adami Jul 16, 2014:

I'm sorry, but these are not arguments. A linguist (are you?) uses arguments and examples, not "it sounds funny to me" and "that's what I've heard". To me "longing for spiritual things" sounds not funny, but extremely sad and hopeless, which is definitely not the idea here.

Also, if "longing" is usually something unattainable, your linguistic training should tell you that if you use a word in an unusual sense, it is always qualified; since it is not qualified here, it means that you cannot use any word in a sense that is unusual here.

As for what you may have heard, people do not very often discuss metaphysics informally, that is probably why you haven't heard "hankering" in any abstract sense. "longing" is, indeed, more colloquial (definitely not more "elegant"), but it doesn't fit here.

mcs13 (X) Jul 16, 2014:

Usually longing is for something unattainable, but not necessarily. By contrast, the only context I've ever heard hankering is related to food, as in 'I've got a hankering for ribs', etc.

I would not use hankering in this spiritual context, to me it would sound funny, longing sounds much more elegant, imho. Or if anything, yearning, but definitely not hankering. Some of the examples MW uses are 'longing for freedom, justice', etc.

This is the first and last comment I'll make to back up my point.

adami Jul 16, 2014:

Si articolul... Evident, articolul corect aici este articolul zero, nu cel hotarat...

adami Jul 16, 2014:

Raspuns "longing" este dorinta dupa ceva inaccesibil, deci nu se potriveste aici, fiindca cele sufletesti exista in noi.
"hankering" (spre deosebire de lusting sau chiar craving) se foloseste mai des in sens abstract decat concret: hankering after the past/power/fame (cum e usor de vazut din primele rezultate de pe google sau din consultarea dictionarului).

Spre deosebire de "longing", care e o contemplare pasiva a faptului ca obiectul dorintei este inaccesibil, "yearning/hankering" pot presupune o actiune/un proces de descoperire (ca in acest caz).