Untranslatable Words & Idioms Quiz

Answer: Malicious joy at someone else's misfortune. Made of Schaden (harm) and Freude (joy), it describes that guilty little pleasure when someone else slips on a banana skin. English borrowed it as is, for lack of an equivalent.

Answer: Buying books and piling them up without reading them. The word combines the ideas of piling up and reading. It dates back to the 19th century and describes a very common habit: the "to read" pile that grows faster than you can read it.

Answer: The path of light made by the moon's reflection on water. Måne (moon) and gata (street): a "moon street" that seems to lead to the horizon. A poetic image for which English has to make do with a description.

Answer: A pochemuchka. The word comes from pochemu, "why". It was popularised by a children's book in the 1920s. Every parent of a 4-year-old knows one.

Answer: "It's all Greek to me". The phrase is thought to date from the First World War: exhausted soldiers could think only of the "Bahnhof", the station where a train would take them home, and listened to nothing else.

Answer: It's not my problem. Faced with a chaotic situation that does not concern us, there is no point getting involved: neither the circus nor the monkeys are ours. The expression has become hugely popular in English online.

Answer: The weight gained from comfort eating. After a break-up or a setback, some people take refuge in chocolate or chips: the resulting extra pounds are the Kummerspeck. An image both cruel and affectionate.

Answer: The peaceful feeling of solitude in a forest. Wald (forest) and Einsamkeit (solitude): the word, popularised by the writer Ludwig Tieck in 1797, blends serenity, communion with nature and a touch of melancholy.

Answer: A gentle melancholy at the fleeting nature of things. This sensitivity is perfectly expressed during cherry-blossom season: the flowers are all the more admired because we know they will fall within days. It has permeated Japanese literature since The Tale of Genji.

Answer: The "Christmas book flood": books are given on 24 December and read that very night. As Christmas approaches, every household receives a catalogue of new titles and publishers release a large share of their books. On the evening of 24 December, people open their presents… and spend the night reading, often with chocolate.

Answer: The art of sensing other people's moods and the atmosphere of a situation. Literally "eye measure", nunchi means reading what is left unsaid, silences and glances, in order to adapt. In Korea, saying someone "has no nunchi" is a real criticism.

Answer: The truth finally comes out, often a hidden motive. The image reportedly comes from monkey showmen, who hid the animal in their sleeve before revealing it. In English, "the cat is out of the bag".