The range of human emotion varies widely not only among individuals, but also across cultures. There is a poignancy in an inexpressible emotion (there ought to be a word for that!) — but there’s a good chance that what is inexpressible in one language is pinpointed by a word or phrase in another.
Tim Lomas of the University of East London has set about collecting these idioms from all over the world. Learn more here.
2 Comments
Heh! I always thought the word “poignant” does mean sort of inexpressible.
For that matter, the word “inexpressible” does a pretty superior job of describing the concept!
Sometimes we overlook the richness of homely words because we are so familiar with them. :-)
poignancy…aka “trigger”.