Nontranslatables

Nontranslatables are words or expressions that resist exact translation because they encode culture-specific concepts, social practices, or experiences without direct counterparts in other languages. In translation studies, the term describes lexical items or phrases whose meaning hinges on local context, shared history, or worldview.

These terms often arise in domains such as social relations, cuisine and ritual, aesthetics, and lived experience. They may be single words or multiword expressions; sometimes they survive in translation as loanwords or are left untranslated with cultural notes, explanations, or paraphrastic renderings.

Translation strategies for nontranslatables include borrowing, calques, descriptive paraphrase, or contextual adaptation. None fully conveys every nuance on its own, and the choice of strategy often reflects editorial goals, audience, and the cultural frame of reference. Critics caution that labeling terms as nontranslatable can obscure linguistic creativity or overemphasize difference.

Examples commonly cited include saudade (Portuguese longing for the past), hygge (Danish warmth and coziness), lagom (Swedish sense of moderation), fika (Swedish coffee break and social ritual), and kintsugi (Japanese art of repairing ceramics with lacquer and gold).