When I was living in Japan, I often came across simple Japanese words that had a whole lot of meaning in it. I often asked my godmother, who is Japanese, to explain what they meant. Not only do the Japanese love creating new words combining languages from other countries with their own, they also love piecing words with different meanings from their own language into one short abbreviation. It's fascinating. The power of the Japanese ability to convey strong messages in a few syllubus always deeply intrigued me and I had a nostalgic and fun kick out of stumbling upon these.
1. Irusu
This one word perfectly conveys a simple yet intricate action one English word could never convey. My godfather loved to say irusu when the phone rings.
2. Shinrin-yoku
This was my godmother's favorite one. She often drove us into forests for a quick hike or simply just to be. She'd also always pack us a delicious picnic too.
3. Tsundoku
I am sometimes guilty of this, but my godmother reads every book she's ever gotten her hands on.
4. Ukiyo
The art of mediation is to always be living in the moment. Most of the time I'm living in the future because I'm always anticipating what needs to be done around here!
5. Wasuremono
One of the words my godmother always say to me as I dashed out the house. Wasuremono nai you-ni!! (Don't be forgetting something!)
6. Bimyou
The national default word for when you don't have a fantastic opinion to say in reply of a question asked but still needs to be polite. Japan is the land of politeness. For e.g. What do you think about the new Prime Minister? Bimyou.
7. Yoisho
This is more a men's word to say towards the end of the day. It really has no specific meaning other than to portray somewhat a sigh of relief that the day is coming to an end in a few more minutes so let's finish this work and wrap up. I don't remember hearing any of my female Japanese friends flopping into a chair and saying that, ever.
( Images and words taken from buzzfeed. )