Calque It means "loanword," and apparently can be used as a verb, too. I found it used like this: "Schadenfreude is pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others. This German word is used as a loanword in English and some other languages, and has been calqued in Danish and Norwegian as skadefryd." Interesting that Schadenfreude is used in Danish and Norwegian, though spelled differently.

Is calque a pure synonym for loanword? Is there no difference between the two words? It's just your choice as to what you use? I just found it odd in the quote above that they first used "loanword," and then used "calqued."

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I just found it odd in the quote above that they first used "loanword," and then used "calqued."

It avoids repetition.

"Calque" does not mean the same thing as "loanword". Wikipedia puts it quite well:

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In linguistics, a calque or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal, word-for-word (Latin: "verbum pro verbo") or root-for-root translation.

For example, the common English phrase "flea market" is a phrase calque that literally translates the French "marché aux puces" ("market where one acquires fleas").

A loanword is one taken over directly from a foreign language without translation, such as "Schadenfreude" in English. If "Schadenfreude" were calqued in English, it would be something like "harm-joy" (a literal translation of the original).

The example that you give in Danish and Norwegian is a calque because it translates each element of the original - I presume that "skade" and "fryd" are the Danish/Norwegian words meaning "harm" and "joy" respectively.
If "Schadenfreude" were used unchanged in Danish/Norwegian, it would be a loanword.

I've always liked the word "calque" - such a complex meaning wrapped up in a single syllable!

A calque is sometimes known as a loan translation. I have used the word here in posts. It's rather common in comparative-historical linguistics. An example in Spanish is Luna de miel for 'honeymoon' and German Wolkenkratzer for 'sky (literally, cloud) scraper'..

Is there a term for words that are different in various languages, but which convey a similar idea? For instance, "raccoon" derives from the Algonquin, "he who scratches with his hands," whereas in French it's "raton laveur," or washing rat. In German it's "Waschbär," or washing bear. None are quite the same, but all convey a similar idea.

iceberg is a semi-calque from Dutch ijsberg - only the first element ijs was translated.

Ah, there are semi-calques, too. Oy vey...

I've talked about my favourite example before.

I have no idea which way round it all went or what language it started in but I love the word "dandelion".

In German it's Löwenzahn which translates literally as "lion's tooth" but we take our "dandelion" from adapting the sound of the French version dent de lion which also translates literally as "lion's tooth" .
Meanwhile another French translation of the same word is pissenlit which translates into English as "piss the bed" which is a common slang term for dandelion.

Speaking of French loan words, here's a loan term I just learned about: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L...prit_de_l%27escalier
I just knew there had to be a term for it, and now I know!

There's a German calque of your term, Geoff: it is Treppenwitz.

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Originally posted by Geoff:
Is there a term for words that are different in various languages, but which convey a similar idea?

I can't think of one.

Bob, I love your example. When I think of "dandelions," I can see both the "lion's tooth" (the lance-shaped leaves) and the "piss the bed" (the ugly globular seed head).