Sunday, September 8, 2019

Vocabulary

According to this Tweet from Haggard Hawks, the Welsh word "hiraeth" refers to an interesting mix of nostalgia with homesickness -- it's more than just missing the attributes of a particular time and place; it's thinking that time and place is actually more your home than any current situation.

It could be a useful word, but we have to realize that every time and place is one of mixed blessings. More conservative-leaning folks such as I might have a sense of homesickness for the 1980s and the presidency of Ronald Reagan. But that was also a decade with Ted Kennedy in it, which means that although the occupant of the White House was significantly smarter and more dignified then than now, Washington waitresses and Kennedy campaign staffers are a good deal safer today.

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