The 'untranslatable' emotions you never knew you had

bbc.com

5 ideas

2.38K reads

Personal Development

Health

Psychology

Learn more about personaldevelopment with this collection

Unlocking your Creative Potential

Techniques for brainstorming and generating new ideas

The power of collaboration and feedback in the creative process

How to recognize and overcome limiting beliefs

Discover 65 similar ideas in

Unlocking your Creative Potential

It takes just

8 mins to read

The Positive Lexicography Project

It aims to offer a more nuanced understanding of ourselves, by capturing many ways of expressing good feelings from across the world.
It is directed by Tim Lomas at the University of East London, who is working towards getting many "untranslatable" experiences get in our daily vocabulary.

152

602 reads

Highly specific positive feelings

... that depend on particular circumstances:

Desbundar (Portuguese): to shed one’s inhibitions in having fun
Tarab (Arabic): a musically induced state of ecstasy or enchantment
Shinrin-yoku (Japanese): the relaxation gained from bathing in the forest, figuratively or literally
Gigil (Tagalog): the irresistible urge to pinch or squeeze someone because they are loved or cherished
Yuan bei (Chinese): a sense of complete and perfect accomplishment
Iktsuarpok (Inuit): the anticipation one feels when waiting for someone, whereby one keeps going outside to check if they have arrived.

207

493 reads

Complex and bittersweet experiences

Natsukashii (Japanese): a nostalgic longing for the past, with happiness for the fond memory, yet sadness that it is no longer
Wabi-sabi (Japanese): a “dark, desolate sublimity” centered on transience and imperfection in beauty
Saudade (Portuguese): a melancholic longing or nostalgia for a person, place or thing that is far away either spatially or in time – a vague, dreaming wistfulness for phenomena that may not even exist
Sehnsucht (German): “life-longings”, an intense desire for alternative states and realisations of life, even if they are unattainable.

197

418 reads

Behaviors for well-being

Dadirri (Australian aboriginal): a deep, spiritual act of reflective and respectful listening
Pihentagyú (Hungarian): literally meaning “with a relaxed brain”, it describes quick-witted people who can come up with sophisticated jokes or solutions
Desenrascanço (Portuguese): to artfully disentangle oneself from a troublesome situation
Sukha (Sanskrit): genuine lasting happiness independent of circumstances
Orenda (Huron): the power of the human will to change the world in the face of powerful forces such as fate.

178

332 reads

Emotional granularity

It's our capacity to distinguish between the particularities of our emotions. This then determines how well we cope with life.
Some of us use different emotion words interchangeably, while others are highly precise in their descriptions.

151

535 reads

IDEAS CURATED BY