I have had many careers in my time, but first and foremost the English language has always been my craft. I am a wordsmith, a grammatist, and a conjugate-keeper, if you will. I have both studied and taught the use of my native tongue, so if there is anyone qualified in any sort of way to offer suggestions for improving, I can't think of anyone better, (Well maybe Chaucer, but he's been a bit unavailable since his death in 1400 A.D.) So without further adieu (my favorite English word,) I give you my suggestions for new English words:
Gigil - Filipino
This word describes the urge you have to touch, pinch, or basically fondle anything that is cute and cuddly. I'm talking rabbits, puppies, kittens, etc. The only drawback is that it sounds too much like giggle or jiggle, (which is somewhat appropriate) so it would have to be pronounced like Ji-jil.
EXAMPLE: I have a gigil for that puppy.
Lagom - Swedish
There is no exact equivalent of this in English. It's when something is not too much of one thing or not too much of another. Something that sits in that sweet spot, not too sour or too sweet. It's like Goldilocks' porridge, just right. English speakers would probably pronounce it la-gom.
EXAMPLE: That movie was lagom, it had just enough action and just enough plot.
Layogenic - Ghanian
The word sounds more like an SAT word than it really is. It means a person who is attractive from far away, but ugly up close. (Good from far, but far from good.) What I really like about this word is that it makes a certain amount of sense, English-wise. It sounds like photogenic but ironically kind of means the opposite.
EXAMPLE: Here comes, Jenny. Try to keep a hundred feet back from that layogenic woman or you'll regret it.
Tartle - Scots
This one is just fun to say. It is meant to represent that moment of panicked hesitation when you try to introduce someone to someone else, but you have completely forgotten their name. It's meant to be onomatopoeic, but in English I think we could do a lot more with it, such as using it as a verb and a noun.
EXAMPLE 1: John forgot Sally's name, and here comes the moment of tartle.
EXAMPLE 2: Crap, I forgot Sally's name and I completely tartled that introduction.
Backpfeifengesicht - German
This
mouthful of a word basically means a person's face that's worthy of
being punched. (Yeah, you got to love the Germans.) However, I can't
even begin to pronounce it and though I love the concept we are going to
need to cut it down for practical usage. I propose we shorten it to backfef. Its simple,
short, and even a bit harsh on the tongue, perfect for doing what the
German language does best, express anger at another human being.
EXAMPLE: David is such a backfef. I'd love to knock out his perfect teeth.
Nunchi - Korean
A nunchi is someone who is very aware of their social surroundings. They are keenly aware of what the right and wrong things are to say in a given social context. They pick up on social clues and use them to their advantage, thus minimizing the risk of becoming a backfef. It is both a person and a social instinct.
EXAMPLE: Robert showed he was a real nunchi by having nunchi and not making that sexist joke in front of Karen.
Age-otori - Japanese
This hyphenated word of wonder has quite a simple meaning. You know that feeling when you go and get a haircut and afterwards you look in the mirror and you look worse than your did before you got your haircut? Well that is Age-otori, but for English we will need to bastardize it, (as we so often do.) So let's change it to ageo (pronounced: ag-eo).
EXAMPLE: Damn, that barber really gave you an ageo. You should get your money back.
Espirit d'escalier - French
This complicated French word describes the moment when you think of the perfect comeback for someone who has insulted you, only its like two hours later and no one cares anymore. This one will definitely have to be shortened as most English speakers (especially Americans,) can barely say croissant without hacking up a lung. So let's go with escalier, since it sort-of means bottom or after.
EXAMPLE: That's good, but it's been like ten minutes. Aren't you a little escalier with that insult?
Culaccino - Italian
This is just a simple word to describe something we see everyday, that little wet circle that gets left on a table after you move a drink. It baffles me that English has yet to come up with a concise word for that phenomenon/mess. The best we have is, "that wet circle that your cup left on the table."
EXAMPLE: Josh, use a coaster, you left a culaccino on my coffee table... again.
Desenrascanco - Portuguese
This is my new favorite word of all time. It basically means to jury-rig some improvised device or plan. It literally means to put something together from whatever you have lying around in order to solve a problem, (So yeah, McGyver.) it would need to be shortened. I like the sound of rascanco.
EXAMPLE: I have a paperclip, a cigarette, and a rubber band, but I think I can rascanco something up to get out us out of this locked prison cell.
BONUS WORD: Pilkunnussija - Finnish
Do you know someone who has to go out of their way to correct your grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc, even at the cost of their own popularity with people? Well you have just met a pilkunnussija. Now unlike the other words on this list, I don't think we should bastardize this word at all. After all, if someone wants to be an unpopular grammar Nazi, then they deserve every last Finnish consonant they get.
EXAMPLE: I know grammar is spelt with an "ar" at the end, you Pilkunnussija!
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