Curious words

What is "meraki" and why do we need it? 10 words with deep meaning

Published on February 13, 2025

Credit: JACQUELINE BRANDWAYN

Languages often have words uniquely tailored to describe feelings, situations, or objects that would require too many words to explain in English. These bizarrely specific words from around the world give us a glimpse into different ways people interact with the world through language. Here are 10 incredibly specific yet useful examples that may leave you wondering why English doesn’t have them.

Kintsugi (Japanese)

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Meaning: The art of repairing broken pottery with gold or silver lacquer.

That being said, kintsugi is not just a repair technique —it symbolizes the acceptance of flaws and the passage of time.

This method not only enhances the object's true value but also leaves a beautiful testament to its history.

Schadenfreude (German)

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Meaning: The pleasure derived from someone else’s misfortune.

While not entirely negative, schadenfreude describes the peculiar satisfaction we sometimes feel when others suffer. If you've ever laughed when someone accidentally tripped, you've partaken in schadenfreude.

It’s a complex emotional reaction, most often triggered when no real harm or damage is done to the other person.

Sobremesa (Spanish)

Credit: Louis Hansel

Meaning: The period of relaxation after a meal when people remain at the table, chatting.

More than just hanging out or lingering after a meal, the sobremesa is a cherished part of social life in both Spain and Latin America.

It’s a time for bonding, reflection, and conversation —without the rush to move on to the next activity.

Fernweh (German)

Credit: Mesut Kaya

Meaning: A strong longing or desire to travel to far-off places.

Often translated as "wanderlust," fernweh is a deep, almost painful yearning for distant lands and adventures.

It's distinct from the common desire to travel, as it speaks to a craving for unfamiliarity, exploration, and the discovery of new cultures and landscapes.

Tingo (Pascuense)

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Meaning: The act of borrowing things from a friend’s house, one at a time, until there is nothing left.

This unusual word from the native Easter Island language points to an almost comical sense of gradual loss. Tingo suggests a certain slyness, as the borrower systematically takes things until there's nothing left to take.

Meraki (Greek)

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Meaning: Doing something with soul, creativity, or love.

Meraki is about putting your heart and soul into what you do.

It could be anything; cooking a meal, creating art, or even cleaning the house, but to count as meraki it must be done with such attention and passion that it becomes an expression of who you are.

Dépaysement (French)

Credit: Rich Brown

Meaning: The feeling of being out of one’s home country, experiencing unfamiliar surroundings.

While traveling can be exciting, dépaysement captures that disorienting feeling of being "out of place" in a new environment.

It’s not necessarily negative —rather, it’s a mix of confusion and thrill, as one navigates the unknown.

Saudade (Portuguese)

Credit: Aidan Smith

Meaning: A deep emotional state of nostalgic longing for something or someone that is absent.

Saudade is often described as a melancholic feeling, but it also carries a sense of love and gratitude for what was once present.

This word is central to the Portuguese and Brazilian cultures, representing a longing for both lost people and moments that can never be recaptured.

Gezellig (Dutch)

Credit: NATHAN MULLET

Meaning: A sense of coziness and togetherness, often in a comfortable, intimate setting.

Gezellig describes a feeling that goes beyond simple warmth and coziness as we understand it. It refers to the feeling of being surrounded by loved ones, enjoying simple comforts, or relaxing in the intimacy of your own house.

Yūgen (Japanese)

Credit: Prince Patel

Meaning: A profound and mysterious sense of the beauty of the universe.

Yūgen is a word that probes the depths of an experience that’s often beyond words. It’s not about directly experiencing beauty in the world, but rather about intuiting (and enjoying) the fleeting, impermanent nature of the universe.

Ocean wonders

Don't dive into the sea before you read this! 10 secrets about octopuses

Published on February 13, 2025

Credit: Maximillian Conacher

Have you ever wondered how octopuses live? How do they hunt, feed, and escape predators? They may not be the cutest animals on Earth, but it turns out they are able to do incredible things! Recent discoveries have revealed that octopuses are much more intelligent than we ever thought. These creatures can evaluate options, strategize, and even recognize other animals, including humans! If you want to learn more, join us as we reveal these 10 surprising secrets about the life of octopuses!

Long-term residents

Credit: Ashleigh Joy Photography

Today, we can find several species of octopus in our oceans, but this doesn't mean that they are something recent. In fact, it's quite the opposite.

Octopuses have been around for a long, long time. The oldest known relative of cephalopods dates back about 330 million years. That's a really long time ago! This ancient fossil, discovered in what is now Fergus County, Montana, belonged to a creature with ten arms.

