ABOUT THE SPEAKER
John Koenig - Writer
John 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.

More profile about the speaker
John Koenig | Speaker | TED.com
TEDxBerkeley

John Koenig: Beautiful new words to describe obscure emotions

約翰柯尼: 用優美的新詞語去描繪朦朧的感情

Filmed:
1,814,744 views

約翰柯尼 (John Koenig) 喜歡尋找新詞語來表達我們不善於表達的感受,比如說「lachesism」的意思是對災難的渴望,「sonder」的意思是對「每個人的生命和我們一樣複雜、無常」這句話的領悟。在此,他帶我們一起省思我們賦予字含義的意義,並向我們解釋這些詞語的含義會如何影響著我們的命運。
- Writer
John Koenig is writing an original dictionary of made-up words. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:13
Today今天 I want to talk
about the meaning含義 of words,
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今天我想說一說詞語的意義,
00:16
how we define確定 them
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說一說我們如何定義它們
00:17
and how they, almost幾乎 as revenge復仇,
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以及它們如何反過來
00:20
define確定 us.
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定義了我們。
00:21
The English英語 language語言
is a magnificent華麗的 sponge海綿.
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英語這門語言是座大熔爐。
00:24
I love the English英語 language語言.
I'm glad高興 that I speak說話 it.
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我喜愛英語,我也樂意說英語。
00:27
But for all that, it has a lot of holes.
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但儘管如此,英語有許多缺陷。
00:30
In Greek希臘語, there's a word, "lachesismlachesism"
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在希臘,有一個單詞叫
「lanchesism」,
00:32
which哪一個 is the hunger飢餓 for disaster災害.
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意思是對災難的渴望。
00:36
You know, when you see
a thunderstorm雷雨 on the horizon地平線
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當你在遠處地平線看到狂風暴雨,
00:40
and you just find yourself你自己
rooting生根 for the storm風暴.
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你卻發現你在為狂風暴雨喝彩。
00:44
In Mandarin普通話, they have a word "yù yī" --
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中國普通話有一個詞叫「yù yī」——
(玉衣,作者編造的字)
00:46
I'm not pronouncing發音 that correctly正確地 --
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我的發音不是很標準——
00:48
which哪一個 means手段 the longing渴望
to feel intensely激烈 again
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意思是渴望再一次強烈感受到
00:51
the way you did when you were a kid孩子.
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兒少時最初的感動。
00:55
In Polish拋光, they have a word "jouskajouska"
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在波蘭語中,
他們有一個單詞叫「jouska」,
00:58
which哪一個 is the kind of
hypothetical假想 conversation會話
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意思是在你腦海中被迫出現的
01:02
that you compulsively強制
play out in your head.
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假設性對話。
01:06
And finally最後, in German德語,
of course課程 in German德語,
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最後,當然,在德語中,
01:09
they have a word called "zielschmerzzielschmerz"
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有一個詞叫做「zielschmerz」,
01:12
which哪一個 is the dread恐懼
of getting得到 what you want.
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意思是對你
很想得到的東西感到敬畏。
01:15
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
01:20
Finally最後 fulfilling履行 a lifelong終身 dream夢想.
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雖然你最後實現了夢想……
01:23
I'm German德語 myself,
so I know exactly究竟 what that feels感覺 like.
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我自己是德國人,
所以我知道那是什麼樣的感覺。
01:27
Now, I'm not sure
if I would use any of these words
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我並不清楚我是否在日常生活中
01:29
as I go about my day,
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會使用這些單詞,
01:31
but I'm really glad高興 they exist存在.
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但是我對這些
單詞的存在而感到高興。
01:33
But the only reason原因 they exist存在
is because I made製作 them up.
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但其實它們存在的原因是
這些字都是我編造出來的。
01:37
I am the author作者 of "The Dictionary字典
of Obscure朦朧 Sorrows悲傷,"
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我是「The Dictionary of
Obscure Sorrows」網站創始人,
01:41
which哪一個 I've been writing寫作
for the last seven years年份.
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在過去七年中
我一直在編寫這個字典。
01:44
And the whole整個 mission任務 of the project項目
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這個計劃的總體的目標
01:46
is to find holes
in the language語言 of emotion情感
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是發現情感語言的漏洞,
01:51
and try to fill them
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並且嘗試著將漏洞補上,
01:52
so that we have a way of talking
about all those human人的 peccadilloes瑕庛
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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,
01:56
and quirks怪癖 of the human人的 condition條件
