German expressions that don’t exist in English
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Re: German expressions that don’t exist in English
#2"Wehmut" literally: 'The courage in feeling pain'.
This is powerful. I feel like this courageous curiosity has been the primary virtue or trait that I've been exploring and aiming to cultivate more than any other during the past couple of years.
As a non-German speaker I'd be interested how this relates to melancholy (these to me feel like quite different emotional states).
Re: German expressions that don’t exist in English
#3"Wehmut" literally: 'The courage in feeling pain'. This is powerful. I feel like this courageous curiosity has been the primary virtue or trait that I've been exploring and aiming to cultivate more than any other during the past couple of years. As a non-German speaker I'd be interested how this relates to melancholy (these to me feel like quite different emotional states).
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Re: German expressions that don’t exist in English
#4"Wehmut" literally: 'The courage in feeling pain'. This is powerful. I feel like this courageous curiosity has been the primary virtue or trait that I've been exploring and aiming to cultivate more than any other during the past couple of years. As a non-German speaker I'd be interested how this relates to melancholy (these to me feel like quite different emotional states).
> I'd be interested how this relates to melancholy
Melancholy pertains to one’s internal state. It is a state of being, and one that accepts the circumstances as they are. (It also contains notes of inevitability.)
Wehmut is more active. The outcome is evitable. One accepts them, and the pain they will cause, but perseveres, usually towards a brighter outcome. At worst, it’s Sisyphean with an unknown ending.
Re: German expressions that don’t exist in English
#5"Wehmut" literally: 'The courage in feeling pain'. This is powerful. I feel like this courageous curiosity has been the primary virtue or trait that I've been exploring and aiming to cultivate more than any other during the past couple of years. As a non-German speaker I'd be interested how this relates to melancholy (these to me feel like quite different emotional states).
Wouldn't this translate quite well as stoicism?
"the endurance of pain or hardship without the display of feelings and without complaint."
Re: German expressions that don’t exist in English
#6"Wehmut" literally: 'The courage in feeling pain'. This is powerful. I feel like this courageous curiosity has been the primary virtue or trait that I've been exploring and aiming to cultivate more than any other during the past couple of years. As a non-German speaker I'd be interested how this relates to melancholy (these to me feel like quite different emotional states).
Wouldn't this translate quite well as stoicism? "the endurance of pain or hardship without the display of feelings and without complaint."
> Wouldn't this translate quite well as stoicism?
Stoicism accepts discomfort for its own sake, and the futility in fighting it. Wehmut is less fatalistic. It is about experiencing unavoidable pain in pursuit of a worthy goal.
Re: German expressions that don’t exist in English
#7Let’s not forget schadenfreude!
Re: German expressions that don’t exist in English
#8I'm not even German, but I know this...
Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell
Awesome YouTube channel, BTW. ;)
Re: German expressions that don’t exist in English
#9"Wehmut" literally: 'The courage in feeling pain'. This is powerful. I feel like this courageous curiosity has been the primary virtue or trait that I've been exploring and aiming to cultivate more than any other during the past couple of years. As a non-German speaker I'd be interested how this relates to melancholy (these to me feel like quite different emotional states).
As a native German speaker, I wouldn't translate "mut" in Wehmut as courage. Here it rather is the same as "mood" (and the English word has the same roots). Like in "Anmut", "Dehmut", "Unmut" etc.
So Wehmut literally would be something like "woeful mood" and you could use it more or less synonymous with melancholia (or nostalgia for example).
Re: German expressions that don’t exist in English
#10I'm not even German, but I know this... Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell Awesome YouTube channel, BTW. ;)
Literally: briefly said