7

I need a noun that succinctly describes the enigmatic concept of something that, based on your tastes, you would probably like, but didn't know you'd like. Anyone game?

Edit: If it can be understood in context, a made-up word is just as good, if not better.

Edit2: I've seen a lot of mentions of the word "serendipity". "Serendipity" carries too many connotations of "fate" and "luck." This concept would have to deal with the idea of something being introduced to you by someone who knows, evidently, that you would like this thing.

FumbleFingers
  • 140,184
  • 45
  • 294
  • 517
dclowd9901
  • 213
  • 6
    I propose 'marmite' as a new term for this. – mgb May 26 '11 at 16:43
  • +1 Good question. I feel there must be a noun that sums this up, but all I can come up with are combos: surprisingly good, an unexpected delight and so on. I considered eye-opener, but that can also have negative connotations. Damn. – Robusto May 26 '11 at 16:44
  • +1 for good question, but I'm not sure there would be a single noun for such things. – FumbleFingers May 26 '11 at 16:48
  • @dclowd9901: Your title and your question text ask different things. Which do you mean? Something you unexpectedly discover you like even though it's not normally your kind of thing, as in the title? Or something you'd expect to like, but just don't happen to know of, as in the question text? – FumbleFingers May 26 '11 at 16:55
  • @FunbleFingers: I was trying to keep the title short. Use the body question as the guide. – dclowd9901 May 26 '11 at 17:01
  • I've answered the title question below. The answer to the question posed in the text is undiscovered delights or similar. – FumbleFingers May 26 '11 at 17:02
  • @Martin: I know I don't like that ;-) – Matt E. Эллен May 26 '11 at 17:03
  • @dclowd9901: Fair enough. In that case I've reversed my upvote on the question because I now think it's trivial, but others may find something in it. – FumbleFingers May 26 '11 at 17:04
  • Made-up words (coinages, neologisms) are not really what this site is about. Words or phrases that are new but logical constructions are OK though (of course comments might be an appropriate place to mention frivolous creations, but not for real answers) – Mitch May 26 '11 at 17:55
  • @Mitch: Could've fooled me. http://english.stackexchange.com/search?q=made-up+word

    Smartassism aside (yes, that was intentional), all words in the language were, at one point, made up. There used to be a time where people simply made up words that sounded right when writing. Since we live in a time now where technology can do all sorts of things that haven't been able to be done before, it seems fitting that we should be coming up with new words to accommodate those abilities. Incidentally, "searchability" is one I've seen a lot more lately.

     – dclowd9901 May 26 '11 at 19:06
  • 1
    @dclowd9901: maybe coinage really isn't the problem but frivolity? (I find 'searchability' a perfectly acceptable word hardly sounds like a coinage at all). Anyway, there's a related discussion Requests for Coinage. Maybe I'm just echoing here that I don't like other peoples coinages (but mine are OK :) ) – Mitch May 26 '11 at 19:50
  • The Connie Willis short story 'The Pony' explores this very idea. Her word is 'ominous', taken from a child's rendering of 'anonymous' as 'an ominous present'. – Dodecaphone Apr 24 '16 at 17:20

4 Answers4

8

While the strict meaning is a bit different, the term lagniappe could potentially be stretched to serve as a word meaning "an unexpected gift" or pleasure.

The Raven
  • 12,593
  • 2
    online dictionaries give a second meaning for this which seems to match exactly what the OP wants. – Mitch May 26 '11 at 17:57
  • 1
    I really like this word. Very nice find. It's a bit abstract without the definition in hand, but maybe it can be "brought back" from arcane obscurity! – dclowd9901 May 26 '11 at 19:05
  • Does this question need two answers, one for a known pleasure, such as a cup of coffee, that I did not expect to receive, and another for something that I had not previously experienced or expected to be pleasurable, that nonetheless proved to be wonderful? The discovery of a gold sovereign on the beach versus the very first time a girl awoke my manhood. The preconditions are unknown presence of a known pleasure as opposed to the known presence of an unknown pleasure. – Max Murphy Feb 12 '16 at 22:50
4

You might say it was serendipitously satisfying, where serendipity is the finding of valuable or agreeable things not specifically looked for.

