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Few days ago, Tara posted 12-12-12 What should we call this kind of date? to ask for suggesting a word in English for the day 12-12-12 ,and at the end of her post, she asked what other words we do not have in English. She also provided a link to 20 untranslatable words in English. 

This made me think back When I immigrated to Canada. The difference between my mother tongue language and English was so obvious and tangible. My mother tongue language,Farsi, is not as straight and frank as English. In English, you have to speak or write to the point, for example, in writing letters or E-mails, you should write your main purpose from the beginning of your letter. However, the way Iranians write letters is different. They do not write their main purpose in the beginning. Greetings come first and then, they write what they want to say. As a result, Persians have so many complimenting words. To give you an example, when we go shopping in Iran, after calculating how much the total cost is, the Persian salesman usually says:" You don't need to pay. It's all yours." This difference between two languages was so obvious and tangible to me.

It also made me feel uncomfortable. I felt I am cold and serious. I could not find an equivalent for my Persian complimenting words in English. Translating some words made them look funny and nonsense. To give you an example how a word can be nonsense in English, we, Iranians, use this expression: I eat your liver. This, in Farsi, means you are so dear to me or you are my heart. But, Persians use "liver" instead of "heart". Maybe this is because "liver" has a crucial role in the body. Of course, all other organs are important, but Persians preferred this to use it in the language. 

I kept thinking about these language differences and finally, one day, my linguistic professor asked me:" Do you know why we, Canadians, speak frankly and to the point? " He said:" In old days, Canada was much freezing colder than today and therefore, people could not talk to each other for a long time on streets or in the shops. They had to say immediately what they wanted to say and left." The freezing cold weather created a situation that they had to speak straightforward and quick. Thus, there is no word for complimenting in that freezing cold situation. " Do you know why hamburger is our national food?", he asked once again. "The weather! Cold weather! in cold weather, body uses more energy and therefore, it needs more calorie. The only thing that provides that energy is meat. That is why hamburger is our national food!"

I asked him: " Do you know why we, Persians, love poems and speak indirectly?" "Throughout history, because of cruel rulers, we could not express our ideas freely ,so, we had to find a way to express our feelings without being hurt. Hence, we used poems to express our feelings and ideas. That is why we have learned how to speak indirectly throughout history.

The difference between my language and English shows the difference between two cultures: how people see or perceive the world. Geographical or social circumstances have also created different words for different situations.  If there is no word for anything or any occasion,it means there has not been any need for the word due to geographical or social conditions.