John Koenig: Beautiful new words to describe obscure emotions
존 쾨니그(John Koenig): 이름 없는 감정들을 표현하는 아름다운 신조어
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
about the meaning of words,
우리가 단어를 어떻게 정의하고
어떻게 정의하는지에 대해
is a magnificent sponge.
I'm glad that I speak it.
영어를 할줄 아는 것이 기뻐요.
단어가 있는데
a thunderstorm on the horizon
rooting for the storm.
발견할 때가 있잖아요.
to feel intensely again
단어가 있는데
hypothetical conversation
play out in your head.
of course in German,
of getting what you want.
두려워하는 것입니다.
so I know exactly what that feels like.
어떤 건지 잘 알아요.
if I would use any of these words
이 단어들을 하나라도
is because I made them up.
제가 만들었기 때문입니다.
of Obscure Sorrows,"
저자입니다.
for the last seven years.
in the language of emotion
about all those human peccadilloes
그걸 표현하는 단어가 없기 때문에
but may not think to talk about
만들었어요.
as the main character
생각하는 것입니다.
we're all the main character,
모두 주인공이에요.
in someone else's story.
이야기 속에서는 엑스트라죠.
많이 얻었어요.
to something I had felt all my life
그걸 표현할 단어가 없었던 것을
덜어주었습니다.
in conversations online,
알게 되었습니다.
in an actual conversation in person.
쓰고 있는 걸 목격했습니다.
than making up a word
그 단어가 자기만의 모습을
take on a mind of its own.
더 이상한 기분은 없어요.
for that yet, but I will.
없지만 곧 만들 거예요.
about what makes words real,
무엇인지 생각하기 시작했어요.
I got from people is,
I don't really understand."
이해가 잘 안돼요."
해줘야 할지 모르겠는 거예요.
are real and what aren't.
진짜고 아닌지를 말하나요.
who described his epiphany
감정을 느꼈습니다.
as we go through the day,
하루를 살면서 그저
bouncing against the walls too much
피하려고나 하면서
깨달았던 것에 대해 얘기했었습니다.
여러분들보다 더 똑똑하지도 않은
by people no smarter than you,
깨닫는 순간
and touch those walls
the power to change it.
있다는 걸 알게 됩니다.
"Are these words real?"
진짜 있는 건가요?"라고 물을 때
that I tried out.
Some of them didn't.
어떤 것들이 말이 안됐었죠.
if you want it to be real."
단어는 진짜입니다."
because people wanted it to be there.
실제로 있는 것처럼요.
campuses all the time.
항상 생깁니다.
what people are really asking
진짜 있는 단어인지 물을 때
they're really asking,
싶은 거라는 생각이 들더군요.
will this give me access to?"
머릿속을 들여다 볼 수 있을까요?"
a lot of how we look at language.
방식이라고 생각하거든요.
해주는 열쇠입니다.
그 둘이 누구인지에 따라 달라집니다.
access to as many brains as you can.
머릿속을 보게 해주는 단어입니다.
by this measure is this.
가장 현실적인 단어는 이겁니다.
to a master key.
understood word in the world,
이해되는 단어입니다.
what those two letters stand for.
약어인지 모른다는 겁니다.
of "all correct," I guess,
것일수도 있잖아요.
but the fact that it doesn't matter
그래도 상관 없다는 사실이
how we add meaning to words.
부여하는지에 대해 말해줍니다.
in the words themselves.
단어 안에 있는 게 아니에요.
that pour ourselves into it.
담는 것입니다.
for meaning in our lives,
삶의 의미를 찾을 때
한다고 저는 생각합니다.
something to do with that.
for the meaning of something,
의미를 찾고 계신다면
시작점이라고 생각합니다.
매우 제한적이어서
with patterns and shorthands
a way to interpret it
to define ourselves.
정의하기 위해 단어가 필요합니다.
우리가 단어를 사용하는 방식 때문에
사실을 망각합니다.
All words are made up,
모든 단어는 만들어진 거예요.
의미하는 건 아니죠.
trapped in our own lexicons
with people who aren't already like us,
어휘에 갇혀있기에
a little more every year,
있는 것 같습니다.
단어는 진짜로 있는 게 아니니까요.
우리가 갖고 있는 겁니다.
"Calvin and Hobbes."
빌 워터슨의 말인데
your values and satisfies your soul
만족시키는 인생을 만드는 건 드문 업적이다.
happier for the trouble."
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
John Koenig - WriterJohn Koenig is writing an original dictionary of made-up words.
Why you should listen
John Koenig has spent the last seven years writing an original dictionary of made-up words, The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, which fills gaps in the language with hundreds of new terms for emotions. This project seeks to restore sadness to its original meaning (from Latin satis, "fullness") by defining moments of melancholy that we may all feel, but never think to mention -- deepening our understanding of each other by broadening the emotional palette, from avenoir, "the desire to see memories in advance," to zenosyne, "the sense that time keeps going faster."
Each entry is a collage of word roots borrowed from languages all around the world. Some entries are even beginning to enter the language outright:
sonder n. The realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own -- populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness -- an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you'll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk.
His original YouTube series, The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, which he writes, edits and narrates himself, has drawn acclaim from John Green and Beyoncé to Michael from Vsauce. "Each episode is a soothing meditation on its subject, fortified by a hypnotic soundtrack and Koenig’s twistingly intelligent narration," writes The Daily Dot.
He currently works as a freelance video editor, voice actor, graphic designer, illustrator, photographer, director and writer. His writing has been published in countless tattoos, stories, song titles and band names, but never on paper -- though he is currently working on publishing a book adaptation. Originally from Minnesota and Geneva, Switzerland, John lives in Budapest with his wife.
John Koenig | Speaker | TED.com