Wonderful. The new perspective presented is very helpful.
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The term iccha is used everyday in Marathi, a regional language in India(and my mother tongue). It translates as ‘wish’
e.g. “aaj kai khaichi iccha ahe?”
Meaning “what would you like to have for supper today?”
Or “what do you wish to have for supper today?”
Whereas, ‘tanha’ (or ‘tahan’ in marathi) translates as having a thirst for something.
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Can you give some examples for ‘Tahan’ as well ?
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Tanhā, is the chief root of suffering, and of the ever-continuing cycle of rebirths. “What, o monks, is the origin of suffering? It is that craving which gives rise to ever-fresh rebirth and, bound up with pleasure and lust, now here, now there, finds ever fresh delight. It is the sensual craving （kāma-taṇhā), the craving for existence （bhava-taṇhā), the craving for non-existence （vibhava-taṇhā)”（D. 22) T. is the 8th link in the formula of the dependent origination paṭiccasamuppāda
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Thanks. But i am interested in the use of tahan in marathi language.
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This is pretty much the same as in Pali. I have to say, it’s important to be careful when drawing analogies between Pali and modern languages, whether Indian or European, for as Vstakan says, words change their meanings over time. But in this case, it is remarkably similar.
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For me what tanha feels like is that i have an obsessive love disorder. I have an obsessive love disorder towards the five Khandas.
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@anon87721581 i am so sorry for the late reply 
i was struggling with typing on my mobile device on the go (i find this site to be unoptimised for Chrome mobile browser, or it could’ve been my device…) , so i decided to reply after i got back home 
So, in literal folk-ish/layman sense, tahan is usually associated with thirst for water/liquids.
e.g. “आई, मला खूप तहान लागली आहे” means “mother, i’m feeling very thirsty”
But in the poetic as well as dhammic sense in marathi, it symbolises the thirst for anything.
For example: “तो तिला तहानलेल्या नजरेने पाहू लागला. त्यांना भेटून बराच काळ झाला होता…”
meaning: “He looked at her with thirst (thirst = literal; but can be substituted as lust owing to the context its being used in) in his eyes. For much time had passed since they had seen each other…”
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Venerable, I agree 
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Icchā is just desire. Tanhā is desire with attachment.
Icchā is like a wind while tanhā is like a storm.
Icchā is conscious. Tanhā is unconscious.
Icchā is temporary. Tanhā is permanent as long as we don’t get nibbana.
(This is only my opinion.)
But what happened to that kama-Tanha i had for that yogurt yesterday? 
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Good question. Thanks.
Unfortunately, I still have no answer.
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The marathi for love is prem (प्रेम)…
Obsession = ved (d as in dirt) (वेड)
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Ultimately, following Wittgenstein, the meaning of a word is how it is being used. Words are not necessarily univocal. So, what my quest would be to discover the “how.” My earlier post should have included this.
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