Mamihlapinatapai
The most succinct word, according to Guiness (and they would know from succinct, I suppose), Mamihlapinatapai(see resource links below) conveys a feeling that we have all had: that moment when your eyes meet someone Else's, and you both know what you desire, but neither of you wants to initiate. Your look conveys the sentiment 'After you...' as Jason at Kottke.org contends.
There is no equivalent word in English. I wonder why that is. Are we so loathe to admit to the existence of our interior lives that we can not even name that feeling which is, at its core, the unvarnished manifestation of our innermost desires and fears? I read this blurb and was struck by the thought that I have had that feeling a million times, and never even thought that it needed a name. And yet now that I know that other cultures have given it a name, I see how a name for this feeling, in English, might be useful. I fear that adopting the rather ponderous, and (to my ear) convoluted Yaghan word would not be a suitable solution.
Any suggestions?
http://www.kottke.org/remainder/08/07/16042.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamihlapinatapai
There is no equivalent word in English. I wonder why that is. Are we so loathe to admit to the existence of our interior lives that we can not even name that feeling which is, at its core, the unvarnished manifestation of our innermost desires and fears? I read this blurb and was struck by the thought that I have had that feeling a million times, and never even thought that it needed a name. And yet now that I know that other cultures have given it a name, I see how a name for this feeling, in English, might be useful. I fear that adopting the rather ponderous, and (to my ear) convoluted Yaghan word would not be a suitable solution.
Any suggestions?
http://www.kottke.org/remainder/08/07/16042.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamihlapinatapai
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