【068】用新词改变世界|Beautiful new words to describe obscure emotions

Speaker： John Koenig

Key words：语言

Abstract：TED演讲者John Koenig先生花了七年时间编撰了一本字典，名为《晦涩情感词语字典》。他欣喜看到自己创造的词语得到越来越多人的认可与使用，这犹如让他感受到了如史蒂夫·乔布斯改变世界般的喜悦与满足。 他认为语言是打开他人心房的钥匙， 而我们很多人被自己惯用的词语所限制，却忘记了这些词不过是他人创造的，所有词都是如此。

Content：

John Koenig spent 7 years establishing a dictionary called The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows whose mission was to

• find holes in the language of emotion and try to fill them
• so that we have a way of talking about all those human peccadilloes and quirks of the human condition

what makes a word real?

• the use of it

• The meaning is not in the words themselves. We're the ones that pour ourselves into it.

And I think if you're looking for the meaning of something, the dictionary is a decent place to start. It brings a sense of order to a very chaotic universe. Our view of things is so limited that we have to come up with patterns and shorthands and try to figure out a way to interpret it and be able to get on with our day. We need words to contain us, to define ourselves. --- John Koenig

Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. To invent your own life's meaning is not easy, but it is still allowed, and I think you'll be happier for the trouble. ---Bill Watterson

---

Comment：

语言塑造着我们的世界观，我们看待事物的能力也被词语所限制，要像发明新词一样，创造自己的人生，去发现，去探索，去创造，去表达。

Invent your own life's meaning like invent a new word.

Link：TED|Open163

快来加入#1000个TED学习计划#，在“一千个TED视频的探索之旅”中分享你最好最实用的TED学习笔记