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01:58
that we all feel
but may可能 not think to talk about
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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,
02:02
because we don't have the words to do it.
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因為我們並沒有相對應的詞語
去描繪當下的狀態。
02:05
And about halfway through通過 this project項目,
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在這個計劃的中途,
02:08
I defined定義 "sonderSONDER,"
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我定義了一個詞「sonder」,
02:09
the idea理念 that we all think of ourselves我們自己
as the main主要 character字符
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意思是我們都認為我們自己是主角,
02:13
and everyone大家 else其他 is just extras演員.
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其他人只是臨時演員。
02:15
But in reality現實,
we're all the main主要 character字符,
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但是現實是,你認為自己是主角,
02:18
and you yourself你自己 are an extra額外
in someone有人 else's別人的 story故事.
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可是你在別人的故事裡
卻只是配角罷了。
02:23
And so as soon不久 as I published發表 that,
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然後我一發布這個詞語的定義,
02:26
I got a lot of response響應 from people
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我就收到了來自人們許多的回覆,
02:28
saying, "Thank you for giving voice語音
to something I had felt all my life
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說到「謝謝您給了我一生都感覺到,
02:32
but there was no word for that."
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卻無法用單詞
去表達的感覺下了定義。 」
02:35
So it made製作 them feel less alone單獨.
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所以這使得他們不再那麼孤單。
02:38
That's the power功率 of words,
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這就是詞語的魅力,
02:40
to make us feel less alone單獨.
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使得我們也不那麼孤單。
02:44
And it was not long after that
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不久之後,
02:46
that I started開始 to notice注意 sonderSONDER
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我開始注意到「sonder」這個詞
02:47
being存在 used earnestly切實
in conversations對話 online線上,
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被熱烈地用在網絡交流當中,
02:52
and not long after I actually其實 noticed注意到 it,
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就在我注意到這個之後沒過多久,
02:55
I caught抓住 it next下一個 to me
in an actual實際 conversation會話 in person.
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我就發現這個詞用在
我身邊人與人之間的對話當中了。
02:58
There is no stranger陌生人 feeling感覺
than making製造 up a word
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沒有什麼感覺比整理出一個詞彙
並且看著它被人們接受
03:01
and then seeing眼看 it
take on a mind心神 of its own擁有.
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來的更加奇怪了。
03:05
I don't have a word
for that yet然而, but I will.
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我還沒有一個詞語
對這種感覺進行解釋,
但是早晚我會的。
03:07
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
03:09
I'm working加工 on it.
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我已經開始做這件事了。
03:11
I started開始 to think
about what makes品牌 words real真實,
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我開始思考是什麼原因
讓這些詞語成真,
03:15
because a lot of people ask me,
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因為有許多人問我,
03:17
the most common共同 thing
I got from people is,
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人們經常提出的問題是:
03:19
"Well, are these words made製作 up?
I don't really understand理解."
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「那麼,這些詞語是編造的嗎?
我真的不理解啊。」
03:22
And I didn't really know what to tell them
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我真的不知道怎麼回答他們,
03:24
because once一旦 sonderSONDER started開始 to take off,
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因為當「sonder」
這個詞開始流行時,
我算老幾,能跟別人說
哪些詞語是真的、哪些不是真的?
03:26
who am I to say what words
are real真實 and what aren't.
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03:30
And so I sort分類 of felt like Steve史蒂夫 Jobs工作,
who described描述 his epiphany頓悟
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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,
03:34
as when he realized實現 that most of us,
as we go through通過 the day,
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他意識到,大部分人在生活中
03:37
we just try to avoid避免
bouncing蹦蹦 against反對 the walls牆壁 too much
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都在試圖避免碰壁麻煩的事,
03:40
and just sort分類 of get on with things.
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並且希望萬事都很順利。
03:43
But once一旦 you realize實現 that people --
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但,一旦你了解那些人——
03:48
that this world世界 was built內置
by people no smarter聰明 than you,
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了解這個世界是由那些
