海角大神

People in Iceland traditionally embrace their long, dark winter as an opportunity to read, reflect, and spend time with family.

Scandinavian languages have several well-known words that refer to this atmosphere and the feelings of comfortable contentment it inspires 鈥� the famous Danish hygge (鈥渉oogah鈥�), Norwegian koselig (鈥渒ooshlee鈥�), and Swedish mys (鈥渕ees鈥�). Icelandic has 驳濒耻驳驳补惫别冒耻谤 (鈥済loogah vether鈥�), which means 鈥渨indow weather鈥� 鈥� when it鈥檚 best to light candles, make hot cocoa, and enjoy nature鈥檚 snowy beauty from inside. Judging from the number of books and articles published about them, English speakers are fascinated by these Scandinavian terms. But English has its own words that can express a similar sense of warm, inward-looking well-being.

Cozy (spelled cosy in Britain) is a pretty good synonym for hygge. According to Merriam-Webster, its meanings include 鈥渆njoying or affording warmth and ease,鈥� 鈥渕arked by or providing contentment or comfort,鈥� and 鈥渕arked by the intimacy of the family or a close group.鈥� Some etymologists hold that cozy is in fact closely related to the Norwegian koselig and kose sig, 鈥渢o make one鈥檚 self comfortable.鈥澛�

Although we have the vocabulary, the cultural concept of 鈥渃oziness鈥� is less well-defined in the United States and Britain than in the Nordic countries, so we turn to the Scandinavian words. Cozy, in turn, is actually spreading in Scandinavia 鈥� Icelanders can look out at the window weather and decide to have it 办贸蝉媒. Who needs hygge when you鈥檝e got cozy?

Snug also refers to 鈥渁 state of ease, comfort, or quiet enjoyment,鈥� according to the Oxford English Dictionary. Poet William Cowper might have been describing hygge when he wrote in 1783, 鈥淭here is hardly to be found upon the earth, I suppose, so snug a creature as an Englishman by his fire-side in the Winter.鈥� If the hearth wasn鈥檛 snug enough, the Englishman could withdraw to a snuggery, which, according to the OED, was 鈥渁 cosy or comfortable room, esp. one of small size, into which a person retires for seclusion or quiet.鈥� If he didn鈥檛 have a snuggery, he could wrap himself in a blanket and feel 鈥渟nug as a bee in a box鈥� (1707). That saying morphed into the much catchier 鈥渟nug as a bug in a rug鈥� (1769). As these examples reveal, snug has connotations of limited space, and safety as well as comfort.聽 聽 聽

English has other words that might go toe-to-toe with hygge, particularly cheer, as in 鈥淐hristmas cheer鈥�: 鈥渃ommunal happiness or good spirits, esp. as felt or expressed on festive occasions.鈥� But this column space is too snug to get to them all. 聽