Beautiful new words to describe obscure emotions | John Koenig

譯者: Bowen Cai 審譯者: 易帆 余

Today I want to talk about the meaning of words,

今天我想說一說詞語的意義，

how we define them

說一說我們如何定義它們

and how they, almost as revenge,

以及它們如何反過來

define us.

定義了我們。

The English language is a magnificent sponge.

英語這門語言是座大熔爐。

I love the English language. I'm glad that I speak it.

我喜愛英語，我也樂意說英語。

But for all that, it has a lot of holes.

但儘管如此，英語有許多缺陷。

In Greek, there's a word, "lachesism"

在希臘，有一個單詞叫 「lanchesism」，

which is the hunger for disaster.

意思是對災難的渴望。

You know, when you see a thunderstorm on the horizon

當你在遠處地平線看到狂風暴雨，

and you just find yourself rooting for the storm.

你卻發現你在為狂風暴雨喝彩。

In Mandarin, they have a word "yù yī" --

中國普通話有一個詞叫「yù yī」—— （玉衣，作者編造的字）

I'm not pronouncing that correctly --

我的發音不是很標準——

which means the longing to feel intensely again

意思是渴望再一次強烈感受到

the way you did when you were a kid.

兒少時最初的感動。

In Polish, they have a word "jouska"

在波蘭語中， 他們有一個單詞叫「jouska」，

which is the kind of hypothetical conversation

意思是在你腦海中被迫出現的

that you compulsively play out in your head.

假設性對話。

And finally, in German, of course in German,

最後，當然，在德語中，

they have a word called "zielschmerz"

有一個詞叫做「zielschmerz」，

which is the dread of getting what you want.

意思是對你 很想得到的東西感到敬畏。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Finally fulfilling a lifelong dream.

雖然你最後實現了夢想……

I'm German myself, so I know exactly what that feels like.

我自己是德國人， 所以我知道那是什麼樣的感覺。

Now, I'm not sure if I would use any of these words

我並不清楚我是否在日常生活中

as I go about my day,

會使用這些單詞，

but I'm really glad they exist.

但是我對這些 單詞的存在而感到高興。

But the only reason they exist is because I made them up.

但其實它們存在的原因是 這些字都是我編造出來的。

I am the author of "The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows,"

我是「The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows」網站創始人，

which I've been writing for the last seven years.

在過去七年中 我一直在編寫這個字典。

And the whole mission of the project

這個計劃的總體的目標

is to find holes in the language of emotion

是發現情感語言的漏洞，

and try to fill them

並且嘗試著將漏洞補上，

so that we have a way of talking about all those human peccadilloes

如此我們就有了一種可以討論

人類種種過失與怪癖狀態的方法，

and quirks of the human condition

that we all feel but may not think to talk about

而那種狀態我們經常都能感受到， 但卻不知道該如何形容它，

because we don't have the words to do it.

因為我們並沒有相對應的詞語 去描繪當下的狀態。

And about halfway through this project,

在這個計劃的中途，

I defined "sonder,"

我定義了一個詞「sonder」，

the idea that we all think of ourselves as the main character

意思是我們都認為我們自己是主角，

and everyone else is just extras.

其他人只是臨時演員。

But in reality, we're all the main character,

但是現實是，你認為自己是主角，

and you yourself are an extra in someone else's story.

可是你在別人的故事裡 卻只是配角罷了。

And so as soon as I published that,

然後我一發布這個詞語的定義，

I got a lot of response from people

我就收到了來自人們許多的回覆，

saying, "Thank you for giving voice to something I had felt all my life

說到「謝謝您給了我一生都感覺到，

but there was no word for that."

卻無法用單詞 去表達的感覺下了定義。 」

So it made them feel less alone.

所以這使得他們不再那麼孤單。

That's the power of words,

這就是詞語的魅力，

to make us feel less alone.

