Emotional Granularity

Vladimir Nobokov wrote that “No single word in English renders all the shades of toska.” That’s not just because English speakers lack the specific emotional concept of toska, but also because toska is… more emotion Toska

Nadryv is a Russian word that is difficult to translate because it refers to something that is, at first glance, inexplicable. Nadryv is an emotion that has been suppressed for so long that… more emotion Nadryv

There are those who believe that it’s enough to identify the general emotion of anxiety and leave it at that. The problem with that generalist approach, however, is that it either assumes that… more emotion Butterflies in the Stomach

As we grow up to become members of civilization, we are urged to plan ahead. We’re told not to go out into the world when our bodies come of age, but to stay… more emotion Spontaneity

A zany mood is a reaction against the straightjacket of normality. It is an unpredictable, rebellious emotion that looks at the world from a bent angle.

In the emotion of malu, a person becomes suddenly overwhelmed into awkward silence in the presence of someone who has higher social status. The feeling of being starstruck is something like that, but… more emotion Starstruck

You’d been advised that you need to develop an elevator pitch, a 30-second speech that you could give, explaining why your ideas are worth paying attention to, if you just so happened to… more emotion Malu

Werifesteria is not an Old English word at all, though some have claimed it to be, suffering from a linguistic form of werifesteria.

In the mid-20th century, a school of psychologists attempted to establish a system for objectively identifying basic universal emotions, agreed upon by all people regardless of of cultural differences and individual experiences. Their… more emotion Contempt

Brabant is made up, but the pleasure that comes from taunting someone else to the point of losing their cool is a genuine emotion.