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Nov. 1st, 2011 10:44 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png)
Koi No Yokan
(Japanese)
The sense upon first meeting a person that the two of you are going to fall into love.
(and no, I don't think 'love at first sight' is the same. I asked a Japanese guy at work what he thought of the phrase, and he said it's deeper, insofar that it's more when you've met someone, had enough tome to get a sense of them, and then felt you might fall in love, as opposed to just seeing someone and falling in love. Can anyone corroborate or correct this?)
Mamihlapinatapai
(Yaghan language of Tierra del Fuego)
This word captures that special look shared between two people, when both are wishing that the other would do something that they both want, but neither want to do.
Fremdschämen (German); Myötähäpeä (Finnish)
The kindler, gentler cousins of Schadenfreude, both these words mean something akin to “vicarious embarrassment.”
Cafune
(Brazilian Portuguese)
Tenderly running your fingers through your lover’s hair.
Greng-jai
(Thai)
That feeling you get when you don’t want someone to do something for you because it would be a pain for them.
Kaelling
(Danish)
You know that woman who stands on her doorstep (or in line at the supermarket, or at the park, or in a restaurant) cursing at her children? The Danes know her, too.