使得我們也不那麼孤單。

And it was not long after that

不久之後，

that I started to notice sonder

我開始注意到「sonder」這個詞

being used earnestly in conversations online,

被熱烈地用在網絡交流當中，

and not long after I actually noticed it,

就在我注意到這個之後沒過多久，

I caught it next to me in an actual conversation in person.

我就發現這個詞用在 我身邊人與人之間的對話當中了。

There is no stranger feeling than making up a word

沒有什麼感覺比整理出一個詞彙 並且看著它被人們接受

and then seeing it take on a mind of its own.

來的更加奇怪了。

I don't have a word for that yet, but I will.

我還沒有一個詞語 對這種感覺進行解釋，

但是早晚我會的。

(Laughter)

I'm working on it.

（笑聲）

我已經開始做這件事了。

I started to think about what makes words real,

我開始思考是什麼原因 讓這些詞語成真，

because a lot of people ask me,

因為有許多人問我，

the most common thing I got from people is,

人們經常提出的問題是：

"Well, are these words made up? I don't really understand."

「那麼，這些詞語是編造的嗎？ 我真的不理解啊。」

And I didn't really know what to tell them

我真的不知道怎麼回答他們，

because once sonder started to take off,

因為當「sonder」 這個詞開始流行時，

who am I to say what words are real and what aren't.

我算老幾，能跟別人說 哪些詞語是真的、哪些不是真的？

And so I sort of felt like Steve Jobs, who described his epiphany

而我覺得我有點像史蒂夫·喬布斯 在形容他自己頓悟時所描寫道的，

as when he realized that most of us, as we go through the day,

他意識到，大部分人在生活中

we just try to avoid bouncing against the walls too much

都在試圖避免碰壁麻煩的事，

and just sort of get on with things.

並且希望萬事都很順利。

But once you realize that people --

但，一旦你了解那些人——

that this world was built by people no smarter than you,

了解這個世界是由那些 不比你聰明的人所建構成時，

then you can reach out and touch those walls

那麼你就可以跨過那道牆壁，

and even put your hand through them

甚至伸出手幫他們一把，

and realize that you have the power to change it.

並且意識到自己就是那個 有能力改變這些麻煩的人。

And when people ask me, "Are these words real?"

當人們問我， 「這些詞語是真的嗎？」

I had a variety of answers that I tried out.

我曾經有過許多的答案 去試著回答這個問題。

Some of them made sense. Some of them didn't.

有一些答案說得通。 有一些答案說不通。

But one of them I tried out was,

但是有一個答案是，

"Well, a word is real if you want it to be real."

「如果你認為它是真的， 那它就會變真的。」

The way that this path is real because people wanted it to be there.

這個道理（路）之所以會存在 就是因為人們想要它存在。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

It happens on college campuses all the time.

這一幕在大學校園裡經常發生。

It's called a "desire path."

這叫做「渴望的小道」。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

But then I decided, what people are really asking

但是之後我發現 當他們問這個詞語是否真實存在時，

when they're asking if a word is real, they're really asking,

他們其實在問的是，

"Well, how many brains will this give me access to?"

「那麼，通過這個詞語 我能敞開多少人的心扉呢？ 」

Because I think that's a lot of how we look at language.

因為我覺得這就是我們 看待語言作用的方式。

A word is essentially a key

詞語是一把可以開啟人們大腦、

that gets us into certain people's heads.

明白他人在想什麼的關鍵鑰匙。

And if it gets us into one brain,

如果這把鑰匙只有一個人了解，

it's not really worth it,

那它就沒啥價值，

not really worth knowing.

也不值得去了解。

Two brains, eh, it depends on who it is.

如果兩個人了解的話， 就要取決於是誰了。

A million brains, OK, now we're talking.

如果是一百萬個人能了解的話， 是的，我們的對話才有意義。

And so a real word is one that gets you access to as many brains as you can.

因此一個真實存在的詞語 能幫助你了解更多人。

That's what makes it worth knowing.

這就是了解詞語魅力的所在。

Incidentally, the realest word of all by this measure is this.

