Georgian Words that Can't be Translated into English

Shemomechama would translate into English as ‘I accidentally ate the whole thing’. The word is used to describe a situation when a person is full, but the meal was so delicious that he or she continued to eat it.

Zeg is a Georgian word meaning ‘the day after tomorrow’.

Mazeg is similar to Zeg and means ‘the day after the day after tomorrow’. To make it a bit clearer, if the person is talking about going to an event or doing something in the future and uses the word ‘mazeg’, the person means two days after.

Muktakhora describes a person who does a lot of things at someone’s expense. For instance, a person eats a lot at a party but doesn’t bring anything to the event, or he or she lives his/her life doing nothing and expecting everyone to help them.

Nagli is Georgian slang that originated from Russian language and describes a person who asks for something but never gives back. If someone asks you to lend them money and never pays it back, the person is Nagli. Another example would be if someone takes something of yours without asking you first.

This is another Georgian slang word that refers to someone who knows a lot of people, has good connections. If you ask a Gachituli person for help, he or she can easily find a person in his or her network that might be able to assist you with your problem.

The first guest of a Georgian family after any New Year’s Eve is called Meklve, who is thought to bring happiness and goodwill to the host family.

Chichilaki is a Georgian Christmas tree made from a dried hazelnut tree, which is decorated with dried fruits and flowers. A chichilaki is considered to bring luck in the family and burned on January 19 to let the misfortunes and troubles of the previous year stay in the past.

Tavqudmoglejili is used to describe a person who is very late for something. For instance, you could say ‘he or she ran like tavqudmoglejili’.

Any Georgian dining scene features a toast maker, someone who gives the permission to another person at the table to give a toast. Therefore, Georgians say: ‘Alaverdit shentan var’ meaning, ‘You can say a toast now’.

Eletmeleti means a condition when a person is frightened by someone or something. So when a person is telling a story of being frightened, they would say ‘Eletmeleti damemarta’.