Must try harder
In yet another BBC fluff piece, Alex Rawlings lists ten personality traits that are identified in foreign languages that cannot be named in English. He, or she, didn't try very hard.
Here are those ten traits, with a brief translation, some bearing my stab-in-the-dark suggestions in English. If you want more, consult Alex Rawlings' full article:
- Sortable & Insortable [adjective] – French
- People that you would be happy to be seen out in public with and, conversely, those you would rather only meet away from the public gaze.
Embarrassing
seems like a reasonable equivalent for insortable. Or, in Donald Trump's case,Stormy Daniels
.- Polgárpukkasztás [noun] – Hungarian
- People who like to shock others.
Attention-seeker
orattention-whore
are broader terms, because they extend beyond shock tactics, but are not dissimilar. Alternatively,Vivian Westwood
.- Γρουσούζης (groosoozis) [noun] – Greek
- Someone who is a magnet for misfortune.
Unfortunate
.- Mimoso [adjective] – Spanish
- People who are constantly physically in touch with those around them.
Touchy-feely
orpervert
.- Pantofolaio [noun] – Italian
- People who just spend all day lounging about in their slippers.
Trailer trash
orcouncil estate scum
.- Ochtendhumeur [noun] – Dutch
- The foul mood that many people feel when they have risen early in the morning.
- Usually, in my case at least, it's called
hangover
. - Почемучка (pachemuchka) [noun] – Russian
- Roughly translated as
little why people
, these are people who question everything, even minutae. Micromanager
.- Aktivansteher [noun] – German
- An
active queuer
, someone who manages to find themselves ahead of those they started behind. Queue jumper
. Except, not, since an Aktivansteher doesn't jump in.- Menefreghista [noun / adjective] – Italian
- Somebody who doesn't care about anything or anyone.
Egocentric
orself-centred
.- Milozvučan [adjective] – Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian
Sweetly-sounding
, describing someone who is naturally gifted with a beautiful singing voice.Mellifluous
, although, strictly speaking, that refers to the sound itself, not the having of the natural gift.
The eagle-eyed and quick-witted among you will notice that all of the foreign descriptors are single words, whereas most of my English alternatives are not. But, since the article is entitled The 10 personality traits that English cannot name
, without stipulating that English doesn't have a one-word equivalent, I think that this is allowable.