Word of the Week: Country Roads, Take Me Home

I'm going off-book this week because I've got travel on my mind.

Not being able to travel this year has been one of my least favorite things about the pandemic. But Declan and I are heading back to Georgia for the holidays--so living out of half-full suitcases and deciding which books to keep out for the plane has had me thinking about all of the emotions that come with traveling and vacay--and the lack of words we have in the English language to describe them.

So here's a roundup of some of my favorite international slang to describe all things wanderlust.

Vorfreude (n.), sounds like "for-froy-dah"

joyful anticipation

origin: German

Vorfreude denotes a form of anticipation that imagines future pleasures ahead of time, i.e. the happy anxiety one has before the holidays.

Hireath (n.), sounds like "here-eyeth” (roll the 'r')

homesickness or nostalgia

origin: Welsh

"Mae hiraeth arna amdanot ti. There’s a homesickness on me for you."

Resfeber (n.), sounds like "race-fay-ber”

the nervous feeling you get before a journey

origin: Swedish

I'm feeling so much resfeber for my trip home, I'm probably not going to sleep the night before!

Trouvaille (n.), sounds like "tru-vale”

something lovely discovered by chance

origin: French

In our travels, we we came across some wonderful trouvailles: from a tiny hidden bar in Paris to a secret library in Munich.

Absquatulate (v.) "ab-squat-u-late"

to flee or leave abruptly without saying goodbye

origin: English

I'm a big fan of absquatulating, when the time is right of course. And I know this is supposed to be an international slang post, but I thought this final word was interesting because when I think of "leaving abruptly without saying goodbye," I think of an Irish exit.

The origins of Irish exiting as a term has two definitive origin theories:

The first theory is derived from the stereotype of the Irish, specifically those living in the States where the term was most likely coined, being too drunk to properly say goodbye and leave a party without telling anyone.

The second, darker theory regards the mass exodus of the Irish to emigrate to America, where it wasn't uncommon to leave friends and extended family behind without notice.

But there's also a third notion out there--according to Dictionary.com, in the 18th century, the English were known to call it instead a French leave, while the French reciprocated with filer àl’anglaise, or “English leave.” So maybe the two teamed up together and just hated on the Irish together.

See also: Word of the Week page

Source: Duden The Paris Review Wiktionary Dictionary.com