New words today.

At the risk of showing some people how a certain trick was done, I present some lovely new words I learned today from “A Few of My Favorite Words” page at andreas.com:

Wabi: Japanese noun. A flaw that gives elegance and uniqueness to the whole. Western culture sees beauty in mass produced technical symmetry, such as a Porsche Boxster. Japanese however appreciate the wabi of a cracked tea cup that distinguishes it from all other tea cups. This can be as simple as the tiny crack in one’s favorite cup. It can also be handmade books or dinners that you’ve made from scratch. Everyone’s face has wabi.

Harikuyo: Japanese noun. It once meant “the shrine of broken needles” where one kept and respected the broken things that have served one.

Mokita: New Guinea noun. The truth that everyone knows but no one admits.

Lots more at the page.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada
This work by Chris McLaren is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada.