European Languages Day has run every September 26 since 2001 and represents over 800 million Europeans in the Council's 47 member-states. "Understanding each other is the key to benefitting from Europe's rich cultural diversity," CoE secretary general Thorbjørn Jagland said in a statement.
"Language education helps us to do this and to embrace other cultures and ways of life."
READ MORE: Macron Allegedly Pushes to Make French Dominant Language in EU Amid Brexit
Twittizens were full of cheeky replies to Europe's largest institution that showcased videos of lesser-known and untranslatable words in different languages.
The video mentioned the Irish word ‘Deisall', referring to the path the Sun takes each day but also meaning "bless you" when someone has a coughing fit. ‘Vybafnout', a Czech word, is a playful way of surprising someone, but also "scaring the hell out of them," one native speaker said.
Happy #EuropeanDayofLanguages! 🇪🇺 We're celebrating with our favourite untranslatable words 👄 What's yours? #EDL2018 pic.twitter.com/Ez3va8znYN
— EU Council (@EUCouncil) September 26, 2018
However, some were unsure of how other ‘popular' words translated in their native tongues.
"[Surely] Brexit should be in there?" Brighton and Hove resident Ben Glazebrook tweeted. "It seems to be totally untranslatable to all."
surely Brexit should be in there? it seems to be totally untranslatable to all. not sure that it counts as a favourite though.
— Ben Glazebrook (@benattheypc) September 26, 2018
Despite English being the de jure standard language across the UK, one Cornish woman visiting the Europe house tweeted her proud history.
Looking forward to learning about indigenous languages of the UK at Europe House to celebrate European Day of Languages tomorrow. Here's the Lord's Prayer in #Cornish. #EDL2018 pic.twitter.com/MhghCfkQOA
— Elizabeth Guyatt (@MsMultilingual) September 25, 2018
Conversely, a tweet from the European Central Bank backfired, with one irate Brit slamming the organization for bailing out Europe's banking elite.
https://twitter.com/ecb/status/1044852169470615552
"Are the bail-in laws explained in every language too? Asking for a friend," a defiant Matthew Story replied.
https://twitter.com/mdrstorey/status/1044890568759828480
The EU Commission asked another relatively benign question, which turned into a flurry of comments on Brexit and Catalan independence.
https://twitter.com/EU_Commission/status/1044836466579230720
Replying to a proud nationalist francophone who called England a ‘prison', Catalonian native Orni du Guillotin replied, "As far as I know mate you can always leave England, it's not a prison," he stated.
READ MORE: Real Madrid Star Shares His Knowledge of Russian Language
"What's a crime though is that Catalan is not on the list," he said, adding that Catalan is spoken by over seven million in Europe, but ultranationalist governments have "pushed it out of social life".
https://twitter.com/mobiplayer/status/1044872655915143168
Others were not so enthusiastic about the European Union's preferential treatment of some languages, but letting others fade out of existence.
https://twitter.com/RealChrisDeliso/status/1044900074852143104
