Happy, sad, angry, glad – it’s all in The Book of Human Emotions by Tiffany Watt Smith
This intriguing book gets to grips with our sometimes bewildering onslaught of feelings – from anger to apathy, wanderlust to worry – and explains how emotions and our perceptions of them have changed throughout history. Watt Smith also explores how different cultures have specific vocabulary for some unexpected, but resonant moods.
There’s the Dutch gezelligheid – the cosy feeling that comes from being inside with friends on a cold night, the Finnish kaukokaipuu – the craving for a different land – and awumbuk, a word used by the Baining people who live in the mountains of Papua New Guinea to describe the heaviness and sorrow left behind after visitors depart.
As well as these, we've found seven more unusual words and some curious images to match. Do you have an intriguing word you'd like to share with us? Head to Facebook or Twitter and let us know. And we share a Lost Word each month in the Miscellany pages of The Simple Things.
