- Arabic:
- baraka (بركة): a gift of spiritual energy that can be passed from one person to another
- fanaa (فناء): 'annihilation' of the ego, leading to enlightenment and union
- ishq (عشق): true, all-consuming love.
- taarradhin: a way of reconciling without anyone losing face; implies a happy solution for everyone
- Bantu:
- ilunga: a person who is ready to forgive any abuse for the first time, to tolerate it a second time, but never a third time; the world's most difficult word to translate
- Brazilian Portuguese:
- cafuné: the act of tenderly running one’s fingers through someone’s hair
- Czech:
- litost: a state of torment created by the sudden sight of one’s own misery; an untranslatable emotion that only a Czech person would suffer from
- prozvonit: "dropped call;" used when people deliberately call a mobile phone then quickly hangs up, so then the other person is forced to call them back and incurs the cost of the call (fare uno squillo)
- Chinese:
- míng mù (瞑目): to die without regret having lived a good life.
- yuán fèn (緣分): a relationship by fate or destiny. This is a complex concept. It draws on principles of predetermination in Chinese culture, which dictate relationships, encounters and affinities, mostly among lovers and friends.
- Dutch:
- epibreren: pretending that you're doing something super important, while in reality you're being super lazy
- gezelllig: a feeling when you are sharing time with friends, family
- gunnen: to allow someone (else) to have a positive experience (usually in place of oneself)
- kalverliefde: the temporary affection and infatuation usually experienced by two young people in love
- uitwaaien: to go to a beach and let the wind take care of your worries
- Filipino
- gigil: (pron. gheegle) the urge to punch or squeeze something that is unbearably cute such as a kitten or a beautiful girl
- kilig: the inexplicable rush and joy and the delightful feeling that sends shivers of pleasure down the spine as one encounters something romantic
- French:
- mélomanie: an excessive and abnormal love and deep attraction to music and melody
- Georgian:
- shemomedjamo: to eat past the point of being full just because the food tastes good
- German:
- erlebnis: living fully, experiencing life deeply and intensely in the here and now
- schadenfreude: the pleasure you gain from someone else's pain
- torschlusspanik: the fear that time is running out
- treppenwitz: the things you should have said
- vergangenheitsbewältigung: to deal with the past and eventually overcome it
- vorfreude: the intense euphoric sensation you experience from thinking about future plans and daydreams. This beautiful feeling is a natural reaction the human mind manifests from expectations of future pleasures and joyful anticipations, such as planning a trip, going on a date, and many other fulfilling, life-changing events.
- zeitgeist: the intellectual fashion or dominant school of thought that typifies and influences the culture of a particular period in time
- Greek:
- meraki: doing something with soul, creativity, or love — when you put "something of yourself" into what you're doing
- Huron:
- orenda: the power of the human will to change the world in the face of powerful forces
- Japanese:
- age-otori: to look worse after a haircut
- ah-un (阿吽): unspoken communication between close friends.
- arigata-meiwaku: 'misplaced kindness' or 'unwelcome kindness'
- aware (哀れ): the bittersweetness of a brief, fading moment of transcendent beauty.
- bimyou: not bad, or "meh"
- hikikomori: a teenager or 20-something who has withdrawn from social life, often obsessed with television and video games
- honne: the reality that you hold inwardly to be true, even though you would never admit it publicly
- ikigai (生き甲斐): a reason for being; the thing that gets you up in the morning
- koi no yokan (恋の予感): the sense upon first meeting a person that the two of you are going to fall into love
- komorebi (木漏れ日): sunlight that filters through the leaves of trees
- kyōka suigetsu: (lit. "flower in the mirror, moon on the water"); something that is visible but cannot be touched; the subtle and profound beauty of poems that cannot be described in words
- majime: an earnest, reliable person who can simply get things done without causing drama
- mono no aware (物の哀れ): (lit. "the pathos of things"); the awareness of the impermanence or transience of all things and the gentle sadness and wistfulness at their passing
- nakama (仲間): deep platonic love for a friend
- natsukashii (懐かしい): nostalgic longing for the past, happiness (for fond memories) with sadness.
