JKR

To welcome in the weekend, we thought we’d share this lovely alphabet created by Irish illustrator, Fuchsia Macaree. Each letter represents an untranslatable word from a different language and capture expressions that would otherwise be lost in English.

From French to Mandarin, German to Ancient Greek, there are some terms that could come in handy. Take the Filipino word ’Gigil’ for example, meaning ‘the irresistable urge to pinch or squeeze something cute’. Or there’s the Scottish word ‘Tartle’ for ‘the hesitation upon forgetting someone’s name’. They’re a great illustration of our own expression that ‘a picture speaks a thousand words’.

And at the end of a busy week, it could be helpful to know the Mandarin word ‘Xinku’ which means ‘thanking someone while acknowledging their hard work’. We hope you hear a few Xinkus today. Have a great weekend.

For the full A-Z, take a look here.