What words does chinese have that other languages really should?

I vote for 化 words. Some equivalent words can be made with "-ization" -- i.e., 国际化 "internationalization" -- but the usage of 化 words in Chinese are a lot more broad -- i.e., 绿化 "greenization," pointing vaguely to some manner of environmentalism. Making these words in Chinese is very elegant, and normally not particularly elegant in English.

Nitrox, I would definitely vote against 太棒了and I assure you it is nothing personal, nothing against you. It's a funny thing, and I wonder if other Cpodders have that too,: I have feelings about certain words and expressions (in all languages I speak) and 太棒了I can't stand for some reason. Maybe it is, that in our area (Sichuan) it is only used either by people from the Beijing area or by people who want to impress with their clear putonghua. It always sounds very artificial and not genuine in my ears.

I really like the word 开 (kāi）open / operate (vehicle) / start. You can 开 the lights....开 your computer....开 your MSN...开 the window/door...开 your car...etc. etc.

麻煩 / máfan. There's no convenient grammatical equivalent in English. We can say "It's too much hassle", but 麻煩 is just so... 方便. 你今天很辣！ The use of 辣 as a mix of sexy/ revealing is useful (especially now that it's spring in Taipei, but that's another matter). Students can tell me about "the spicy girl over there" and I'll know exactly who they're talking about. 辛苦, xīnkǔ, is another term where the Chinese has nuances that are hard to express in English. See the "Parent-Teacher Interview" lesson, for example. 香, in a way--sure, we can say "Oh, so fragrant!" if something smells good, but everyone will look at you funny. 化油器 / huàyóuqì for carburetor is a far better name because until I learned that word I had very little idea what a carburetor actually did!

I like this one from The Jealous Friend lesson: 重色轻友 zhòngsèqīngyǒu to value lovers over friends It has a lot of meaning in just 4 characters.

LostInAsia has some good answers! I was going to choose 香！ 没办法 is an expression we need in English. I've heard lots of English speakers in China use 没办法 actually, even if they can't speak Chinese. eg "I tried to get the report finished, but I just had so much to do. Just such a busy day, so 没办法." Another one I like: 热闹. Compare this: "It was such a nice restaurant. It was a warm, wholesome feeling being there. There were quite a lot of people there, having fun and that kind of happy feeling infected me somehow, and I felt uplifted by it." With this: "The restaurant was really 热闹." My final one is 吵. Kinda the opposite of 热闹. I like how 吵 can mean "loud" and "annoying" at the same time. I wish I didn't have to say "That music is really loud, annoying, and I don't like it" to my English-speaking (non-Chinese speaking) friends. I wish I could just say "DUde, that music is 吵！"

Hi tezuk, I always respect a guy who can raise intriguing topics and questions. Let me join the discussion! I think that 第几 (di4 ji3, what number) is a very convenient expression in Chinese, Japanese has the similar one, and it would not be so easy to say the same thing "concisely" in English, as far as I know. 第几个 他是毛泽东的第几个儿子？ 第几代 这艘星舰进取号是第几代？ 第几届 北京奥运会是第几届？ 第几任 布什是第几任美国总统？ 第几号 她是第几号恋人？

Am I allowed to post two times? I think that the word 乖 (guai1; well-behaved) carries quite a lot of meaning. And it's useful, too!

开裆裤 (kāidāngkù)! (The baby pants with a hole in the crotch)

Hi John, I didn't know that you had the same thing in the US.

Hello. How about the word 忍 (ren3)? Another word which I like is a character in my name -- 仁 (ren2).

I also vote for 化 words like johnb. I also like 度 and 性 to make words with endings -ness, -ity, -cy and so on. For example: 透明度 "transparency" (透明 = transparent) 硬度 "hardness" (硬 = hard) 可能性 "possibility" (可能 = can, possible) 结构性 "structural" (结构 = structure) 决定性 "decisive(ness)" (决定 = decide)

I also give my vote to “化”, “度”, and “性”. They are really convenient in coining words. One of my favorite characters is “讲”, which means (besides “speak”), “pay attention to, be particular about, place importance on, dwell on, value” and so on. “讲” is very important in making up slogans in China, where you can see them everywhere. 讲礼貌 讲礼节 讲文明 讲卫生 讲团结 讲道德 讲道理 讲安全 讲科学 讲友好 讲面子 讲人情 讲信用 讲和谐 讲原则 讲良心 讲诚信 讲规矩 讲逻辑 讲环保

Wow great replies, The use of suffixes and prefixes is a really great point. English seems to limit itself an awful deal. Plus I had always wondered what the 讲 meant in 讲安全, thanks changye. :)

My vote is for 'Ai yoooo!!!'... It replaces tons of other words.

how about 随便， 听话， 关系and of course 麻烦. I find myself using them all the time here in Switzerland and then grappling for words to explain what I mean.

What about the useful 厉害 and 棒 as in 太棒了?

Nobody has mentioned 客气?

...and all the words ending in -gui, such as Tao Yan Gui or Si Gui ))

It would be really great if English had some of the chengyu's or even simple idioms, such as: 冤家路窄 (enemies often cross paths) 大惊小怪 (make a big deal out of nothing) 脑筋急转弯 (messing with one's mind) 脚踏两条船 (step on two boats) I especially like the stuff that has a literal meaning and lots of symbolic meaning, but is expressed so simply (compared to English).