psychology
10 ingenious words from Japan that we’ve secretly always been missing
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Do you sometimes miss the words? Or ideas? Perhaps these terms from Japan can now help in one situation or another.
Learning a foreign language is a bit like seeing the world from a different perspective. It broadens our view and our horizons, shows us that it is not a matter of course to order things and relate them to one another as we do. For example, in many Polynesian languages such as Samoan, Hawaiian or Maori, the language of the indigenous culture of New Zealand, directions are given primarily as “inland” and “towards the sea”. Not, as we know it, with “north” and “south”. Family relationships are also sometimes expressed differently and treated in a more differentiated manner in these languages than, for example, in German, as are ownership relationships and other assigning relationships. And Polynesian is just one of many language families that exist in our world. But since we mostly learn languages at school that are very, very similar to German, for example English, French or Spanish, we usually don’t get much of all the exciting perspectives out there.
The psychologist David Tripolina now gives us a little look outside the box with his wonderful book “Panda is called Bambusbjörn in Icelandic. The most beautiful words in the world” (YES). The author has compiled terms for concepts from different languages that may well be known to us and that we certainly understand – but cannot simply name them. Japanese in particular has a few words to offer that make you wonder: Why don’t we have a word for it in German? Oh well. Let’s just say: so that we can borrow it from the Japanese.
10 ingenious words from Japan that we’ve secretly always been missing
1. Wabi-sabi
The solution for all those who suffer from perfectionism is called “Wabi-sabi”: “The aesthetic concept of finding beauty in the imperfections of life.”
2. Age-otori
Have you ever come home from cutting your hair and thought: “Oh no!”? For the Japanese: inside a clear case of “Age-otori”: “Look worse after a haircut than before.”
3. Boketto
Looking dreamily and without concrete thoughts – that’s what the Japanese call: inside “Boketto”.
4. Aidzuchi
Trapped in a boring conversation again? Then only one thing helps, in order not to appear impolite: “Aidzuchi”, that is, make noises that make the: the interlocutor believe that the conversation is being followed with interest.
5. Yugen
“Yugen” describes something that everyone should know: “A deep, mysterious understanding of the beauty of the universe that triggers a deep emotional reaction in you.” Who feels it anyway …?
6. Ishin-denshin
When two people understand each other without words, it is called “Ishin-Denshin” in Japan. Originally this means that the wisdom of Buddha is transmitted through the heart. The term figuratively expresses that someone can read someone else’s heart.
7. Koi no yokan
Anyone who meets a person for the first time and thinks: “Yeah, it could fit between us” feels “Koi no yokan” – a positive, optimistic feeling at the first impression.
8. Kensho
Have you ever had a sudden inspiration, but it was short-lived? To this end, a: e Japanese: in would probably say “Kensho”: “A passing moment of awakening and enlightenment.”
9. Natsukashi
A certain smell, a taste, a melody – “when little things that evoke memories of the past trigger a warm, sudden feeling of nostalgia”, it is called “natsukashi” in Japanese.
10. Tsundoku
Those who like to shop but don’t really like to read may have already practiced “tsundoku”: bought a book and put it unread with the other unread books at home.
Source used: David Tripolina, “Panda is called Bambusbjörn in Icelandic. The most beautiful words in the world” (YES)