Language changes as people and ideas change, serving as a reflection of the identities, philosophies, and standards of an era. An intriguing development for linguists has been the promotion in many languages around the world of using more inclusive language and, by extension, gender-neutral terms in response to attempts to make society accessible to all. So how does the English language approach this?

What is Inclusive Language?

In general, language inclusivity refers to addressing terms that may exclude certain people from society via language, thereby potentially impacting how people think about a certain profession or even certain people.

Take the English words craftsman and policeman for example. While the “man” at the end technically comes from an Old English word that just meant a person, be they male or female, the associations with the word have become increasingly linked with the male gender over the centuries.

As more women entered the workforce over the 19^th and 20^th centuries, words like “craftsman” and “policeman” became more discriminatory in their potential, sidelining women, with alternatives like “craftswoman” and “policewoman” being used. However, these terms are still loaded with gender associations and, as such, new terms are often preferred, often through synonyms, in these cases “artisan” and “police officer”.

This expands to not using terms that can be deemed offensive to people of different nationalities or cultures, such as “beyond the pale” or “gypped”, or people with conditions like “being OCD” about something or being “tone-deaf”. In essence, it is about using language as a mirror of society, hoping to make language and, therefore, society fairer.

Is Inclusive Language Natural?

Making changes to language, even in an endeavor to be more inclusive does have its critics, arguing that such changes are unnatural. However, this control over language itself is arguably more unnatural as language is constantly changing as standards change.

For example, words like “idiot”, “imbecile”, and “moron” were routinely used to refer to people with below-average IQs, with these words now being completely unacceptable in a medical context and used as insults in English. It is an apparently natural function of language for it to change depending on the standards of the age, a phenomenon that can be applied to slang just as much as it can to standards for socially acceptable speech and use.

What About Pronouns?

English uses a variety of pronouns to refer to different concepts and, as the concepts to which they refer change, so can the pronouns, leading to a renewed focus on a range of gender-neutral pronouns.

However, gender-neutral pronouns are nothing new in English and while “they” can be used for the gender-neutral plural, “they” can also be used for the gender-neutral singular for people and has been used by renowned English writers ranging from Chaucer and Shakespeare to Dickens when referring to people where the gender is not revealed. A more recent development is some people opting to use the pronouns they, their, theirs and themself to refer to themselves without using gendered pronouns.

It is often repeated that it is grammatically incorrect to use “they” to refer to a singular person, rooted in a tendency in the Victorian era to use the “he” as a default pronoun when gender was not clear. However, this led to a generalization of the default gender being male in language, sidelining women. The singular they very much has precedent in the English language as a gender-neutral pronoun with records of the pronoun dating back to the 14^th century.

Similarly, the once common singular and less formal thou/thee/thy/thine/thyself is no longer in common English usage, with the once plural and formal “you” largely replacing it in the 17^th century. There is also much precedence of different pronouns in dialects of English. For example, ye is used in Hiberno English for plural you while y’all is used in some parts of the United States.

There are indeed also other popular gender-neutral pronouns including xe/xem/xir/xirs/xirself and ze/zer/zer/zers/zerself, although they/them/their/theirs/themself are most common.

What About Honorifics?

Honorific titles in English are traditionally related to gender, with Master and Mr. for young and adult men and Miss and Mrs. for unmarried and married women respectively. However, as society changed, so too have honorifics, with Ms. now being an option for women who do not wish to specify their marital status and Mx. being an option for those who do not wish to be referred to by a specific male or female term. There are other gender-neutral honorifics, such as Misc., Msr., Myr., Pr., and Sai.

In short, gender-neutral and inclusive language raise interesting questions as to how certain ideas are ingrained in the languages we speak; how gender is tackled in English is very different to how it is addressed in the Japanese language, for example. It is an important development for those involved in language to be aware of, be they writers, editors, or translators. As language mirrors society, perhaps the opposite is true and a more inclusive approach to language could result in a more inclusive approach to society.

Every year, on 30 September, people around the world honor the art of translation with International Translation Day. It marks the feast day of St. Jerome, the patron saint of translation, who dedicated over two decades of his life in the 4th century to translating the Bible into Latin. Of course, there are often difficulties in translation and St. Jerome himself was no exception, famously translating the Hebrew for radiance as horns, which led to many depictions of a horned Moses. In the spirit of International Translation Day fun, this article takes a light-hearted look at one of the most interesting topics in translation: untranslatable words.

Here are a few of our favorites:

1. German – Vorführeffekt

The wonderful thing about the German language is how it easily forms compound words to create the most suitable words for even the most niche and specific feelings. Vorführeffekt literally means “the effect of being in front of someone” and refers to when you try to show somebody something but you can’t because they are watching you.

2. Yaghan – Mamihlapinatapai

Coming from the Yaghan language, an indigenous tongue in Tierra del Fuego, mamihlapinatapai refers to the look between two people where each wishes that the other would begin an action that they both want, yet they are both reluctant to initiate themselves. It can also refer to an unspoken understanding between two people. Words like this, and many others, highlight the importance of preserving endangered languages around the world as they are a portal into the human experience.

3. Finnish – Kalsarikännit

This oddly specific word is an example of the joys of the Finnish language, one of the oldest in Europe with eons of collective stories to tell. This word here, for example, refers to getting drunk alone at home in your underwear.

4. Welsh – Hiraeth

Some words are of such importance to a culture that they can even embody it and while Welsh has many unique words like cwtch (a cuddle or a safe space with a high degree of comfort), hiraeth embodies the Welsh attitude. It is akin to an incredible homesickness for a home you cannot return to or maybe never even existed in the first place. It is also often used when talking about Wales’ past in a romantic manner.

5. Korean – Han (한)

As with Welsh and hiraeth, han is described as a typical Korean characteristic, which is unsurprising considering the area’s history. Han is a state of simultaneous sadness and hope. It’s an unresolved resentment against injustice, a sense of helplessness in the face of overwhelming odds and a desire to seek revenge and justice.

6. Spanish – Sobremesa

While we all know the feeling of many of these words, only a few languages have defined them. The Spanish language’s sobremesa is a perfect example of this, the time after having eaten a meal spent talking to those with whom you have eaten. Not to be confused with Portuguese sobremesa, which means dessert.

7. Tagalog – Gigil

Gigil is again something many of us would have felt and this is often described in English as “cute aggression”, or the intense desire to squeeze something cute.

8. Spanish – Empalagar

As the desire to eat something sweet seems unrelated to the desire to eat due to hunger, it’s not too surprising that the Spanish language has developed a useful term to refer to the different states. The verb empalagar here refers when a food is too sweet and it makes you feel sick.

8. Georgian – Shemomechama (შემომეჭამა)

Like German, the way the Georgian language works allows it to create highly specific words that can’t really be directly translated, which helps to give it its difficult reputation. An example of this is shemomechama, which refers to when you didn’t mean to eat something, but you ate it anyway, like eating with a full stomach.

10. Brazilian Portuguese – Cafuné

This beautiful term refers to the act of running one’s fingers through a loved one’s hair, which can be applied to people and pets alike.

Do you know any more unusual untranslatable words? Let us know in the comments.