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What's a word or concept in your language that does not translate very well to English? (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 weeks ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
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Asking non-native English speakers.

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[–] 27 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (3 children)

Doch

There exists no english equivalent for doch, it has multiple functions, the most known one being an expression that emphatically negates a previous sentiment.

"Does not!"
"Does too!!"

Which created one of the most long lived german memes.

"It should not be that way, but it was."

But doch can do so much more.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 child)

    It fills a big gap in English because there is no single English word to unambiguously answer a question like:

    “So you don’t want me to come over this afternoon?”

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