不比你聰明的人所建構成時,
03:52
then you can reach達到 out
and touch觸摸 those walls牆壁
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那麼你就可以跨過那道牆壁,
03:54
and even put your hand through通過 them
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甚至伸出手幫他們一把,
03:55
and realize實現 that you have
the power功率 to change更改 it.
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並且意識到自己就是那個
有能力改變這些麻煩的人。
03:59
And when people ask me,
"Are these words real真實?"
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當人們問我,
「這些詞語是真的嗎?」
04:02
I had a variety品種 of answers答案
that I tried試著 out.
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我曾經有過許多的答案
去試著回答這個問題。
04:04
Some of them made製作 sense.
Some of them didn't.
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有一些答案說得通。
有一些答案說不通。
04:07
But one of them I tried試著 out was,
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但是有一個答案是,
04:08
"Well, a word is real真實
if you want it to be real真實."
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「如果你認為它是真的,
那它就會變真的。」
04:12
The way that this path路徑 is real真實
because people wanted it to be there.
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這個道理(路)之所以會存在
就是因為人們想要它存在。
04:16
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
04:18
It happens發生 on college學院
campuses校園 all the time.
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這一幕在大學校園裡經常發生。
這叫做「渴望的小道」。
04:20
It's called a "desire慾望 path路徑."
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04:21
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
04:22
But then I decided決定,
what people are really asking
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但是之後我發現
當他們問這個詞語是否真實存在時,
04:25
when they're asking if a word is real真實,
they're really asking,
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他們其實在問的是,
04:27
"Well, how many許多 brains大腦
will this give me access訪問 to?"
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「那麼,通過這個詞語
我能敞開多少人的心扉呢? 」
04:33
Because I think that's
a lot of how we look at language語言.
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因為我覺得這就是我們
看待語言作用的方式。
04:35
A word is essentially實質上 a key
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詞語是一把可以開啟人們大腦、
04:38
that gets得到 us into certain某些 people's人們 heads.
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明白他人在想什麼的關鍵鑰匙。
04:41
And if it gets得到 us into one brain,
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如果這把鑰匙只有一個人了解,
04:44
it's not really worth價值 it,
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那它就沒啥價值,
04:46
not really worth價值 knowing會心.
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也不值得去了解。
04:47
Two brains大腦, eh, it depends依靠 on who it is.
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如果兩個人了解的話,
就要取決於是誰了。
如果是一百萬個人能了解的話,
是的,我們的對話才有意義。
04:49
A million百萬 brains大腦, OK, now we're talking.
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04:52
And so a real真實 word is one that gets得到 you
access訪問 to as many許多 brains大腦 as you can.
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因此一個真實存在的詞語
能幫助你了解更多人。
04:59
That's what makes品牌 it worth價值 knowing會心.
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這就是了解詞語魅力的所在。
05:02
Incidentally順便, the realest最真實 word of all
by this measure測量 is this.
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順帶一提,用這種判斷方式
得出的最真實詞語是這個:
05:06
[O.K.]
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【O.K.】
05:08
That's it.
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就是這個。
05:09
The realest最真實 word we have.
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這就是我們最真實的詞語。
05:11
That is the closest最近的 thing we have
to a master key.
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這就是我們最熟悉、熟練的詞語。
05:13
That's the most commonly常用
understood了解 word in the world世界,
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這就是世界上最簡單易懂的單詞,
05:16
no matter where you are.
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無論你來自哪裡。
05:17
The problem問題 with that is,
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問題是,
05:18
no one seems似乎 to know
what those two letters stand for.
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似乎沒有人知道這兩個單詞字母
代表什麼意思。
05:21
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
05:23
Which哪一個 is kind of weird奇怪的, right?
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這有一點不可思議,不是嗎?
05:26
I mean, it could be a misspelling拼錯
of "all correct正確," I guess猜測,
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我猜它可能是
「all correct」的錯誤拼寫,
05:29
or "old kinderhook金德."
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或者是「old kinderhook」的
錯誤拼寫。
05:30
No one really seems似乎 to know,
but the fact事實 that it doesn't matter
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似乎沒有人真的知道答案,
但這個無關緊要的事實
05:34
says something about
