So, I've been struggling with some existential despair-like feelings in recent days, and instead of telling you about THAT, I am going to tell you all about Words I Wish Existed In English! (Part I - I'm sure I'll come up with more, tbh)

So, in my translation project, I often myself feeling frustrated that I have to find an approximation of what is being said, which, you know - makes sense! Languages are very much NOT one-to-one, in any way, and so while some words exist across a lot of languages, some seem specific to either a group of languages or even one language, maybe - idk, I'm neither a polyglot nor a linguist, but that's sort of the sense I've gotten.

Anyway, this list (so far) includes words I've come across in my translating or also just words that I have ALWAYS wanted English to have an equivalent of, but alas! Here we go:

"А" (ah) - believe it or not, this is a word, and it's very important. The closest translation is but/and. It's like a mixture of the two, but it has its very own specific feel that is untranslatable. It's like: "I have red shoes, A he has blue shoes," but that's simplistic. It's just. A really nice in-between of the two that gets lost in translation and frustrates me.

"Сутки" (SOOT-kee) - that is a word for a 24-hour period. Cool, right? Economical! Instead of saying "two days" or "48 hours" you can just use this word and a number! (Fun fact about this word is that it's plural. So even one сутки is plural.)

"Распогодится" (ruhs-puh-GOH-deet-sa) - this is one of my favorites words and I think it ALL THE TIME. It literally means "to weather out" - essentially, when the weather goes from gloomy/rainy/what have you to bright and beautiful within a day (I THINK). It's like...the morning was cloudy, chilly, but then the clouds left, the sun came out, and it's warmed up - that's "распогодится"! It would happen ALL the time when I was living in England, because: small island, things shift. One of my favorite phenomena AND words.

"Тоска" (tos-KAH) - this is a big one, you'll hear MANY people who speak/know Russian talk about this word. It's like a combination of longing and sadness, a yearning for something you either might never get or had once and lost forever, as well as also a sense of boredom/ennui; it's a psychic sort of weight. When I think of this word, I think of this grey sort of sadness, idk. Very useful word, especially if you're in the mother country. Just kidding. Or am I.

"Уметь" (oo-MET') - that means to be able to do something, or be capable of doing something. For instance: "я умею говорить по английский" is "I speak English" but it involves the word "уметь." You can use it to say I can drive, I can build houses, etc etc, but it's not QUITE "can" it's more of a true ability, a specific word for that. I'm not explaining it well, but it's a very helpful, useful word.

"Мол" (MOHL) - so, that's pretty untranslatable, but it's used as a way to say, "and he was like, blah blah blah" or "and, apparently, she was blah blah blah" - it's hard to describe, but it comes from the word "молвить" which is an archaic way of saying "to declare/to speak." So, characters use it quite a bit, as it's quite colloquial, and I wish there was a direct equivalent, but, alas! I have to go by the feel of the thing, instead.

"Негромко" (neg-ROHM-kuh) or "небольшой" (ne-bol'-SHOI) - those are two different words, but I'm putting them together because of their construction. Basically, "не" means "not" and so the first word means "not loudly" and the second means "not big" but they don't exactly mean "quietly" or "small" - it's an in-between sort of designation that I find myself missing in English. It happens so often in the book, and I just want you to picture my deep sigh whenever I have to write "quietly" or "small" instead of the more specific in-between. 

"Молодец" (muh-luh-DETS) - this is a BIG one. (You can also use an off-shoot of it, "молодчина" which is more colloquial) This word means "someone who's done a great job" or is just a REALLY GREAT PERSON, or JUST to say "Great job!" and the way you'd use it is, "I got an A on my essay!" "Молодец!" (Way to go! Good job, you! Etc!) And what's REALLY HARD is that it's a very specific way of addressing and praising that gets lost if you have to re-shuffle a sentence in order to say "Great job!" (which is easier) OR "He's a great guy" (which is harder, you then have to sort of re-work the entire dialogue or description, depending on the case. Which I recently had to do. Annoying.) Anyway, I wish English had a true equivalent, but it doesn't. My wife learned this word very early on, while playing with my niblings when they were little kids. Obviously. 
 
"Разве" (RAHZ-veh) - so, this is harder for me, a non-linguist, to explain, BUT, it's a very useful word that comes up a LOT, in different contexts, and gives me a headache. You can read more about it here, but essentially, it's a way to either say "really?" or "except" or ask a question. It's SO useful, but, alas, there is no true equivalent of it in English. 

LAST ONE:

"Неужели" (neh-oo-ZHE-lee) - if you've seen Heated Rivalry, you've heard this word, and - HAHA - it wasn't translated! Which is kind of very funny. Like, why? Anyway, Ilya uses it when Shane says "nobody can know about this" and Ilya's, like, EYE ROLL, неужели?! Which basically means, "no! Really?!" BUT, it's its own thing, and it JUST doesn't have a true equivalent, and I love it a lot. I am fond of this word. 

ANYWAY. That is it for now, thank you for coming to my Ted Talk! Sorry this is basically what's taking up a large percentage of my brain that isn't busy setting itself on fire with anxiety! So this is where I shall stay for now. I will probably be back.