Do you feel held back by your own language, like there is really no word to express what's in your mind?

Question

How can you look up a word in a dictionary or thesaurus when you don't know how to describe it?

Answer 1

How ironic! I was just doing this last night! I had the thesaurus out and I couldn't find the word I was looking for! I was like, "D@mn English!" Slowly, we just need to start making new words up. Rappers do it everyday!

Answer 2

You need to enhance your vocabulary. Read more. Use a thesaurus to find words with similar meanings. Or, as I used to do when I was younger, read one page in the dictionary every day. You'll be surprised how many words are out there that you've never heard before.

Answer 3

I think the best you could do is to look up a word that means something similar in a thesaurus (preferably online), then you can see the synonyms. At this point, if one of the synonyms seems closer you can click (or look up) on the synonym and see its synonyms... Sounds time consuming, but it's not that bad. I have done that before to find a word with just the right connotation.

Answer 4

Sometimes. When I look at movies, and like the girlfriend gets angry at the guy, she's like "There are no words to express how I feel", in which she's probably right. I'm pretty sure that happens in every language, though. Except the Greeks. Their language is flat-out awesome.

Answer 5

I am a writer. i would stop writing if there were such limits to language and dedicate myself to hunting undefined concepts, trapping them and sharing them with others. Everything is just metaphor anyway. Thus far, though, all i do is use little concepts to make up the big new metaphor. i have not met a feeling/thought that has no metaphor. Even now there is a gellatinous, transparent flower of fear blossoming in my heart as i think of going to meet... that someone.

Answer 6

Yeah, although english is the universal language, is it really catholic when there are no words to express what's in your mind? Maybe some things are expressed so well that it leaves you speechless.

Then, define true love.

Answer 7

I actually felt that way just last night during a conversation with a friend... I knew what I wanted to say, yet there just wasn't a word perfect for capturing the essence of what I was trying to say.

Answer 8

I guess words can never come up to the original experience.
That's why it will never really work to describe 'love' in a way that equals ones feelings.

Answer 9

I dont exactly know how to define it, Spanish being my mother tongue, English at age 9 and is sometimes difficult to express in English what Iam thinking in Spanish. this is why I dont believe in bilingual education ,is important to master one language first ,then move on to another. Also there are words in Spanish one canot bring into English.

Answer 10

I dont think that I can express whats in my mind in any language. Body language seems to work best for me.