'Abroncado', 'lavandero' and 'afitorarse': Mallorcan words that are impossible to translate into Spanish.

We make a selection of words used daily in our vocabulary that very precisely express a specific feeling or situation.

Two elderly people outdoors.
28/08/2025
2 min

PalmOur vocabulary is full of unique words that can be quite a challenge to translate into another language. A result especially of oral usage, these words transcend ages or generations; most are familiar to everyone and are used in everyday life. Examples include 'tudadiza', 'dajonar', and 'clancha', and they are kept alive through everyday use and oral transmission.

When we say that something is from the Tirurany year, 'you make a becada', or 'that someone doesn't get attached to you', we use words that express something in a precise way that in Spanish has no translation that can convey the same meaning. There is no Spanish word that captures their full meaning, all their cultural nuances. Translation always falls short, and this is what makes these words special. However, these very words and expressions, which carry centuries of tradition, are threatened by Spanish, which condemns them to extinction.

Collecting this unique vocabulary is not only an exercise in linguistic curiosity, but also a way of vindicating the richness of island Catalan. Preserving and making these words known preserves a way of seeing the world that, if lost, is difficult to recover.

Below we offer a selection. How many do you know and use?

  • Rimmed

Excessively thin, lackluster.

  • Spittle

Eat small amounts with your fingers, nibbling.

  • Becar

To make rapid, involuntary head tilts due to sleep.

  • Trullo

Mess, disorder or chaotic situation.

  • Dajonar

Of indeterminate meaning, it is used in place of any other verb when the speaker can't find the appropriate word or doesn't want to use it. "I fell and I left my foot" (it can mean "I sprained my foot").

  • Celebrate

Talking to a lover, having romantic relationships prior to marriage.

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  • Clepa

A despicable, morally despicable person who cannot be trusted.

  • Homegrown player

A chest of drawers with the top part arranged in a way suitable for serving as a desk.

A quarryman in an antique shop.
  • Clearing

It expresses muscle pain, usually after performing very strenuous physical activity.

  • Laundryman

A chatterbox, a loudmouth, or someone with an uncouth manner.

  • Rinse

Act of placing or organizing things in a space.

  • Capfico

Act of pawning in water.

Two people in the sea
  • Tudadiza

Augmentative of the action of squandering (wasting something).

  • To embezzle

To suppress appetite through excessive sweetness, fat, or thickness in what is eaten or drunk.

  • Estantiz

That it's not fresh; that it's starting to spoil, to go bad, to turn bad.

  • Ferir

Purchase a product.

Two young people were at the Palma Book Fair.
  • Futurist

Large quantity, abundance.

  • To affitorar

To get into a narrow place.

  • Clancha

Parting that is done when combing hair and that divides the hair into two portions on either side of said furrow.

  • To stir up

Cause a rough and unpleasant impression on the teeth due to contact with something acidic, a loud noise, etc.

  • Raboa

A very irascible person, or a person with bad intentions.

All definitions have been consulted and extracted from the Catalan-Valencià-Balear Dictionary (DCVB) and from the Facebook page 'It doesn't matter now as it did before..

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