Here's a French word : podotactile. And what does it mean? 'Capable of being felt by the foot;being sensed by the foot' How could we live without it? It was in an article on modernising a street. The pedestrian crossings were to be fitted with studs so that poorly sighted persons could feel them as they walked and identify the crossing points.Now where does English have a niche, sorry, gap that needs filling with one new word where we presently use several words or clumsy hyphenations ?

Looks like everyboby is gonna have to keep it as it is ,which scientificaly speaking get it's root as usual from Latin and Greek, unless you feel calling it casualy "foot sensitive"

How about just crosswalk guides?

(When a journalist has to pull out the dictionary to use an obscure word correctly, probably best not to bother!)

Freedom Feet Feelers!!

Off the top of my head, I can't think of an accurate English translation of 'sympathique/simpatico', let alone one word, nor a one-word equivalent of 'schadenfreude'.

The French have, however, taken on board several English words, e.g. 'le weekend', rather to the annoyance of French purists, I understand.

Yes, "le weekend," "le toast," "le t-shirt," le euro-disney..." All very annoying.
Ewood, I don't know about you but I always defined "sympatique" as "kind."

Yes, "le weekend," "le toast," "le t-shirt," "le euro-disney..." All very annoying.

Ewood, I always used "kind" to define "sympatique." That’s how I interpret it.

Yes, I've heard of French military pilots being told to 'rester sur standby pour le briefing'.

As for 'sympathique', it's not quite 'kind', not quite 'sympathetic'. I'm open to correction, but I don't think there is a direct equivalent of the meaning I have in mind.

"Nice" is probably the closest term that comes from the top of my head.

Palping feet device.............for Podotactile (pfd)

'Sympatique' is used for 'pleasant to meet' , or 'nice', 'likeable' in that sense, and , no, I can't think of a word for it either at least not one which is used exactly the same. I suppose 'nice' is closest. Schadenfreude wastranslated as 'gloating' by a linguist asked in the Times, assuming that 'gloating' is used as a noun to describe a state of mind or feeling. TheFrench have a law prohibiting the use of English words and English generally, in some circumstances. french radio stations must play a certain percentage of airtime for songs in French.I forget the figure but it iis realistically small, just under 50% believe.likewise advertising must contain only authorised French words.Advertisers ingeniously put whole sentences as slogans in English but were told to do so only if they provided a translation ( always in small print, I see)at the bottom of the ad. Franglais still thrives. The French Academy of Letters decides what French words must be used for English. This involves invention. So a VCR to us is a video recorder or, simply, 'video'. They insisted on magnetoscope in all ads etc. I asked for one in a shop, using the correct French term and was met with ,in French, 'A what ? Oh a video !'So laws can't change practice and ease.The latest one I see is 'le stress' probably from not meeting 'le deadline '. Now there may well be no word for 'le stress' in the South of France, where I live sometimes. Traditionally locals had no concept of schedules or dates for doing work so asking when work would start , let alone finish, was seen as an eccentric Anglo Saxon enquiry and a reply 'Thursday' meant some Thursday yet to be decided, could be any month now ! Sadly (?) this is dying fast because of the open market for labour in the European union bringing in large numbers of 'foreigners' who start and finish on given dates bringing le stress and the word with them!Among the mixed peoples who work there English is usually the common language,as it is among the businessmen who employ them.

Naw, it means to have/receive empathy. A "simpatico" person is a person who feels empathy, and perhaps even sympathy, for you and/or your cause. I believe it's derived from the word "sympathy."

Catty