Words of the Week

First off, there are a couple of things you need to know about me.

1. I love books (if you couldn’t tell already) and am a biiiiiig reader.

2. I love love love English. I love words. I love writing. I love the satisfaction of stringing a bunch of letters together and producing something beautiful.

3. I love Spanish and have been learning the language for 8 long years now.

So, in light of all that, I thought I’d post some of my favourite words for you all. Not only are they beautiful to look at, but they sound beautiful (especially the Spanish ones) and have beautiful (or quirky, at least…) meanings too. And I know it sounds cheesy, but discovering hidden things like this make me happy to be human, and happy to have a voice.

❤ ❤ ❤

1. 

A danish word essentially meaning… “A cozy moment, delightful, comfy.” So for me, a hyggelig moment would be curled up in an armchair with a book on a winter’s day. Or in the very least, a day with rain outside.

2. 

The opposite of schadenfreude. I love this word, because it essentially means delighting in someone else’s happiness. If we all experienced even a bit of this, the world would be a much nicer placer, I’m sure.

3. 

This is an English word pertaining to my favourite smell in the whole world, or one of them, at least. “A pleasant smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather.”

4. 

Another delightful, delightful word meaning “incapable of being described in words.”

4. 

WHAT A COOL WORD!!! It means to buzz or hum. So basically, we’ve all bombinated at some point in our lives and NEVER EVEN REALISED! :O

5. 

Pretty much my favourite Spanish word in the history of Spanish words. Meaning: to grumble (which is what my dog is doing in the picture, btw.)

6. 

This Brazilian word describes the “feeling of longing, melancholy, or nostalgia that is supposedly characteristic of the Portuguese or Brazilian temperament.” It is such an intense, heart-wrenching feeling, that I’m glad one language has found a single word to do it justice.

7.

I left the best word of the week until last. This beauty is spoken by the Yagán people and is completely untranslatable in English. Essentially, it means: “a look shared by two people, each wishing that the other will offer something that they both desire but are unwilling to suggest or offer themselves.” How awesome is that?! I’m pretty sure there is plenty of these ‘mamihlapinatapai’ exchanges happening on the dating scene as we speak…

And that’s everything!

Hope you’ve learned something new and perhaps have discovered a new favourite word for yourself! 🙂

¡Adios!

Frosty xxx