So much time navigating the seas has served them well, allowing octopuses to develop skills we humans can only dream of.

Camouflage

Credit: Roger Darnell

Chameleons might be famous for their camouflage skills, but they're not the only ones with this superpower. Blending into the surroundings and becoming practically invisible is an art practiced by octopuses, too.

Even though they have many arms to hide -8, to be exact- this is not a problem for octopuses when it comes to camouflage. Octopus skin is quite different from ours: they have special cells called chromatophores that let them change not only the color of their skin but also the texture! And that's not all; this process only takes a couple of seconds, adapting their colors and textures to blend with sand, corals, rocks, and any other surface.

Disguises and imitations

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Octopuses not only blend in with the colors and shapes of their surroundings but can also mimic other creatures. That's right, they are masters of disguise.

Like a comic book villain who changes appearance to trick others, the mimic octopus can alter its color and shape to resemble other animals in its environment, often choosing to impersonate the shapes of the creatures most feared and avoided by predators.

This octopus can imitate, for example, a venomous sea snake by sporting stripes of different colors and wiggling its arms in a snake-like dance, copying both its appearance and behavior!

They recognize other creatures, including humans

Credit: Αντωνης Κοροτσάκης

To imitate and adapt, octopuses need to be aware of their surroundings and recognize different places and animals. And they do it.

Octopuses can recognize other sea creatures, and some research even suggests they might recognize humans. There have been documented cases where researchers return to visit the same octopus in the sea, and the octopus often develops a gradual trust in them. Amazing!

There's a reason for all this: besides their excellent vision and sensory perception, octopuses also have an exceptional memory that helps them retain and use new information.

They use tools

Credit: Aaron Burden

Certain abilities are clear signs of high intelligence in animals, and using tools is one of those.

Octopuses use objects from their surroundings, adapting them to suit their needs. Take the veined octopus, for example. This species collects shells to use as a shelter when escaping predators or as a shield when dealing with difficult prey. Amazing, right?

But that's not all! These octopuses have also been observed gathering shells and carrying them for future use. This behavior suggests not just intelligence and good memory, but also the ability to plan ahead!

Huge brains

Credit: Sunira Moses

All that knowledge and skills are packed into a huge brain.

As we've seen, octopuses offer much more than just 8 arms and an extensive color palette. These animals also have impressive intelligence and a highly complex nervous system, which is reflected in the large size of their brains. In fact, their brain-to-body ratio is one of the highest among invertebrates. In other words, their brain is really big, considering their body proportions.

Given all that this creature is capable of, the size of its brain is no surprise.

Great memory and problem-solving skills

Credit: Kostas Morfiris

Octopuses are great at problem-solving. They not only learn from their experiences but also remember the knowledge, locations, and animals they encounter, using this information for future situations.

All this makes them great learners and excellent performers. In different experiments, both in captivity and in the wild, octopuses have demonstrated their ability to open jars, navigate through mazes with ease, and elaborate complex strategies for hunting, among other surprising behaviors. Many octopuses, for example, hide near the paths of passing crabs and wait for the perfect moment to launch a surprise attack. A real ambush!

Three hearts

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A single heart isn't enough to keep a large brain, a mutable body, and 8 long tentacles irrigated.

That is why octopuses have the privilege of possessing no less than 3 hearts, all with a well-defined function. 2 of these hearts are responsible for pumping blood to the gills for oxygenation. Then, the third heart, the systemic heart, circulates the oxygenated blood throughout the rest of the body.

Want to know more? The third heart stops beating when the octopus swims!

Sacrificial parenting

Credit: Yaselyn Perez

There's a lot we can say about octopuses, but calling them selfish isn't one of them. Why? Well, let's see.

When octopus mothers lay their eggs, they reserve all their focus, dedication, and energy to caring for them. The mother cleans, protects, and arranges the eggs, never taking her eyes off them. In doing so, it abandons all other activities, even stopping eating entirely.

Unfortunately, by not eating, the octopus becomes weak and debilitated. As a consequence, once the eggs hatch, the mother often doesn't survive.

Blue blood

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Octopuses might not be royalty, but they do have blue blood! That's right; these creatures never stop surprising us. First, they have 3 hearts, and now they show us blood that's literally blue!

How is it different from our blood? Human blood contains hemoglobin, which has iron and gives it its characteristic red color. On the other hand, the blood that circulates in the incredible bodies of octopuses contains a protein called hemocyanin, which is what makes the difference. Hemocyanin contains copper, which gives the blood its blue color when it's oxygenated.