You see it quite often when someone will say ‘there’s a word for that…there’s no direct translation but it’s loosely like…’ then proceeds to give it a translation.
I saw one recently of kummerspeck, I think the commenter said it was ‘food you eat when you’re sad’ or ‘grief bacon’.
I would also like to preemptively apologise for my ignorance.
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Basically, not all languages are created equal. Each language started independently developing due to specific circumstances and as centuries went by, population exchanges, cultural and technological as well as societal changes forced languages to adapt and change, often by loaning words from other languages.
A language doesn’t simply convey meaning but also emotion, and words and phrases and idioms and the general use of language has deep roots in their respective culture and history. When you learn another language speaking and understanding it right is not simply about using the same words but also understanding that cultural context, you don’t have to translate your thoughts in your head but think in the other language. Learning another language is learning about that specific culture and its history. Conveying meaning is not simply about using the same words.
Given how many languages there are it’s simply naive to think they’re all equal. There’s differences in vocabulary, grammar, and their ability to convey certain information or concepts. There’s not really a way to perfectly translate one language into another through direct translations, and a skilled translator knows that so he takes some liberties.
For example a famous anecdote is that the Eskimos have 50 different words for snow, all describing the different types of snow one might encounter. Conversely the Yoruba tribe in Nigeria has no word for snow. I think it’s easy to understand how such differences can come about. In one case these people live in regions that are covered in snow and ice most of the year and in the other they live in a region that never sees snowfall.
In a similar fashion languages grow and evolve out of need. In our modern globalised society and economy many languages loan words from others to reconcile discrepancies in languages for things we now all share. A notable example is Japan and the japanese language. Japan, a historically isolated nation, opened itself up to foreign trade and influence relatively “late” compared to other Asian or European countries which were much more interconnected through trade and knowledge for centuries. Given that they initially opened their borders for European merchant fleets, they borrowed many words from them to describe concepts and technology they had not seen up to that point. Watching any japanese movie or show it’s easy to spot their use of loanwords in an otherwise very different and distinct language than most.
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