Some people might interpret the serendipity in this expression as referring to the 'happy accident' of actually finding the satisfying thing, but to me it clearly indicates that it's the satisfaction itself that was unexpectedly found.

Or of course you could say it was unexpectly enjoyable/pleasurable, which would mean much the same. But I favour serendipitously because it's a somewhat more unusual word, so hopefully the hearer would pay it a bit more attention — and thereby avoid the misinterpretation as above.

LATER OP having clarified that he wants a single word, that it should be 'gifted' rather than chanced upon, and that he wants 'unexpectedness' associated with the fact of receiving it rather than unexpectly turning out to be a benefit, I suggest the alternative boon, (link) which is related to bonus, obviously, and carries the same associations of being received unexpectly and/or additionally.

FumbleFingers
  • 140,184
  • 45
  • 294
  • 517
  • I appreciate the effort, and I'm a huge fan of alliterative conjunctive phrases, so you get a vote, but I'm really looking for a singular noun, even if it doesn't exist yet. – dclowd9901 May 26 '11 at 17:03
  • @dclowd9901: I don't want to be rude, but you're not making sense. Read my comment against the question again. I have answered the question in the title. Your question text asks something totally different, and you haven't done anything to correct the discrepancy. – FumbleFingers May 26 '11 at 17:14
  • You will not get the correct answer because you did not answer even the question in the title, which says "A word". I know you feel you deserve it, but stop being a poor sport, please. I knew going into asking this question that there probably wasn't a word in existence, and was looking for creative answers, not bitter people looking for votes. – dclowd9901 May 26 '11 at 17:18
  • @dclowd9901: I'm not bothered about any of the things you just mentioned. I'm bothered that you still haven't addressed the issue of your title and text being different questions. Please read my comment carefully so you understand the difference. Then decide which question you actually mean to be asking, and change one or the other. – FumbleFingers May 26 '11 at 18:17
1

I was actually trying to answer "Is there a word meaning unexpected pleasure?" But that has been marked as duplicate, so I must answer here.

Everyone is overthinking this. How about treat?

To use an example from the other question:

For example: you book into a cheap hotel and have low expectations for a good experience (dirty linen, no room service, noise, etc) ... but then you discover that your favorite band is doing a gig there.

Or: you book into an expensive hotel, and figure there will be the usual roll call of luxuries perfectly executed to make your stay a pleasure ... but then you discover that your favorite band is doing a gig there.

This could be followed by "What a treat!"

Community
  • 1
Scott Tucker
  • 11
  • Not a bad idea, but I'm not sure it succinctly captures the idea of the "treat" (and surely the end result is a treat) being the result of another person directly. It would have to be described in the context of "A treat from someone." – dclowd9901 Sep 03 '13 at 21:13
0

I haven't been able to come up with a pithy single noun. Here are some adjective-noun pairs that you might like:

  • Unexpected pleasure
  • Unforeseen joy
  • Welcome surprise
Dancrumb
  • 5,080
  • 2
    I was thinking along the same lines but the question unexpectedly asks this instead: based on your tastes, you *would* probably like. So either the question didn't come out as intended, or pleasure was expected, just not guaranteed. – hippietrail May 26 '11 at 16:33
  • the problem is all your suggestions primarily suggest the unexpectedness of the pleasurable thing itself being presented, rather than the unexpectedness of it turning out to be pleasurable. – FumbleFingers May 26 '11 at 16:40
  • I think 'unexpected pleasure' still works. You may not realize that you had such combination of tastes. – Mitch May 26 '11 at 17:56
  • @Mitch: Yes, I agree it can mean that. But usually it's the other interpretation. The big problem is still the discepancy between question title and text, but I note @The Raven chose to answer the text rather than the title. Probably because that's a much more common concept, so there's more chance of finding single-word answers :-) – FumbleFingers May 26 '11 at 18:23