Breakdown in communication
Whether the person you are talking to suffers from latah (Indonesian), the uncontrollable habit of saying embarrassing things, or from chenyin (Chinese), hesitating and muttering to oneself, conversation may not always be quite as we’d like it:
Catra patra (Turkish) the speaking of a language incorrectly and brokenly
Nyelonong (Indonesian) to interrupt without apology
Akkisuitok (Inuit) never to answer
Dui niu tanqin (Chinese) to talk over someone’s head or address the wrong audience (literally, to play the lute to a cow)
‘a’ama (Hawaiian) someone who speaks rapidly, hiding their meaning from one person whilst communicating it to another
dakat’ (Russian) to keep saying yes
dialogue de sourds (French) a discussion in which neither party listens to the other (literally, dialogue of the deaf)
mokita (