How to say “fun” in 35 languages
Every one of these is a word that turns up in ordinary speech, not a dictionary curiosity — the number beside it is where it ranks in that language.
It is commonest in Icelandic, where gaman is the 162nd most used word.
- Afrikaans lekker good, nice, fun in a more generic sense #205
- Arabic لاعب to play with, to have fun with, to jest with #1,124
- Basque dibertitu to have fun #1,331
- Bengali তামাশা fun, jest #1,404
- Bosnian zabava fun, amusement #959
- Bulgarian забавно fun, interesting, entertaining #562
- Catalan divertit fun, amusing #778
- Chinese 好玩 #498
- Croatian zabava fun, amusement #959
- Czech zábava fun, entertainment, amusement #1,234
- Danish sjov #551
- Dutch plezier fun, leisure #670
- English play To act in a manner such that one has fun; to… #328
- Estonian lõbu pleasure, fun #1,421
- German spaß #511
- Hebrew כיף #485
- Hungarian móka #2,171
- Icelandic gaman fun, pleasure, enjoyment #162
- Indonesian menyenangkan #380
- Italian gioco to play a game, for fun or as a pastime #570
- Korean 장난 mischief, fun, practical joke #651
- Macedonian забава fun, amusement, entertainment #389
- Malay seronok pleasant; enjoyable; fun #793
- Norwegian gøy #687
- Polish zabawy fun, amusement; game #1,634
- Portuguese divertido fun; amusing; entertaining #929
- Romanian distractiv #1,125
- Serbian zabava fun, amusement #1,057
- Slovenian zabava fun, amusement #402
- Spanish diversión fun, entertainment, amusement, levity #2,097
- Swedish kul #344
- Tamil வேடிக்கை fun, amusement, diversion #304
- Turkish eğlence fun, amusement, entertainment #1,363
- Urdu مذاق fun, joke #316
- Vietnamese trêu to tease, to poke fun #2,158
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.