How culture affects sadness (Medium)

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. Im Sam.

Neil

And Im Neil. When Helen was three years old, her new-born baby sister died suddenly. Looking back at that sad time, Helen remembers making big decision  � she wanted to be happy. She became a bestselling author and wrote a book called, The of Happiness. She got married, and even moved to the famously happy city of Copenhagen in Denmark.

Sam

the sadness Helen felt didnt disappear, and the longer she lived abroad, the more she wondered whether her feelings somehow connected to being born in England, into a culture where, traditionally, expressing your emotions was discouraged.

Neil

this programme, well be investigating how the way people express sadness is influenced by their culture, and, as usual, be learning some new, useful vocabulary as well.

Sam

But first I have a question for you, Neil. English there are many idioms which describe being sad, including down in the dumps, meaning that you feel miserable depressed. Also, emotions are often associated with colours, for example you might go red with anger, or turn green envy. But which colour is associated with sadness? Is it:

a) yellow?

b) blue? or,

c) brown?

I think the answer is blue.

Sam

OK, Neil. Well find out the later in the programme. Around world, cultures express emotions very differently. In Spain, flamenco performers express their emotions with colourful displays of song and , whereas in Japan, crying is considered weak and shameful. To discover more about how British people express their feelings, Russell interviewed, Thomas Dixon, a professor at the Centre for the History of Emotion, for BBC World Service programme, Documentary:

Professor Thomas Dixon

The word sad, as you will know, Helen, literally means sated or full. So, earliest use is in English, it means being literally fed up, being full of something sad or sated means and full. And then of course we have this huge vocabulary of melancholy, sorrow, grief, depression and many, many terms, and they all mean slightly different things.

Neil

Professor Dixon explains that the original meaning of the sad was ‘�full��’ or fed up  � a phrase which today means being unhappy, bored or tired of something has been going on a long time. For example: everyone is fed up of Covid.

Sam

But fed is just one of many words to describe feelings of sadness, each with a slightly different meaning. One of is melancholy, a kind of intense and thoughtful sadness. Another is grief - a strong sadness often caused by death of someone you love.

Neil

In Irish culture, melancholy is expressed artistically in poems or songs. And other cultures, India for example, grief can be expressed by professional mourners who are paid to cry by the of the person who has died. In England, however, big public displays of emotion are uncommon.

Sam

But to Professor Dixon that wasnt always the case. Here he explains to BBC World Service programme, The Documentary, how was only quite recently, during the time of Queen Victoria and the British Empire, that the English got a for being repressed - unable to show their true feelings and emotions.

Professor Thomas Dixon

By and large a Victorian, and then Edwardian, and 20th century characterization. As you can imagine, it fits with the era of , of white British men going around the world conquering it, and having a stiff upper lip and ruling over people… in other parts of the world, and believing themselves, the white Europeans, to be superior… and one sign that superiority, and Darwin writes: Englishmen rarely caught cry except under the pressure of the acutest grief.

Neil

Dixon says the Victorians who ruled the empire had a stiff upper lip. These men believed they were better everyone else, and that to cry was a sign of weakness. When we cry, our top lip starts to and so this gave rise to the idiom a stiff upper lip, meaning to not show your feelings when are upset, even though it is difficult not to.

Sam

Fortunately, most Brits are less repressed nowadays, but still hard for some people, especially men, to express their feelings. Sometimes drinking alcohol gives people the courage to what they are feeling, but this is not so healthy and can even increase feelings of depression.

Neil

talking to someone about your feelings that can really help, and keep away the blues… and in saying that think Ive answered your question, Sam.

Sam

I asked Neil which colour is often associated with feeling sad.

Neil

And I said it was blue…

Sam

Which was… the correct answer, and it gives us another about sadness  � feeling blue. OK, lets recap the vocabulary weve learned from this programme about the emotion of , or in other words, feeling down in the dumps.

Neil

If you are fed up of something, youre , bored, or tired of it, especially if its been happening a long time.

Sam

Melancholy is a type intense and thoughtful sadness; and grief is a strong sadness usually caused by someones death

Neil

The adjective means unable to show your true feelings and emotions.

Sam

And finally, the uniquely British idiom, to keep stiff upper lip, means not to show your feelings when youre upset, even though it is difficult not to. you feelings or bottling them up is definitely wont make you happy, but making friends and learning something new , so remember to join us again soon, here at 6 Minute English. Bye for now!

Neil

Bye!