15 Obscure Words for Everyday Feelings and Emotions From Gwenders to Malneirophrenia.
Given that it runs to more than a quarter of a million words, there’s a good chance that the English language will probably have the word you’re looking for. But when it comes to describing hard-to-describe feelings and emotions, much is made of the English language’s shortcomings: We either have to turn to foreign languages to describe situations like coming up with a perfect comeback when the moment has passed (esprit de l’escalier—thank you French), or else use resources like the brilliant, but sadly entirely fictitious, Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows or Meaning of Liff.
But so vast is the English language that words for feelings and emotions, and to describe the human condition, have actually found their way into the dictionary. So there’s no need to call that comeback esprit de l’escalier, because the word afterwit has been in use in English since the late 16th century. And here are 15 more obscure English words to describe feelings that are otherwise indescribable.
-------------------------------- We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. - Australian Aboriginal proverb
Bazootiehead-in-training
Posts: 37880 | Location: Somewhere in the middle | Registered: 19 January 2010
By the way, because I don’t like to type I tend to dictate my various responses here. I then go in and quickly edit anything that the voice recognition software messes up.
it did not do well with the phrase crochet protectors. I mean crew chief for Chili’s. Crunchy pretzels? Crew chief purchase.?
I think Yiddish has English beat by a mile when it comes to things like this.
-------------------------------- “It's hard to win an argument with a smart person. It's damn near impossible to win an argument with a stupid person." -- Bill Murray
Posts: 13811 | Location: The outer burrows | Registered: 27 April 2005