- Meraki (Greek): doing something with soul, creativity, or love.
- Mamihlapinatapei (Yagan):" “the wordless, yet meaningful look shared by two people who both desire to initiate something but are both reluctant to start”
- Schadenfreude (German): the feeling of pleasure derived by seeing another’s misfortune.
- Wabi-Sabi (Japanese): “a way of living that focuses on finding beauty within the imperfections of life and accepting peacefully the natural cycle of growth and decay.”
- Ya'aburnee (Arabic): “You bury me,” a declaration of one’s hope that they’ll die before another person because of how difficult it would be to live without them.
- Cafune (Brazilian Portuguese): “The act of tenderly running one’s fingers through someone’s hair.”
- Cwtch (Welsh): a private safe place in a room or in two peoples hearts, an element of intimacy that the English equivalents of "cuddle" and "hug", lack.
- L’esprit de escalier (French): The feeling you get after leaving a conversation, when you think of all the things you should have said. Translated it means “the spirit of the staircase.”
- Forelsket (Norwegian): The euphoria you experience when you are first falling in love.
- Litost (Czech): a state of torment created by the sudden sight of one’s own misery.
- Backpfeifengesicht (German): A face badly in need of a fist.
- Toska (Russian): “No single word in English renders all the shades of toska. At its deepest and most painful, it is a sensation of great spiritual anguish, often without any specific cause. At less morbid levels it is a dull ache of the soul, a longing with nothing to long for, a sick pining, a vague restlessness, mental throes, yearning. In particular cases, it may be the desire for somebody of something specific, nostalgia, love-sickness. At the lowest level it grades into ennui, boredom.”
dec 11 2011 ∞
feb 6 2013 +