Mother Tongue · No. 94

Say it out loud

hiraeth

HEER-eyeth noun, Welsh

A homesickness for a home you cannot return to, or that never was.

Welsh, from hir, long.

The Lexicon Letter · No. 38

Say it out loud

ikigai

ee-kee-GUY noun, Japanese

A reason for being; the thing that gets you up in the morning.

Japanese: iki, life, and kai, worth.

N

obody makes soup for a stranger. Think about that the next time someone hands you a bowl. Soup is slow and unglamorous, and it can’t be

rushed or photographed well. It is what we cook when we want someone to be all right, and have no better words for it.

Broth · Essay

Soup is a love language

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Borrowed Words · No. 178

Word of the day

wabi-sabi

WAH-bee SAH-bee noun, Japanese

Finding beauty in things that are imperfect, impermanent and incomplete.

Japanese: wabi, quiet simplicity, and sabi, the beauty of age.

The Lexicon Letter · No. 111

Word of the week

petrichor

PET-ri-kor noun

The pleasant, earthy smell that comes with the first rain after a dry spell.

Coined in 1964 from Greek petra, stone, and ichor, the fluid in the veins of the gods.

“

The sea doesn’t owe you a wave. Paddle out anyway.

Keanu Kahale

Surf coach, Honolulu

Word of the Week · No. 160

Say it out loud

petrichor

PET-ri-kor noun

The pleasant, earthy smell that comes with the first rain after a dry spell.

Coined in 1964 from Greek petra, stone, and ichor, the fluid in the veins of the gods.

Borrowed Words · No. 123

Word of the week

komorebi

ko-mo-REH-bee noun, Japanese

Sunlight filtering through the leaves of trees.

Japanese: tree, escaping, and sunlight.

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Plain Words · No. 236

A word to keep

ikigai

ee-kee-GUY noun, Japanese

A reason for being; the thing that gets you up in the morning.

Japanese: iki, life, and kai, worth.

Word of the Week · No. 250

A word to keep

selcouth

SEL-kooth adjective

Unfamiliar and rare, yet marvellous.

From Old English seldcūth, seldom known.

Borrowed Words · No. 220

Say it out loud

petrichor

PET-ri-kor noun

The pleasant, earthy smell that comes with the first rain after a dry spell.

Coined in 1964 from Greek petra, stone, and ichor, the fluid in the veins of the gods.

Borrowed Words · No. 192

Say it out loud

fika

FEE-ka noun and verb, Swedish

A break for coffee and something sweet, taken with others.

Swedish, from an old reversal of kaffi, coffee.

Mother Tongue · No. 73

A word to keep

ephemeral

i-FEM-er-al adjective

From Greek ephēmeros, lasting only a day.

The Lexicon Letter · No. 217

A word to keep

sprezzatura

spret-sa-TOO-ra noun, Italian

Making something difficult look effortless.

Italian, coined by Baldassare Castiglione in The Book of the Courtier, 1528.

A garden is a conversation you have with next spring.

Ingrid Solberg

Gardener, Bergen

No. 164