things from sappho to call your girlfriend

ἀστέρων πάντων ὀ κάλλιστος (of all the stars, the fairest)

πόλυ πάκτιδος ἀδυμελεστέρα, χρύσω χρυσοτέρα (far sweeter-sounding than the lyre, far more golden than gold)

τὰν ἰόκολπον (violet-tressed, one with violets in her lap)

ὦ κάλα, ὦ χαρίεσσα κόρα (o beautiful, graceful girl)

ἦρος ἄγγελος ἰμερόφωνος ἀήδων (nightingale, sweet-voiced messenger of spring)

a list of untranslatable words ☕️

cafunébrazilian portuguese: the act of running one’s fingers, gently but deeply, through someone else’s hair
積ん読 (tsundoku) japanese: the act of leaving a book unread after buying it, typically piled up together with other such unread books

木漏れ日 (komorebi) japanese: sunlight filtering through the trees


mångata swedish: the roadlike reflection of moonlight on water

verklempt yiddish: a person who is too emotional to speak


liefdesverdriet dutch: the heartache caused from an unrequited love and the mental pains one endures; the physical pain of depression


fika swedish/finnish: gathering together to talk and take a
break from everyday routines, usually drinking coffee and eating
pastries


幽玄 (yūgen) japanese: an indescribable sentiment, can only be
described as a painful awareness of the mysterious beauty and human
suffering


l’esprit de l’escalier french: the moment one finally thinks of a witty remark, far too late, after the opportunity has passed


kilig – tagalog: the feeling of butterflies in your stomach, usually when something romantic or cute takes place
いるす

(irusu) japanese: pretending to be absent from home when someone is at the door


habseligkeiten german: personal belongings, small treasures and property, which define our happiness and sentiments


nefelibataportuguese: cloud walker; name given to the quixotic dreamers, they appear spacey, otherworldly, but intelligent


σοφρωσύνη (sophrosyne) greek: self-control, balance, wisdom & grace;virtue that follows the aphorisms “nothing in excess” & “know thyself"


hiraethwelsh: homesickness for a place which never even existed.
Connotations of sadness, yearning, profound nostalgia and wistfulness


torpe tagalog: being too shy to pursue amorous desires


waldeinsamkeitgerman: the feeling of being alone in the woods


litost czech: the humiliated despair we feel when someone accidentally reminds us, trough their accomplishment, of our inadequacies


dustsceawung old english: contemplation of the fact that dust used to be other things – the walls of a city, a book, a great tree…

duendespanish: the spirit of evocation; the mysterious power a work of art has to deeply move a person


gattara italian: a woman, often old and lonely, who devotes herself to stray cats

tоска russian: a sensation of great spiritual anguish, often
without any specific cause, a longing with nothing to long for,
nostalgia


φιλότιμο (philotimo) greek: a complex array of virtues; expressed through acts of generosity & sacrifice w/o expecting anything in return
gezellig
dutch: abstract sensation of individual well-being that one shares with
others;cozy ambience, anything pleasant, homely, friendly

Most of us learn early on to think of love as a feeling. When we feel drawn to someone, we cathect with them; that is, we invest feelings or emotion in them. That process of investment wherein a loved one becomes important to us is called ‘cathexis.’ In his book [M. Scott] Peck rightly emphasizes that most of us ‘confuse cathecting with loving.’ We all know how often individuals feeling connected to someone through the process of cathecting insist that they love the other person even if they are hurting or neglecting them. Since their feeling is that of cathexis, they insist that what they feel is love.

When we understand love as the will to nurture our own and another’s spiritual growth, it becomes clear that we cannot claim to love if we are hurtful and abusive. Love and abuse cannot coexist. Abuse and neglect are, by definition, the opposities of nurturance and care.

Bell Hooks, All About Love: New Visions

Nüshu
(literally “women’s writing” in Chinese) is a syllabic script created
and used exclusively by women in the Jiangyong County in Hunan province
of southern China. Up until the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) women were
forbidden access to formal education, and so Nüshu was developed in
secrecy as a means to communicate. Since its discovery in 1982, Nüshu
remains to be the only gender-specific writing system in the world.

Read more here.

Persian words for sexuality

LGBT (and also Queer) : دگرباشی = Degarbashi
Genderqueer : خارج از جنسیت = Kharej Az Jenseya
Cisgender : هم‌ سو جنسی = Ham So Jensi
Heterosexuality : دگرجنس‌ گرایی = Degar Jens Garayi
Homosexuaity : همجنس‌گرایی = Ham Jens Garayi
Homosexual :  همجنس‌ خواه – همجنس‌گرا = Hamjens Gara – Hamjens Khah
Bisexual : دوجنس‌گرایی = Do Jens Garayi
Transgender : ترا جنسیتی = Tara Gensiyati
Transexual : تراجنسی = Tara Jensi
Transman : ترا مرد = Tara Mard
Transwoman :  ترا زن = Tara Zan
Asexuality : بی‌ جنس‌ گرایی = Bi Jens Garayi
Pansexuality : همه‌ جنس‌ گرایی = Hameh Jens Garayi
Polysexuality : چند جنس‌ گرایی = Chand Jens Garayi