順帶一提，用這種判斷方式 得出的最真實詞語是這個：

[O.K.]

【O.K.】

That's it.

就是這個。

The realest word we have.

這就是我們最真實的詞語。

That is the closest thing we have to a master key.

這就是我們最熟悉、熟練的詞語。

That's the most commonly understood word in the world,

這就是世界上最簡單易懂的單詞，

no matter where you are.

無論你來自哪裡。

The problem with that is,

問題是，

no one seems to know what those two letters stand for.

似乎沒有人知道這兩個單詞字母 代表什麼意思。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Which is kind of weird, right?

這有一點不可思議，不是嗎？

I mean, it could be a misspelling of "all correct," I guess,

我猜它可能是 「all correct」的錯誤拼寫，

or "old kinderhook."

或者是「old kinderhook」的 錯誤拼寫。

No one really seems to know, but the fact that it doesn't matter

似乎沒有人真的知道答案， 但這個無關緊要的事實

says something about how we add meaning to words.

說明了我們是如何給 詞語賦予含義的。

The meaning is not in the words themselves.

詞語的含義不在於詞語本身。

We're the ones that pour ourselves into it.

而是在於那個賦予詞語意義的人。

And I think, when we're all searching for meaning in our lives,

並且我覺得，

當我們都在尋找我們生命中的意義、

and searching for the meaning of life,

尋找生活的意義時，

I think words have something to do with that.

我覺得詞語和我們尋找的東西 有著千絲萬縷的關係。

And I think if you're looking for the meaning of something,

而且我覺得如果 你在尋找某些東西的含義時，

the dictionary is a decent place to start.

字典是一個開始尋找的好地方。

It brings a sense of order

字典為你打開了一扇

to a very chaotic universe.

通向混沌宇宙的門。

Our view of things is so limited

我們對事物的了解真的很有限，

that we have to come up with patterns and shorthands

以至於我們不得不想出 用一些形態或者是速記的方式

and try to figure out a way to interpret it

去嘗試尋找該詞語的解釋，

and be able to get on with our day.

如此才可以讓 我們的每一天繼續下去。

We need words to contain us, to define ourselves.

我們需要詞語來蘊含我們自己， 來定義我們自己。

I think a lot of us feel boxed in

我認為我們當中的許多人都感覺

被我們所用的詞語給束縛住了。

by how we use these words.

We forget that words are made up.

我們忘記了這些詞語 是被編造出來的。

It's not just my words. All words are made up,

不光光是我用的詞語。 所有的詞語都是編造出來的，

but not all of them mean something.

但不是所有的詞語都含有意義的。

We're all just sort of trapped in our own lexicons

我們只是都有點 被困在自己的詞典裡，

that don't necessarily correlate with people who aren't already like us,

而我們的詞典與不同道人的詞典 沒有必然的關係，

and so I think I feel us drifting apart a little more every year,

因此讓我感覺到 我們每一年越來越疏遠，

the more seriously we take words.

我們對待詞語也越來越嚴肅認真。

Because remember, words are not real.

但要記得，詞語不是真實的。

They don't have meaning. We do.

它們沒有任何的意義。 是我們賦予它意義。

And I'd like to leave you with a reading

最後我想與各位分享一段

from one of my favorite philosophers,

我最喜歡的其中一位哲學家 他的一句名言，

Bill Watterson, who created "Calvin and Hobbes."

《凱文的幻虎世界》的作者， 比爾·沃特森，

He said,

他說，

"Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul

「創造一個能反映你價值 並且能使你靈魂滿足的生活

is a rare achievement.

是一件了不起的成就。

To invent your own life's meaning

去創造你自己生活的意義

is not easy,

不是一件簡單的事，

but it is still allowed,

但它仍值得你一試，

and I think you'll be happier for the trouble."

並且我覺得，你會很開心 自找過這種麻煩。 」

Thank you.

謝謝。

（掌聲）

(Applause)