The Challenge of Untranslatability

Navigating Untranslatable Words

Have you ever struggled to translate a word or phrase, only to realise that its true meaning doesn’t quite exist in another language? We commonly encounter this with words like Schadenfreude—the pleasure derived from someone else’s misfortune—or Fernweh, the deep longing for distant places. Another example is Heimat, which evokes a deeper sense of belonging and cultural connection than just “home.”

For me, “etwas aushalten” is one of those words. It often gets translated as “endure” or “tolerate,” but those English terms miss the sense of inner strength, calm, and presence that the German version implies. It’s more than just pushing through something difficult—it’s about actively holding space for it.

Linguist Lisa Foran, in her work on Untranslatability and the Ethics of Pause, 2022, talks about semantic multiplicity—how words can hold different layers of meaning in one language that aren’t easily transferred into another (or even within a language), making the process of translation and interpretation rich and complex.

Finding the right translation can take time, and even if it’s not a perfect match (how can it be?), it’s the reflection and the process of searching that’s so rewarding.