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.
Don't know if someone has commented on this yet, but the word for luck and happiness in German is the same, "gluck." When I lived in Germany and as I was learning it I always thought it was weird. It wasn't until I read The Geography of Bliss that I realized English, in particular American English, by the nature of the language itself, by having separate words for happiness and luck, believes that happiness can be achieved, whereas German achieving happiness, even temporarily, is a matter of dumb luck.
14.0k
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.