Uchibenkei

I'm sure that a lot of you, if you have done your German homework will know this word, Schadenfreude. There is no one word equivalent in the English language so Schadenfreude would be translated as 'taking pleasure as seeing someone's misfortune.'

A simple Google search will show you that there a lot of these kinds of words in other languages which don't have an equivalent in English. For example I saw the Portuguese word 'Saudade' which means the feeling of longing for something or someone that you love and which is lost.'

Another good word that I found interesting was 'Oodal.' This is a Tamil word which means the fake sulking you do after getting into a lover's tiff, usually over something inconsequential. Had you heard of that one before? I hadn't. Tamil sounds like a very interesting language.

Lets talk today though about a Japanese word, 'uchibenkei.' (内弁慶) Uchibenkei means someone who is really energetic and basically the king of the castle at home however is very timid outside of home.

Does that sound familiar? How many of you introverted/ambiverted people out there can relate to this? I know when I think about this I can think of many times in which I was very confident at home but wouldn't say much outside to people I didn't know very well or were complete strangers. I know now that when I am comfortable with someone that I can change very quickly and really come out of my shell and it is uchibenkei all of the way.

The challenge is for all of us is to take that enthusiasm and confidence from house into the outside world. Can you do it?

On a side note apparently there is a word in Japanese that is come into the vernacular in the last few years, 'nettobenkei.' (ネット弁慶) I'm sure you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what that one means. Someone who is really brave and strong online but is timid offline. Yep, from what I can tell, there seems to be many of them around the world.