how we add meaning含義 to words.
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說明了我們是如何給
詞語賦予含義的。
05:38
The meaning含義 is not
in the words themselves他們自己.
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詞語的含義不在於詞語本身。
05:41
We're the ones那些
that pour ourselves我們自己 into it.
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而是在於那個賦予詞語意義的人。
05:45
And I think, when we're all searching搜索
for meaning含義 in our lives生活,
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並且我覺得,
當我們都在尋找我們生命中的意義、
05:50
and searching搜索 for the meaning含義 of life,
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尋找生活的意義時,
05:51
I think words have
something to do with that.
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我覺得詞語和我們尋找的東西
有著千絲萬縷的關係。
05:56
And I think if you're looking
for the meaning含義 of something,
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而且我覺得如果
你在尋找某些東西的含義時,
05:58
the dictionary字典 is a decent正經 place地點 to start開始.
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字典是一個開始尋找的好地方。
06:01
It brings帶來 a sense of order訂購
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字典為你打開了一扇
06:04
to a very chaotic混亂的 universe宇宙.
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通向混沌宇宙的門。
06:06
Our view視圖 of things is so limited有限
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我們對事物的了解真的很有限,
06:09
that we have to come up
with patterns模式 and shorthands速記
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以至於我們不得不想出
用一些形態或者是速記的方式
06:12
and try to figure數字 out
a way to interpret it
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去嘗試尋找該詞語的解釋,
06:14
and be able能夠 to get on with our day.
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如此才可以讓
我們的每一天繼續下去。
06:17
We need words to contain包含 us,
to define確定 ourselves我們自己.
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我們需要詞語來蘊含我們自己,
來定義我們自己。
06:21
I think a lot of us feel boxed盒裝 in
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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。
06:24
by how we use these words.
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06:25
We forget忘記 that words are made製作 up.
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我們忘記了這些詞語
是被編造出來的。
06:28
It's not just my words.
All words are made製作 up,
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不光光是我用的詞語。
所有的詞語都是編造出來的,
06:31
but not all of them mean something.
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但不是所有的詞語都含有意義的。
06:33
We're all just sort分類 of
trapped被困 in our own擁有 lexicons詞典
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我們只是都有點
被困在自己的詞典裡,
06:38
that don't necessarily一定 correlate關聯
with people who aren't already已經 like us,
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而我們的詞典與不同道人的詞典
沒有必然的關係,
06:42
and so I think I feel us drifting漂流 apart距離
a little more every一切 year,
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因此讓我感覺到
我們每一年越來越疏遠,
06:47
the more seriously認真地 we take words.
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我們對待詞語也越來越嚴肅認真。
06:51
Because remember記得, words are not real真實.
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但要記得,詞語不是真實的。
06:55
They don't have meaning含義. We do.
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它們沒有任何的意義。
是我們賦予它意義。
06:58
And I'd like to leave離開 you with a reading
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最後我想與各位分享一段
07:01
from one of my favorite喜愛 philosophers哲學家,
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我最喜歡的其中一位哲學家
他的一句名言,
07:04
Bill法案 Watterson沃特森, who created創建
"Calvin卡爾文 and Hobbes霍布斯."
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《凱文的幻虎世界》的作者,
比爾·沃特森,
07:06
He said,
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他說,
07:09
"Creating創建 a life that reflects反映
your values and satisfies滿足 your soul靈魂
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「創造一個能反映你價值
並且能使你靈魂滿足的生活
07:12
is a rare罕見 achievement成就.
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是一件了不起的成就。
07:14
To invent發明 your own擁有 life's人生 meaning含義
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去創造你自己生活的意義
07:17
is not easy簡單,
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不是一件簡單的事,
07:18
but it is still allowed允許,
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但它仍值得你一試,
07:20
and I think you'll你會 be
happier幸福 for the trouble麻煩."
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並且我覺得,你會很開心
自找過這種麻煩。 」
07:23
Thank you.
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謝謝。
(掌聲)
07:24
(Applause掌聲)
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Translated by Bowen Cai
Reviewed by Yi-Fan Yu

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
John Koenig - Writer
John 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.

More profile about the speaker
John Koenig | Speaker | TED.com