WHY ARE YOU LONELY: A TEXT GAME – Mallory Ortberg

WHY ARE YOU LONELY: CHOOSE ONE

  • FAILED TO NURTURE RELATIONSHIPS BORN OUT OF CONVENIENCE ONCE CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES REQUIRED ACTIVE PARTICIPATION FROM YOU
  • WATCHED NETFLIX FOR SEVEN HOURS INSTEAD OF SLEEPING BECAUSE YOU HAVE ONCE AGAIN MISTAKEN INERTIA FOR REST
  • CONFUSED “SELF-CARE” WITH “SELF-INDULGENCE” AGAIN; YOU ARE INCAPABLE
    OF EXPERIENCING GENUINE REFRESHMENT OR RESTORATION BUT YOU DO SPEND A
    LOT OF MONEY AT NAIL SALONS
  • ONCE AGAIN CONFUSED “EMPATHY” FOR “TAKING RESPONSIBILITY” AND
    INVITED OTHERS TO UNLOAD THEIR EMOTIONAL BURDENS ON YOU WITHOUT FIRST
    ENSURING RECIPROCITY, WHOOPS
  • ANTICIPATORILY BLAMED OTHER PEOPLE FOR NOT CALLING YOU WITHOUT ONCE ASKING YOURSELF WHY YOU CAN’T CALL THEM
  • ASSUMING ANY TIME SPENT TOGETHER THAT YOU HAD TO INITIATE IS SOMEHOW
    LESS AUTHENTIC THAN REQUESTS FOR TIME SPENT TOGETHER THAT YOU ACCEPT
  • BELIEVE “PERIODICALLY EXPERIENCING THE HUMAN CONDITION” MEANS SOMETHING IS FUNDAMENTALLY BROKEN WITHIN YOU
  • CONSTANTLY LIE ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS THEN WONDER WHY YOU FEEL LIKE NO ONE KNOWS YOU
  • MISTAKENLY BELIEVE THAT NEGATIVE FEELINGS MUST BE MISTAKES EITHER TO BE AVOIDED OR FIXED RATHER THAN EXPERIENCED
  • DESIRE TO BE FULLY UNDERSTOOD WITHOUT THE CONCOMITANT WILLINGNESS TO FULLY EXPLAIN YOURSELF
  • BELIEVE TRYING AT SOMETHING A LITTLE BIT SHOULD RESULT IN INSTANT
    PERFECTION AND FIND YOURSELF HORRIFIED AND ASHAMED OF MAKING REALISTIC
    PROGRESS
  • TRY COCONUT OIL
  • CONVINCED THAT HONESTLY ADMITTING YOUR PROBLEMS WILL DRIVE PEOPLE
    AWAY BECAUSE NO ONE LIKES COMPLAINING SO INSTEAD YOU OFFER EVERYONE A
    PISS-POOR SIMULACRUM OF BEING EASY-GOING
  • STILL JUST WAITING FOR THINGS TO HAPPEN TO YOU INSTEAD OF EXPRESSING YOUR DESIRES ALOUD
  • THINK YOU’RE BEING PLAYFUL BUT ACTUALLY YOU JUST GET MEAN WHEN YOU DRINK
  • SPEND ALL YOUR TIME SAYING THINGS LIKE “EITHER’S GOOD” OR “DOESN’T
    MATTER TO ME” WHEN IN FACT ONLY ONE THING IS GOOD AND IT DOES MATTER TO
    YOU BUT YOU THINK “NOT EXPRESSING A PREFERENCE” IS THE BEST PERSONALITY
    TRAIT YOU HAVE TO OFFER OTHERS
  • PEOPLE ACTUALLY MORE AWARE OF YOUR BARELY-CONCEALED CONTEMPT FOR THEIR CHOICES AND RELATIONSHIPS THAN YOU THINK THEY ARE
  • NO GOOD REASON, SORRY

Mallory Ortberg plz stop laying my psyche bare for the world to see

The Witches’ Alphabet, also known as the Theban Alphabet,
has long been used by practitioners of sorcery to encode their
writings. The oldest surviving book containing the Theban Alphabet is
Johannes Trithemius’ Polygraphia, c.1518. This exerpt
explains how Trithemius learned of the alphabet from a pre-existing book
on magick, now lost to time, which he attributes to Peter d’Abano:

“Sequitur aliud alphabetum Honorii cognomento Thebani, cuius
ministerio suas in magicis fatuitates abscondit, sicut Petrus de Apono
testatur in suo maiore libro quarto.“

Here follows another alphabet of Honorius surnamed the Theban, and
the use thereof is for hiding the foolishness of his magic, as Petrus de
Abano testifies in his greater fourth book.