daisyladen's Words

[ feed | comment feed | cloud | sort:  alpha / order added ]

Register or login to add tags.

(close)

This is one of my favorite words in another language for which we have no equivalent in English. From Wikipedia:

"...Portuguese word for a feeling of longing for something that one is fond of, which is gone, but might return in a distant future. It often carries a fatalist tone and a repressed knowledge that the object of longing might really never return."

this is the spanish word for broom. but it reminds me of a magical broom. if you say it with a tremor in your voice it's liek a magical incantation. best word ever.

some words so accurately describe their objects that they almost are the same thing. other words only cover one aspect of an object or concept. that's when you have to use two or more words to get at it right. and that's when you find other languages can be better. is green or verde more "green?" what about "water" or "agua"? which tastes better? we've all heard about the eskimo languages that has multiple words for the different types of snow. would they laugh at our one word?

i've often thought the word tree isn't big enough to encompass all that is a tree. it's such a silly short word. tree. it can only cover the concept of it...like a child's drawing of tree...just the trunk and the round globe on top. what about all the different varieties? what about the mountainous redwoods or ancient oaks? should they be the same as a shrubby apple?