Your language's untranslatable word?

Every language has untranslatable gems. Share one from your language, its literal meaning, and the feeling behind it. (Reply in your own language — we all read it in ours.)

The Japanese word is “komorebi” (木漏れ日) — the sunlight filtering through leaves. Surprisingly few languages have a single word for that, and overseas friends are always impressed when I explain it.

I love the Portuguese word “saudade” — a bittersweet longing for something lost. It’s the kind of feeling where something always slips away no matter how you try to translate it.