Emotions play a central part in our life experiences; when we’re able to express them clearly.....
LEXICOLOGY
Emotions play a central part in our life experiences; when we’re able to express them clearly, we begin to understand ourselves and others in a better way. But sometimes we fail to put our feelings into words and reflect on our emotions or discuss them with others. To this end, John Koenig has developed The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, a website devoted to creating words for these unusual emotions. Here are some of the choicest pickings.
Anemoia - nostalgia for a time you’ve never known
The iTunes playlist unexpectedly shuffles the music. Instead of the song you expected, the first strains of Cyndi Lauper’s Time After Time fills the room. Suddenly you begin to hum along and find yourself passionately thinking about the time this song was released.
This sense of longing for a time you’ve never known is called ‘anemoia’ or a ‘reminiscence bump’. Anything from the past can trigger this emotion. Along with music and movies, art, places, photographs, conversations related to any era can make you feel this unusual emotion.
Kairosclerosis - awareness of happiness that detracts from the experience
You’re drinking a cup of coffee at your local cafŽ, and looking out the window. Your thoughts drift aimlessly, but not unpleasantly. You find yourself growing conscious of the fact that in this present moment you are happy and contented. As this awareness occurs, you begin to analyse why you’re feeling this way, why now, why here, and in the process the sense of happiness dissolves.
The term for this intellectualization of positive emotional experiences is ‘kairosclerosis’. It is hypothesized that joy is an emotion to be experienced rather than examined. So, unnecessary examination of feelings can kill your happiness.
Gnossienne - realising those you know best still have a private life
You’ve been best friends with someone for the last 10 years. You have known each other exceedingly well. You know their likes and dislikes, their way of thinking, attitudes, values and beliefs; you’re friends who finish each other’s sentences. But at some point you come to realize that even though you are extremely close to each other, there is still a part of them that you do not know - that you might never know. After all, we only share parts of ourselves with others (our personae, according to the psychoanalyst Carl Jung), never our complete selves. This moment of realization is called ‘gnossienne’.
Ellipsism - sadness that you’ll never be able to know how history will turn out
Do you ever wonder how things will ultimately turn out in the Grand Scheme of Existence? If you do, you might be familiar with ‘Ellipsism’ - the sense of sadness at knowing that you actually do not get to find out how things end! History will take its course and those present at ‘the end’ will know what it is.
Rollover reaction - when a dream affects your interactions with someone
Last night, you dreamt that you argued with your siblings. It felt vividly real. You woke up still able to recall the argument in your dream, still feeling the emotions you experienced in the dream. You know your siblings did not actually fight with you - but somehow you can’t shake off the negative feelings of your dream, and you find yourself reacting irritably towards them. This means you are having a ‘rollover reaction’.
These are all new words, created specifically by Koenig to expand our language for feelings and experiences that we have found ourselves unable to name. As yet, they are not found in dictionaries or official lexicons, but Koenig is working to collect these new terms and compile them into a book in the near future.
While some linguists might disapprove of the creation of new words, such developments allow us to express ourselves in a better way and communicate with others effectively.
