As you trade in your raincoat for a pair of sunnies, we hope your days brighten up towards the summer hols.
But how would you describe your perfect summer? Even those who prefer cooler days and longer nights probably wouldn’t object to spaghetti before bed or a surprise day off. We’ve collected some feel-good words from around the world to help you describe when you’re walking on sunshine.
Sobremesa (Spanish)
Literally meaning upon the table, sobremesa is the time spent after a meal relaxing and chatting with friends and family. Typically half an hour to an hour, sombremesa normally happens after lunch and is generally enjoyed with a coffee. Why not try adopting the sobremesa after a weekend meal with your friends? No rush to get to the washing up – just good conversation on a warm summer night.
Sólarfrí (Icelandic)
Just as we love an unexpected snow day to save us from getting out of bed, 蝉ó濒补谤蹿谤í is a 'sun vacation' – when staff get a day off or are let out early to enjoy a particularly warm and unexpected sunny day. Your teacher might be impressed by your Icelandic when you ask for a 蝉ó濒补谤蹿谤í, but results aren’t guaranteed.
Iktsuarpok (Inuit)
Your best friend is coming over - yes! Are they here yet? How about now? Iktsuarpok is an endearing word that encapsulates the eager feeling you get while waiting for someone to arrive and keep going outside to check for them. Now you can tell your friends how excited you are to reunite with them over the summer in another language!
Fl?neur (French)
Some people pack their summer hols with organised fun, and others like to go with the flow and let hidden gems come to them. A fl?neur is the latter – roughly translating to ‘stroller’ or ‘loafer’, a fl?neur is a person who is quite happy to wander around aimlessly. A philosophy as well as a term, it was used by 19th-Century French poet Charles Baudelaire to identify an “observer of modern urban life”, and can also be used to point out ‘observer’ characters in paintings. Sometimes, like art, a beautiful sunny day is worth observing!
Morgenfrisk (Danish)
You wake to sunlight creeping through your curtains, you leap out of bed and throw them open to welcome another gorgeous morning. Morgenfrisk, literally 'morning fresh', is a Danish term to describe when you wake up feeling well-rested after a good night’s sleep. The opposite of the Estonian ma ei viitsi, which is more likely to be your mood on a cold winter morning.
Tarab (Arabic)
Have you figured out the secret to a summer hit? It could be the presence of tarab. Tarab or taarab, meaning ‘enchantment’, is an untranslatable musical term which describes something mesmerising. Whether it’s a jazzy riff, a profound lyric or a stirring instrumental, tarab sends its audience into a dream-like state. If there’s a bop you can’t help but headbang to at a festival or a yoga playlist that truly puts you in the zone, you might be experiencing tarab.
Spaghettata (Italian)
This fun word, shortened from spaghettata di mezzanote (midnight spaghetti feast), is less about the type of pasta and more about the time when you eat it. After a long dizzy day of playing out, you might find you want nothing more than to chow down on a thrown-together pasta meal before sleep – this bedtime tradition is known in Italy as spaghettata.
Rè Nao (Mandarin)
Another difficult one to translate, __ rè nao (热闹)__ is a Mandarin term which describes a particular hustle and bustle. An event or place that is __ rè nao__ is somewhere you want to be – a lively house party or a buzzing street parade might be an example. A rè nao event is truly good vibes only.
This article was published in June 2022
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