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We need more words for things

Language is more than just communication; it shapes our perception and observation. The right words help you see things more clearly, whether it’s an emotion, sensation, experience or the name of a local bird. Although English is pretty good, some things are captured better in other tongues. Here’s some:

• Feyli
  • Dhivehi/ Maldives
  • The feeling of sand between your toes as waves ebb away.
• Komorebi
  • Japanese
  • The dappled sunlight that shines through tree leaves.
• Sobremesa
  • Spanish
  • The time spent sitting around the table and chatting freely long after you’ve finished eating a meal. It’s not about the meal, but the connection aftewards.
• Boketto
  • Japanese
  • Gazing vacantly into the distance without thinking.
• Shemomedjamo
  • Georgian
  • Eating past the point of being full just because the food tastes so good.
• Marek
  • Serbian
  • A feeling of blissful pleasure and contentment derived from enjoying simple, everyday moments.
• Hygge
  • Danish
  • A profound coziness and contentment drawn from simple pleasures, often in shared moments; such as enjoying a warm drink with a friend by a fireplace.
• Wabi-sabi
  • Japanese
  • Embracing the beauty in imperfection and transience; valuing the inherent significance and stories of everyday objects and moments.
• Marmeladenglasmomente
  • German
  • Moments and memories so dear to you, so full of joy and meaning, that you wish you could capture them in a jar and keep them forever.
• Sonder
  • English
  • The realisation that each passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.
• Quatervois
  • French
  • A critical decision, crossroads, or turning point in one's life.
• Mamihlapinatapai
  • Yahgan
  • The look shared by two people, each wishing the other would initiate something they would both desire but in which both parties are unwilling to do so.
• Meitheal
  • Irish
  • When a group of people come together to work on something for the greater good of the community.Traditionally would describe a group of farmers who would come to gether to work on certain projects like cutting turf or hay, because working in numbers was quicker.
• Tsundoku
  • Japanese
  • The habit of buying books and letting them pile up without reading them.
• Cafuné
  • Portuguese
  • Running your fingers through the hair of someone you love.
• Shinrin-yoku
  • Japanese
  • "Forest bathing" - the simple and therapeutic act of spending time in a forest.