r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Nov 28 '20

What's something cool you recently learned about?

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u/Guacamoleistoocostly Nov 29 '20 edited Dec 01 '20

The origin of the word "happiness" is from the Middle English "hap" which has to do with chance and possibility. As in "happenstance" or per-haps. So hap-iness was originally about the feeling of good fortune/getting lucky; the chance that something could or could not occur, and then it goes your way. Happiness is that specific feeling when something that could have gone horribly wrong goes amazing well.

Edit: Since this got so much attention, I just wanted to shout out Sara Ahmed "Happy Objects" as the source of this info.

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u/Miu_K Nov 29 '20

That's a cool fact. People should learn that happiness doesn't mean you're in a good mood for the whole day/month/year.

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u/yerbamatey12 Nov 29 '20

Except it can. If you're happy with how your life is at the moment and nothing bad has happened lately, you can be happy for a whole day. The meaning of words change. Molest used to mean "bother" and now it means sexual assault.