Literally the word for boat sail, hywl (pronounced who-eel) is a Welsh word that means exuberance of excitement. It is a yearning feeling, flecked with suspense, as if something is about to be lost and never recovered. The Welsh word hiraeth (pronounced with a rolled r and the second syllable rising) describes a deeply felt connection to one’s homeland. HanĪttributed to Korea’s long history of being colonized, han describes the collective acceptance of suffering combined with the quiet yearning for things to be different. In Thailand, greng jai (pronounced kreng-jai) is the feeling of being reluctant to accept another’s offer of help because of the bother it would cause. The Italian phrase (dawl-che fahr nyen-te) for the pleasure of doing nothing. At one point you feel frustrated and unsettled, but at another you feel liberated and giddy. The French word depaysement (da-pa-za-ment) illustrates the disorienting feeling of being an outsider. The Collywobbles Getty Images Depaysement Unlike the “butterflies,” the collywobbles often occur late at night as we anticipate a looming deadline. ![]() The collywobbles (pronounced kale-wab-lz from the English words “colic” and “wobble”) is a feeling of anxiety and unease in the pit of the stomach. Invented by a British hippie commune in the 1970s, compersion describes the tingly, excited feeling one has upon discovering a loved one is attracted to, or sleeping with, someone else. This appears to be a 20th century coinage - perhaps a playful spin on the French “un baiser” - a kiss. The next day, the family throws the water out and with it all that bad post-party feeling. To counter this empty feeling, the Baining fill a bowl with water and leave it overnight to catch the festering air. The indigenous Baining people from Papua New Guinea use this word (pronounced aw-um-book) to describe the emptiness after visitors leave. It’s viewed as important because “it represents a return to the indulgences and unconditional nurturing of infancy.” Basorexia Shutterstock Awunbuk AmaeĪmae (pronounced ah-ma-eh) translates from Japanese to “behaving like a spoiled child.” But surrendering to amae is not seen as a negative. In that spirit, we’ve gathered some of the most surprising words and phrases for weird emotions you may recognize, adapted from her book. What she discovered in her research for the book is that “What we need isn’t fewer words for our feelings. Now thanks to “The Book of Human Emotions” (Little, Brown) by Tiffany Watt Smith, an emotionologist and research fellow at Queen Mary University in London, a total of 150 emotions, some familiar and some entirely unfamiliar, are captured in one fun and breezy read. ![]() Search the world and there’s a word or phrase for almost every unique feeling you can think of - from fear of the supernatural (mehameha) or the pleasure felt when causing a little chaos (ilinx). Ever see a subway car approach and feel compelled - suddenly - to jump in front of it? Whether or not that sounds crazy to you, there’s a word for that compulsion: “L’appel du vide.” “The Book of Human Emotions” by Tiffany Watt Smith
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