HAPPY WORDS

Swedish language has a word that describes the moment when you wake up early in the morning excited to hear birds chirping - GOKOTTA. In Portuguese, the word CAFUNE means stroking loved one's hair. Norwegians even have a word to describe a beer that you sip on the first warm day of the year - UTEPILS.

We all describe happiness, contentment or good mood in different ways. I am sure all of you are at times at a loss for words and can't describe exactly the way you feel. English might not have a word that acknowledges that particular feeling. But what if we knew a word in Swahili that would help us specify our feelings?

Professor Tim Lomas (www.drtimlomas.com) from across the pond found a few of these words in other languages. He realized how amazing it would be if we all had access to them. We could then adopt some of these words and use them on a regular basis.

He started a "POSITIVE LEXICOGRAPHY PROJECT" - an evolving index of "untranslatable words" related to happiness and well-being from all over the world. His goal is to collect as many of these words in several languages.

At this point the index includes 216 words.

He asked us to help him throug engagement of our creative community - YOU - to grow his list. We know that our country contains not only millions of English speakers, but people that come from all over the world and speak tens if not hundreds of languages.  Every region in the US most definitely has its own "regional" words. 

Can you imagine what an impact would your submission have?

Anybody anywhere in the world could access the dictionary and use "your" word in their daily lives. Are your thinking wheels spinning already?

Start making your own list now and share it with us.