How to say “nonsense” in 30 different 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.
- هراء/hu.raːʔ/ Arabic
- 狗屁/koʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ pʰi⁵¹/ Chinese
- 헛소리[hʌ̹ss͈o̞ɾi] Korean
- बकवास/bək.ʋɑːs/ Hindi
- βλακείες/vlaˈcies/ Greek
- անհեթեթություն/ɑnhetʰetʰuˈtʰjun/ Armenian
“nonsense” in German: unsinn · Chinese: 狗屁 · Korean: 헛소리 · Arabic: هراء · Hindi: बकवास · Turkish: saçmalık · Greek: βλακείες
It is commonest in Hindi, where बकवास is the 239th most used word.
Nonsense in other languages, A to Z
- Albanian marri/mari/ foolishness, nonsense, insanity #1,783
- Arabic هراء/hu.raːʔ/ nonsense, baloney #480
- Armenian անհեթեթություն/ɑnhetʰetʰuˈtʰjun/ nonsense, absurdity #1,776
- Bosnian glupost/ɡlǔːpoːst/ stupidity, foolishness, nonsense #1,455
- Bulgarian глупост[ˈɡɫupost] stupidity, nonsense #1,789
- Chinese 狗屁/koʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ pʰi⁵¹/ nonsense; untrue; bullshit #1,120
- Croatian glupost/ɡlǔːpoːst/ stupidity, foolishness, nonsense #1,450
- Czech nesmysl[ˈnɛsmɪsl̩] #1,943
- Danish vrøvl/vrøvˀl/ nonsense, gibberish #2,227
- Dutch onzin/ɔnˈzɪn/ #777
- German unsinn/ˈʊnzɪn/ #1,392
- Greek βλακείες/vlaˈcies/ nonsense, stupidity, idiocy, rubbish #1,698
- Hindi बकवास/bək.ʋɑːs/ nonsense, idiocy #239
- Hungarian hülyeség[ˈhyjɛʃeːɡ] bullshit, rubbish, nonsense #1,780
- Icelandic bull[ˈpʏtl̥] nonsense, gibberish #939
- Italian stronzate/strontˈsate/ rubbish, gibberish, nonsense, garbage #1,342
- Korean 헛소리[hʌ̹ss͈o̞ɾi] nonsense, baloney, bullshit #1,040
- Lithuanian nesąmonė[nʲɛ¹ˈsɑːmoːnʲeː] nonsense, absurdity #447
- Macedonian глупости[ˈɡɫupɔsti] stupidity, nonsense, foolishness, foolery #524
- Malayalam അസംബന്ധം/äsɐmbɐn̪d̪ʱɐm/ #692
- Norwegian tull/ˈtʉl/ nonsense, hogwash, silliness, buffoonery #1,176
- Persian چرت[t͡ʃʰæɹt̪ʰ] #1,055
- Polish bzdury/ˈbzdu.rɘ/ #2,455
- Serbian glupost/ɡlǔːpoːst/ stupidity, foolishness, nonsense #1,426
- Slovak nezmysel/ɲezmisel/ #1,116
- Slovenian bedarija/bɛdaˈriːja/ #1,369
- Swedish strunt/ˈstrɵnt/ #2,349
- Tagalog kalokohan/kaloˈkohan/ nonsense; craziness; foolishness #313
- Turkish saçmalık/sat͡ʃ.maˈɫɯk/ #850
- Urdu فضول/fʊ.zuːl/ #1,496
The speaker reads the word in the voice the LangX app uses for that language — synthesised, not a recording of a native speaker, so treat it as a guide. A row without a button has no reading we are free to use, or none we trust, yet. Voices for Slovenian (artur (sl_SI), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.