Grasping for the Right Word

[yowser]

Comfortable...
In the context of the conversation it might have gone thusly.

"Are you not at least comfortable with your lot?"

Beat me to it.

The standard Jewish response to the question, but has to be said just right.

'I'm comfortable.' (Means doing okay, money's not a problem, health is fair, my kids married well, and all of it could all change in an instant so I am grateful for my good fortune.)

 

[onehitwanda]

Spent a moment with my thesaurus and will offer this humble rating...

2 Slightly content
3 Mildly pleased

Two adverbs. That's a spanking.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Two adverbs. That's a spanking.

Yes Mistress. If it pleases you mistress...

 

[SamanthaBehgs]

Two adverbs. That's a spanking.

Just for research purposes, does that get you one hit total or one hit per adverb?

 

[MiaBabe23]

Loving the debate, although I don’t fully agree with many of the suggestions above - it’s amazing how subjective language can be sometimes!
I think words like fulfilled, contented, gratified, grateful, cheerful, blithe would express an 8, on your scale

 

[MrPixel]

This is a VERY detailed image that goes into many emotional words that can be used to describe your current state: https://csdl-images.ieeecomputer.org/trans/ta/2013/01/figures/tta20130101161.gif

That's IT! Thank you. I bookmarked it. Very useful tool.

 

[MrPixel]

I think words like fulfilled, contented, gratified, grateful, cheerful, blithe would express an 8, on your scale

I dated a Blithe once. She was okay.

 

[SamanthaBehgs]

That's IT! Thank you. I bookmarked it. Very useful tool.

Glad I could help!

 

[GuiltyCowboy]

My wife and I were enjoying a late lunch at our usual place today, and in idle conversation she asked that one question all husbands dread, "Do these pants make my butt look fat?"

Uh. No. Not that one. Strike that. The other one, "Are you happy?" I was about a third of the way into my fishbowl margarita, so, yeah, I was feeling somewhat mellow and satisfied with the moment. But happy? I told her, "I'm okay with things in general, but I wouldn't call it happy. Not any of the other dwarves, either." After the obligatory smirk, she countered with, "Complacent, maybe?"

Which elicited the wordsmith, and all day I've been pondering the "happy" question. "Complacent" isn't really the right word, it connotes sort of a naïveté, a self-satisfied bliss of uncritical satisfaction. What I guess I was looking for was a word that would be about an 8 on the scale, the scale being 0 for miserable and 10 for happy, where 11 on the dial would be "ecstatic."

Suggestions? And do you have a word gnawing at you that doesn't quite fit a moment you're trying to write?

I believe Pink Floyd may have a song for this. There is no pain, you are receding.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

I believe Pink Floyd may have a song for this. There is no pain, you are receding.

The Stones came close too:

You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes, well, you just might find
You get what you need

 

[MrPixel]

The Stones came close too:

You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes, well, you just might find
You get what you need

Happens to have been a personal anthem for the, oh, past 50 years.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

My wife and I were enjoying a late lunch at our usual place today, and in idle conversation she asked that one question all husbands dread, "Do these pants make my butt look fat?"

Uh. No. Not that one. Strike that. The other one, "Are you happy?" I was about a third of the way into my fishbowl margarita, so, yeah, I was feeling somewhat mellow and satisfied with the moment. But happy? I told her, "I'm okay with things in general, but I wouldn't call it happy. Not any of the other dwarves, either." After the obligatory smirk, she countered with, "Complacent, maybe?"

Which elicited the wordsmith, and all day I've been pondering the "happy" question. "Complacent" isn't really the right word, it connotes sort of a naïveté, a self-satisfied bliss of uncritical satisfaction. What I guess I was looking for was a word that would be about an 8 on the scale, the scale being 0 for miserable and 10 for happy, where 11 on the dial would be "ecstatic."

Suggestions? And do you have a word gnawing at you that doesn't quite fit a moment you're trying to write?

Just wrote a line that might fit. I used the word complete.

---

When I climbed in next to her, she nestled next to me as if it were automatic. What I didn’t expect were the words that escaped her lips as I pulled her close. “I love you, Rhys.”

Not sure what to do with that, I kissed the top of her head, and closed my eyes, letting the feelings of completeness radiating from my heart chase me into my dreams.

 

[dirk2024]

Two adverbs. That's a spanking.

I rarely never use two adverbs in a row.

 

[dirk2024]

Suggestions? And do you have a word gnawing at you that doesn't quite fit a moment you're trying to write?

I use https://www.wordhippo.com/ when I'm looking for a word. Often I start with one word on the synomym search and that may lead me to another. At some point, I find what works best for the given situation.

BTW, as a human whisperer, I’ve noticed that when people ask “Are you happy?” what they usually mean is, “I am not.”

This might be a good conversation to have with your wife.

 

[iwatchus]

Oh God, my roommate asks me that question all the time. At least five times a day. I usually just answer with, "I'm not unhappy." because hearing the question so frequently is pretty irritating.

I would be tempted to start answering, "I was"

 

[kreemi_pi]

Maybe "orgasmic"

 

[NuclearFairy]

I would be tempted to start answering, "I was"

Nah, that'd be too likely to kick her into one of her downward spirals. But it is tempting sometimes.

 

[StillStunned]

(If there isn't an Oglaf, there's a Far Side.)