Language is a vision of the world, a way of thinking and of organizing real and mental objects.
This is why sometimes we do not have enough words to express how we feel, or to describe reality.
This is why, when we learn a new language we should not try to translate everything into our mother tongue. The one we grow up with, the one, that structures our way of seeing the world. It will never fit.
And last, but not least, this is why there are words, set frases which only have THE meaning in the language in which they were “created“, in which they have a social meaning. We will never find them in our dictionaries or meet their exact translation. They were build to give meaning to a different way of seeing the world.
There is beauty in language, there is beauty in expanding our knowledge by learning unusual words. Every language have their own cozy spaces. Why not go out and enjoy them?
I have some of them, in English, French and Portuguese. Do you have your list already?
“Mangiare a quattro palmenti”, italian proverb which means eating greedily. Love it!
“Mangiare a quattro palmenti” an italian proverb which means eating greedily. I love it!