Cover Photo: An image of the author's mother
Photograph courtesy of the author

How Untranslatable Words Have Connected Me to My Mother

“In Cantonese,” my mother says, “love isn’t so frivolous.”

lovelovelove

Nice weather. Donuts. reruns. My sonlikelove

hygge

I love you forever.

What Not to Wear

love

amourlove

hiraeth

Kristin Wong is a freelance writer and journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times, ELLE, Travel + Leisure, and The Cut among other publications. She frequently writes about behavior and identity and is also a staff writer and researcher at Hidden Brain Media, where she contributes to the Hidden Brain podcast and radio show.