- seijaku (静寂): serenity in the midst of activity or chaos
- setsunai: (切ない) the feeling between bittersweet, painful, and wistful; a heartrending emotion
- shinrin-yoku (森林浴): (“forest bathing”); a visit to the forest for relaxation - a chance to stroll through nature and take in the atmosphere for one’s well being.
- ukiyo (浮世絵): (lit. "the floating world") living in the moment, detached from the bothers of life
- wabi sabi (侘寂): an aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfect; beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete"
- yugen: a profound awareness of the universe that triggers a deep emotional response
- Korean:
- han (한): sorrow, regret, patiently waiting for amelioration .
- nunchi (눈치): the subtle art of listening and gauging another’s mood
- sarang (사랑): lifelong love; when you wish to be with someone until death
- Mandarin:
- laotong: a friendship bonding two girls together for eternity as kindred sisters
- Mongolian:
- temul: signifies a sense of creativity and passion - to rush headlong, to be inspired, to have creative thoughts, and to even take a flight of fancy
- Nguni (Southern Africa):
- ubuntu: the belief that we are defined by our compassion and kindness towards others
- Norwegian:
- forelsket: the euphoria you experience when you are first falling in love
- friluftsliv: living in tune with nature
- Pashto:
- tarbiya (تعليم): on-going moral/ethical and spiritual developmeny
- Polish:
- kombinować: working out an unusual solution to a problem, acquiring skills in the proces
- tumiwisizm: an attitude which could be compared to ‘not being bothered about’, that means lack of engagement and caring, mostly connected with lack of passion for one’s actions because of feeling cocky or overconfident rather than depression or resignation
- Portuguese:
- saudade: a deep emotional state of nostalgic or deeply melancholic longing for an absent something or someone that one loves; it often carries a repressed knowledge that the object of longing will never return: "a pleasure you suffer, an ailment you enjoy." (Manuel de Melo)
- Romanian:
- dor: the longing for someone you love very much, combined with sadness, and implies the need to sing sad songs
- Russian:
- duša (душа): one’s inner heart and soul . *_listopad_ (листопад): falling leaves
- pochemuchka: a person who asks a lot of "why" questions
- prostor (простор): desire for spaciousness and freedom
- _razljubít_ (разлюбить): the feeling a person has for someone they once loved.
- Sanskrit:
- muditā (मुदिता): taking delight in the happiness of others; opposite of schadenfreude
- rasavada (रसास्वाद): the state of bliss one experiences when one’s mind is completely empty; an overall appreciation and euphoria from the absence of thought
- Swedish:
- gökotta: (lit."dawn picnic to hear the first birdsong"); the act of rising in the early morning to watch the birds or to go outside to appreciate nature
- mångata: the road-like reflection of the moon on the road.
- Thai:
- kreng-jai: (lit. "deferential heart"); the wish to not trouble someone by burdening them
- sabsung: being revitalized through something that livens up one's life
- Turkish:
- gumusservi: the glimmer that moonlight makes on water
- Urdu (Hindustani):
- naz (ناز): the pride and the assurance that arises from knowing that you are loved no matter what you do
- Welsh (Cymraeg; y Gymraeg):
- cwtch: to hug, a safe welcoming place
- hiraeth: a homesickness for a home to which you cannot return, a home which maybe never was; the nostalgia, the yearning, the grief for the lost places of your past
- Yaghan (S. Chile):
- mamihlapinatapai: a look between two people suggesting an unspoken desire
- Yiddish:
- aftselakhis: the desire or impulse to do something because someone else doesn't want you to, usually to get them annoyed or upset
- b'shert: (lit. 'destiny'); the seeking of a person who will compliment you, and whom you will complement perfectly
- fargin: to glow with pride and happiness at the successes of others
- schlimmbesserung (German):
- menschilichkeit: being a good human being in its fullest sense
- shlimazl: somebody who has nothing but bad luck
aug 22 2016 ∞
aug 26 2018 +