# Why is "happy" the only emotion that can be "un"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 7, 2018, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-happy-the-only-emotion-that-can-be-un/820943 "2018-09-07T13:59:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-happy-the-only-emotion-that-can-be-un/820943/21 "2018-09-07T16:02:47Z")
Me, on the other hand, I’m uncertain. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-happy-the-only-emotion-that-can-be-un/820943/22 "2018-09-07T16:05:26Z")
Maybe the distinction you’re insisting on should concern me. But, as it happens, I’m unconcerned. ---
**Author:** ![Frankenstein\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ccd318/32.png) [@Frankenstein\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frankenstein_Monster)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-happy-the-only-emotion-that-can-be-un/820943/23 "2018-09-07T16:08:31Z")
Seems the OP is not easily bunked. Maybe they should be more chalant about it? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-happy-the-only-emotion-that-can-be-un/820943/24 "2018-09-07T16:21:26Z")
Since language is largely imponderable, while GQ is for ponderables, let’s move this to IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-happy-the-only-emotion-that-can-be-un/820943/25 "2018-09-07T16:25:45Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > There is no such thing as being “unsad” or “unangry.” So how come “unhappy” is a word? [Unangry.](https://www.thefreedictionary.com/unangry) ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-happy-the-only-emotion-that-can-be-un/820943/26 "2018-09-07T16:42:52Z")
Humorous essay that [drops the negative prefixes common on many words](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1994/07/25/how-i-met-my-wife). ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-happy-the-only-emotion-that-can-be-un/820943/27 "2018-09-07T16:43:14Z")
Color me impressed. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-happy-the-only-emotion-that-can-be-un/820943/28 "2018-09-07T17:53:08Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > How come you never hear about gruntled employees? Only the disgruntled ones? It’s a criminatory practice. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-happy-the-only-emotion-that-can-be-un/820943/29 "2018-09-07T17:55:11Z")
I opened the thread to post counterexamples, but I am unsurprised that others have beaten me to it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-happy-the-only-emotion-that-can-be-un/820943/30 "2018-09-07T17:57:40Z")
Well, you sure as heck weren’t going to be unbalanced. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-happy-the-only-emotion-that-can-be-un/820943/31 "2018-09-07T21:08:00Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > How come you never hear about gruntled employees? Only the disgruntled ones? A similar reason to why you never hear about a person who’s going to pend some money, only spend it - namely, that “dis-” (and “ex-” and “s-” and whatever other variants) don’t always mean “negative/opposite”. Sometimes they mean “outwards/away/apart” or “lack of”, or even it seems “excessively/extremely” as in disgruntled, which seems originally to have meant “grunting/complaining a lot”. (“Spend” is a short form of dispend, where pend = weigh, and dis = outwards, weighing your gold out to someone. Or maybe short for expend, doesn’t matter, SSDP.) [etymonline.com](http://etymonline.com) sure is a fun place. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-happy-the-only-emotion-that-can-be-un/820943/32 "2018-09-07T21:13:46Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > I opened the thread to post counterexamples, but I am unsurprised that others have beaten me to it. Kitchen counter, lunch counter, candy counter, bean counter, game counter, shoe counter… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2018, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-happy-the-only-emotion-that-can-be-un/820943/33 "2018-09-08T02:10:52Z")
Unloved? ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2018, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-happy-the-only-emotion-that-can-be-un/820943/34 "2018-09-08T11:25:33Z")
Is Annie unsatisfied with these responses? I’d probably be unappreciative and ungrateful if people kept pointing out counterexamples. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2018, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-happy-the-only-emotion-that-can-be-un/820943/35 "2018-09-08T12:01:41Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > On the other hand, have you ever heard of anybody being derwhelmed? I had a great aunt who got derwhelmed in Berlin in the 1960s. Terrible business. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2018, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-happy-the-only-emotion-that-can-be-un/820943/36 "2018-09-08T12:38:31Z")
I am nonplussed. (Which is of course far worse than being nonminussed.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-happy-the-only-emotion-that-can-be-un/820943.md?page=1)