Words Which Should Exist, But do Not

Milan Kundera spent a great deal of time in The Book of Laughter and Forgetting discussing the Czech word Litost and how he has yet to find a suitable word in any other language.

Joel has a running joke at the Schadenfreude blog wherein he matches a picture which to a word which he painstakingly crafts (using Latin and Greek roots). It is very funny and, sadly, terribly infrequent.

This all relates to a running theme in my head that there should be words to describe certain emotional/existential states.

So I ask these two men, neither of whom read my blog, to come up with words to describe the following experiences (which must be universal):
  • The moment you realize someone you really like holds completely opposite (and unacceptable) political and/or religious views.
  • The guilt you feel because you don't feel guilty.
  • The enormous smugness you feel upon finding current pictures of someone who broke your heart long ago, smugness which far overwhelms any envy you may feel because this person is far more successful or so famous that you should find their present day pictures on the internet.
So, yeah, get cracking boys!

Comments

Tracy said…
Hmm, so on this last one, the smugness occurs because they've become fat and bald or some such?
alimum said…
Yes, but it is more than that. I mean, fat and bald and aging can be attractive on some people. But not this one.

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