A fascinating idea which I have heard Daniel Dennett approach in conversation. Language is, after all, the basis of thought and of human civilization - though it is much abused and too many people toxify it to humanity's detriment. it is saddening that language has so much potency for good, yet is undermined to such a great extent. My own father was a polyglot and would take great care in speaking to people in their own language if he knew it. he was also a very sensitive man, as am I, and when my maternal grandmother welcomed him into our family home, he did all he could to fit in. When he passed away, the tributes to him where so genuine and heartwarming and I still have the letters, both from friends and workplace. When I met one of his old colleagues many years later, quite by accident, his face lit up and said, "Oh yes! I remember Sepp!" and he recounted with joy some of the incidents during their time as friends and workmates. Let me just note that the people who befriended and worked with my father were English and the time period between 1946-1969. Also, my mother was also English and they met and fell in love through Strauss and a love of the English countryside where they lived and worked and set up family. Also, when my grandmother first invited him in for a meal, my mother clearly remembered that he was wiping tears from his eyes You don't get that through Germans not having feelings. Oh yes, he was also a cabinet maker, an artist and a musician.

@brendonmurley8276

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What a lovely reminiscence - thank you. May your memories of your father be a blessing.

I wonder if this has parallels with how we express colour To expand, older languages had less words for colour. Where such languages still have living communities using them, their speakers have been tested for colour blindness. They are no more likely to be colourblind than anyone else. Their eyes pick up the same light as anyone else. Where they differ is we see green, or blue, but they see different shades of 'grue' (or bleen, if you prefer). Same underlying objective truth, different dividing line for where something stops being a different intensity of one thing, and starts being a completely new thing So I wonder if emotion is the same? We have the same emotions, but language puts different categorisations and nuances on how we describe what we feel

@josefschiltz2192

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Amongst a few others, Noam Chomsky opines an older theory that language is primarily a tool for the construction of thought, only a small percentage apportioned for communication. What we have is an incredibly capacious mixing desk, a grab-bag to facilitate a practically infinite expression of language. It would be hardly surprising that such a powerhouse would have such a resource of nuance and that it would be influential upon our emotional states and upon our divergence of cultures.

The German language is famous for collecting various root words and connecting them to form a "new" word. In addition, there are many single/simple words in German that require an English *definition* (as opposed to a simple 1:1 translation). I imagine that every non-English language on the planet has similar non 1:1 words.

"Fremdschaemen" is a relatively new term. In the 90ties it was still uncommon, I remember creating "Xenoupudantismus" for exactly this emotion.

History shows they do. Or is that lack of feelings other people have?

Yes, Germans don't cry as easily as others. Well known.

I once thought I was born German. What a shock it was to have to, all of a sudden. looks all those emotions that only Germans have. aahhh, yeah, sure