Re: Vocabulary concept mismatches

H. S. Teoh wrote:

> Nevertheless, Ebisédian does have a few words which are literally
> impossible to capture with any English word in a general sense. One such
> is _gii'j3li_, whose literal meaning eludes direct expression in English,
> although it can be described in a multitude of ways, eg.:
> - it can mean "troublesome" or "bothersome" (e.g. an expression of
>   frustration, as in "why is this so complicated (gii'j3li)?!");
> - it can refer to a series of tasks e.g., in an obstacle course, which one
>   must solve in steps in order to reach the goal;
> - it can refer to rowdiness or uproar (e.g. a mob);
> - it can refer to the events in a perpetually unfortunate life;
> - it can refer, often perjoratively, to the things someone does which the
>   speaker does not approve of (eg. "what is this nonsense (gii'j3li) that
>   you do every day?!");
> - it can refer, in a jocular way, to the antics someone did way back when
>   in highschool;
> - etc.
>
> Nonetheless, the Ebisédian meaning is really only one.
I have a hard time coming up with ideas that I can't easily express in
English; that's one area where my languages aren't as well developed as
they should be. Words that don't correspond one to one aren't that hard,
but entirely new concepts are harder. Maybe reading through the
Ebisedian lexicon will give me some ideas.

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