I wrote a poem today which included the word “respair”. This was neither a typo nor something I just made up. It is a word that got lost somewhere along the pages of time. The last known citations for it date back to 1425 AD. For a word that defines the return of hope after a period of despair, it’s been an undeserved and shabby end, don’t you think?
I, for one, have always been fascinated with words. It baffles me that something as full of complexity like feelings can be conveyed through words. We might not be able to find the right word for what we feel at the right time, but there’s comfort in the fact that one certainly does exist. If not in our language then in some other.
Recently, I even did a short story series that brought to the fore a Welsh word called Hiraeth and another forgotten word called Sonder. Please click on the links provided to read a story conveying the beauty of these two words.
I am thinking of putting in an attempt to rekindle love for words that have very specific meanings. Not only would they cut down on long ramblings, but will also enrich the beauty of our prose.
Now, I do not wish to test the might of the wisdom that had gone behind sending these words into oblivion in the first place. However, don’t you feel it’s nice to learn a little something new every other day? So if you’re up for a trip down memory lane of words long lost, give me a thumbs up in the comments section down below. I’ll turn this into a series then, with, of course, stories rather than just an informational like this one.
Just so you know, there’s a German word called ‘Schadenfreude’ which literally means the pleasure derived by someone from another person’s misfortune. These Germans really have a word for everything!
Do let me know if you think the series would be a good thing for you too. Thank you for reading!
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Moonlighting Scrivener 