{"id":7976,"date":"2026-10-12T10:10:48","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T16:10:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/?p=7976"},"modified":"2026-10-12T10:10:48","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T16:10:48","slug":"vertrautheitsstaunen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2026\/10\/12\/vertrautheitsstaunen\/","title":{"rendered":"Vertrautheitsstaunen"},"content":{"rendered":"Approximate Reading Time: <\/span> < 1<\/span> minute<\/span><\/span>

\"\"A series that examines familiar ideas, assumptions, and behaviours from angles we often overlook. (also on Substack<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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I recently rediscovered an old piece of audio equipment that my bought when I was about 14, which later became mine. It\u2019s an AKAI amplifier. I\u2019ve had it all this time \u2014 and up until maybe 10 years ago, it was still in use in the living room.<\/p>\n

While looking for some history on it, I found a photograph on the interwebs.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

And I had a feeling. One I\u2019ve had before\u2026.<\/p>\n

The closest I could come to describing it was that it was kind of like the feeling you might get when you see a celebrity in real life. There is a small jolt of delight that comes from seeing something deeply familiar suddenly appear outside its usual context.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s kind of like nostalgia, but there\u2019s no sadness associated with it \u2014 just joy.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also kind of like a glimmer \u2014 but a very specific kind of glimmer.<\/p>\n

An object may have sat in your home for decades, becoming almost invisible through familiarity. Then you see it in an old catalogue, a museum photograph, or someone else\u2019s collection, and for a moment it becomes strange and important again.<\/p>\n

I decided we need a word for it.<\/p>\n

I couldn\u2019t find an English word, so I thought maybe I could build one in German. They allow that sort of thing.<\/p>\n

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Vertrautheitsstaunen<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

The wonder of encountering the familiar as though it had briefly become famous.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Vertrautheit<\/strong> \u2014 intimate familiarity
\nStaunen<\/strong> \u2014 delighted wonder\/astonishment.<\/p>\n

Not \u201cI miss this.\u201d Not even merely \u201cI recognize this.\u201d<\/p>\n

More \u201cGood heavens \u2014 there YOU are. My world just got a little bigger, because you now exist outside my little world too.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Feel free to use it.<\/p>\n

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