced ros - blee - OO - toe , describes the feeling that a individual ( by and large mean to be a man ) has for the person who he once loved , but now no longer loves .
The piece of work : Take your pickaxe . I have my eye on a few big franchises today that I think will induce a lot of people some razbliuto in a few years . Maybe even a few months . For me personally , though , I suppose I ’ve occur full circle to The Lord of the Rings . I adore it at one years , and read it over and over on car trip and at school under the desk , and late at dark with my room light being switched off – not at all sneakily , I ’m sure – whenever my parents came by . And while I abide by the work and world - construction that go in to it , I have no desire to foot it up ever , ever again . I did n’t even see the movies . And there ’s a reason why I added the pronunciation guide to this special Holy Scripture . I think it demand to get in to circulation in worldwide , since everyone know the feeling of loving a story at one particular sentence in their life , and then that love lessen away . But I suspect this sort of feeling is peculiarly strong in sci - fi and fantasy fans . These industrial plant do n’t just offer a book of account to love , but an entire earth to plunge oneself in , with every character , billet , and story a shining theory . The stories in these genres can cast themselves to people ’s inner spirit more than realistic fable can . But inner lives change , and the things that meet us with joyousness and inspiration at one point in our liveliness simply are n’t relevant at other point . While there are heap of sci - fi and fantasy account that put up , there are many that sink away as we change . There are some former Ann Rice sports fan out there who have something to say to Twilight rooter . There are people who love Xena who have something to say to fans of Katniss . But to say it , they have to sleep with the word of honor . So say it with me : ros - blee - OO - toe .
ViaThey Have a Word For It .
BooksDoctor WhoFireflyLord of the Rings
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