As you probably read on our article “15 words in Spanish that don’t exist in English”, learning languages – and specially learning to translate – shows us the infinite singularities and differences between languages. One of the main obstacles we face when translating texts is that each language has specific terms that symbolize concepts. So, translations will always be nothing more than conceptual “approximations” that represent – in another language – certain ideas, actions and objects.
Because of these singularities, a translation from English into Spanish, for example will never be literal. Even more, there are words that are commonly used in one language and have no real equivalent in others. This is one of the many reasons why it is not enough to know a language in order to be qualified to translate. With more than 10 years of experience in the translation of texts and documents, the professional translators of Worldly Translations have the qualifications and proper tools needed to overcomes these obstacles.
As language scholars and aficionados, we always find it interesting to learn curious facts of each language, like those impossible-to-translate words.
Next, we present 10 words in English that don’t exist in Spanish: