There’s a difference between not expressing something because you don’t want to and not expressing something because you can’t. Language is how we communicate, it’s how we apply meaning to experiences and share things so that we don’t feel like we’re living isolated in a vacuum. In short, it’s how we relate. This is a list of experiences, feelings, places and people for which we don’t have a specific word. Some of them are obscure, so it makes sense that there would be no one word assigned to them. But others are so universal in their humanness that it’s very strange to think that in thousands of years of language we’ve never figured out one clear-cut way to express the sentiment. Add yours to the comments, and maybe some day when we’re feeling clever we can come up with words for everything on the list.
1. Homesickness for a person instead of a place.
2. Embarrassment for someone.
3. The strange mix of exhilaration and regret that comes after sleeping with someone you didn’t really like that much.
4. How it feels when someone else touches your hair.
5. The first person who kisses you after a really bad breakup.
6. The desire to hug someone.
7. The very specific melange of sadness and nostalgia that comes with reading old Gchat conversations.
8. Disappointment over a text not being from the person you’d wished it was.
9. The awkward, subtle code used on a first date to see who’s going to pay the bill.
10. The excitement of meeting a new person.
11. Having popcorn stuck in your teeth.
12. The first day you feel better after being sick for awhile.
13. The place where you lost your virginity.
14. People who make a big deal about quitting Facebook and then rejoin less than a month later.
15. The feeling of loneliness that creeps in at the laundromat.
16. Tasting a new food for the first time.
17. Crying out of happiness instead of sadness.
18. Awkward elevator conversations.
19. The time of day when you really need a nap.
20. When you’re really hungry but can’t figure out what you want to eat.
21. When you need to procrastinate before you can be productive
in spanish the phrase for embarrassment for some one is “pena ajena”
During our early years, before we were brave enough to say “I love you,” my fiance and I invented a word with this meaning: The feeling in between being ‘in like’ and being ‘in love.’
@Megan– I love that! The feeling between “loving” and “liking” really is a very specific one. What was the word? (If you don’t mind sharing!)