words – Created Curated by Sara Brown

The Beauty of Words

When I was researching about the use of words, I found an English Language and Culture Blog, it’s so fascinating to look at your native language (and one that you often take for granted) through some-else’s eyes. Words do have real power to express feeling. Their meanings shape our beliefs, drive our behaviour and create our world. When we read, speak or hear certain words it can stimulate our emotional responses. In fact, some of the most beautiful English words evoke feelings of happiness like Serenity which is a sense of calm and peacefulness.

I have been improving my skills in Spanish and French during the lockdown period. I find that Latin-based languages sound so beautiful, at times they almost flow along. I fully understand how French is said to be the language of love. The English language has borrowed from more traditionally beautiful languages such as French, Italian and Spanish and some of English’s beauty does come from its relationship to other languages. My Spanish friends add words like estupendo and magnifico into every day conversation. Yet in English conversation, more flamboyant language is generally only used by Thespians, Artists and enthused drama teachers. Other-wise it regarded as a bit eccentric. I found myself chuckling after reading a blog about learning to speak English and encouraging the use of, shall we say, more descriptive words. As I can imagine how mixed the responses to this would be!

But perhaps adding more beautiful words into our everyday speech is not such a bad thing. We do after all, have a truly beautiful language but don’t always use it, to its full advantage.

Here are some of my favourites, now I’m not fully sure how I am going to introduce these into my conversations, but a challenge is always good!

Quintessential from a Latin word describing something in its purest form.

Sumptuous from a French word meaning something that is lavish or wastefully expensive. Today, it describes something that is magnificent or seemingly expensive.

Cascade from the Italian cascare meaning to fall. Refers to water falling over a cliff or a similar situation.

Ethereal means something so beautiful that it simply cannot be from this world.

Succulent from a French word meaning juicy. (Cacti are called “succulents” because of how much water they hold)

Iridescent from the Latin word iris, meaning rainbow.

Serendipity refers to something positive that happens completely by chance. It was coined by writer and historian Horace Walpole in the 1700s and based on a Persian fairy tale.

Evanescence comes from the French word évanescent, meaning something that disappears to the point of becoming invisible.

Solitude: a state of seclusion or isolation.

Eloquence the art of using language in an apt, fluent way.

Aesthete is one having or affecting sensitivity to the beautiful especially in art.

Euphoria from the Greek word for healthy, is now used to describe an intense feeling of happiness or elation.

Cherish to hold dear or cultivate with care and affection.

Dulcet pleasant to the ear; melodious and soothing

Tranquillity being free from agitation of mind or spirit.

Who says English is not a beautiful, poetic language, with words like these. Eloquence is surely the only way forward.

The Happiness of Words

Reading and Books

I have talked about positive words and there are many words of happiness in different languages and cultures. There are expressions to be had of positivity, joy for others and of happiness in the moment. Happy, was first used in the 1520s, the word originally referred to good fortune and prosperity. The word for happy in most languages came from the word for lucky. This suggests that perhaps our ancestors believed that happiness was largely a by-product of luck. Words and expressions that mean extremely happy include ecstatic, elated, euphoric, jubilant, in seventh heaven, on cloud nine and over the moon. Over the next few months, for example, we can hope to delight in respair the unsung enemy of despair and which in the 16th century meant fresh hope and a recovery from despondency. And there is always confelicity the unselfish joy in someone else’s pleasure. And we should all aspire to be goodwill, which is well-disposed and benevolent towards others.

Tim Lomas, a lecturer in positive psychology at the University of East London and the writer of Happiness- Found in Translation, collects expressions of happiness from other languages. These words have no direct English equivalent, but they represent very precise emotional experiences that are at times neglected in our language. Many emotion words are already borrowed from other languages like French and Spanish but there are many more that have not yet found their way into our vocabulary. Do other languages talk about happiness better? Certainly, those words of the Mediterranean sound as sunny and soothing as their blue skies, sun and oceans. Perhaps, it’s a reflection of our national tendency towards pessimism and of a lifetime of rain and grey skies. A riffle through a historical English dictionary would suggest that the melancholy has always had the edge, linguistically speaking over happiness. But if this pessimism finds ample expression in the dictionary, the proof that exists that positive language can bring its own luck, has to be a sign to use more words of happiness in our life’s!

I have listed some interesting examples of words from other countries below:

kǔ qù gān lái, the Chinese word describes the journey through pain to sweetness and relief. (We all need a dose of that at the moment) Happiness and melancholy do tend to go hand in hand in many cultures, the bitter-sweetness of a happiness that is destined to fade.

Mbuki-mvuki is the irresistible urge to “shuck off your clothes as you dance”

Kilig is the jittery fluttering feeling as you talk to someone you fancy.

Uitwaaien encapsulates the revitalising effects of taking a walk in the wind

Tarab from Arabic is a musically induced state of ecstasy or enchantment

Desbundar from Portuguese is to shed one’s inhibitions in having fun

Shinrin-yoku from Japan is the relaxation gained from bathing in the forest, figuratively or literally

Gigil is the irresistible urge to pinch or squeeze someone because they are loved or cherished

Yuan bei is Chinese for a sense of complete and perfect accomplishment

Iktsuarpok (Inuit) is the anticipation one feels when waiting for someone, whereby one keeps going outside to check if they have arrived

Sukha (Sanskrit) is the genuine lasting happiness independent of circumstances

Fjaka from Crotiais the sweetness of doing nothing

Sprezzatura– Italian for nonchalant effortlessness

All these words both enrich and expand people’s own emotional worlds bringing positive feelings and experiences, showing the importance of language. And at the end of the day, who wouldn’t be interested in adding a bit more happiness to their own lives and why not I say?

Words Do Matter

Reading and Books

The words we use can literally change our brains. Great leaders have used the power of words to transform our emotions and to shape the course of destiny. When Winston Churchill spoke of “their finest hour” or when Martin Luther King, Jr. described his “dream”, we clearly saw that their beliefs were formed by these words. But what about our own ability to use words to ignite change, to move ourselves to action and to improve the quality of our lives? We all know that words provide us with a way for expressing and sharing experiences with others. But do you realize that the words you choose also affect how your brain reacts on a physiological level? In the 2012 book, Words Can Change Your Brain– Dr. Andrew Newberg and Mark Robert Waldman state that “a single word has the power to influence the expression of genes that regulate physical and emotional stress.”

So, using positive words more often than negative ones can kick-start the motivational centres of our brain’s. This can alter how our brain functions by increasing cognitive reasoning and strengthening areas in our frontal lobes. On the other hand, when we use negative words, we’re keeping certain neuro-chemicals from being produced which contribute to stress management.This increases the activity in our brain’s fear centre, causing stress-producing hormones to flood our system. Angry words send alarm messages through the brain and they partially shut down the logic-and-reasoning centres, which allow us to think clearly.

Words are extremely powerful tools that we can use to uplift our personal energy and improve our lives, we’re often not even conscious of the words we speak, read and are exposed to. The words of others can easily affect our personal vibration. Spend a few minutes with a chronic complainer (or drainer) who uses all sorts of negative terms, and you’ll feel your personal energy instantly drop. Words do have great power, so choose them (and your friends) wisely! Ancient scriptures tell us that life and death are in the power of the tongue. As it turns out, that’s not just a metaphor. Some of us are in the habit of using the same negative words over and over again out of habit. The problem is that the more we hear, read, or speak a word or phrase the more power it has over us. This is because the brain uses repetition to learn, searching for patterns and consistency as a way to make sense of the world around us. We never think that the words we use in everyday life can bring negative energy into our vibration and affect us on a physical level, but they do. Most of the time we just don’t notice.

Speaking positive words leads to positive thoughts and the opposite is true. From our current perspective we all need as much positivity as possible and signs that there are brighter days ahead of us. Every time, I watch the news there is yet more doom and gloom and disagreements, many of the TV shows we watch are full of conflict and harsh, negative language. My Spanish friends tell me that the English lack passion, as I have told them, I don’t think this is actually true, but we are more likely to say everything is fine rather than or great or even fantastic in England. So, by ramping up the volume and using wonderful rather than ok, we can increase the positive energy, feel much better and generate a bigger energetic response in the body. You have the power to change your world by using words consciously is one of the quickest ways to shift the energy you bring into your life.

It feels a bit unnatural and a little bit Pollyanna… ish. (An excessively or blindly optimistic person) To start saying everything is just wonderful, in particular when its most likely not. But it’s a simple and easy thing to rephrase in a more positive manner to make you and those around you feel more uplifted.

Why not give it a go!