Hi fedi folks
We have another linquistic query, aimed ideally at fluent/native English and German speakers.
We're aware of the word Schadenfreude, in the English sense of deriving joy or pleasure from somebody else's misfortune.
However, we're not aware of a suitable word to express the intense pain, anguish and despair of somebody else getting something that you cannot get.
Every time we try to find a suitable word, all we typically find suggested are envy or Missgunst.
The problem is that these words don't fit what we're looking for.
For the word we're seeking, it's not envy, as there's no resentment of what others have or can get, nor is there any malice towards them for this.
Instead, it's more like a deep pain and sadness of not being able to get what you need when others can.
It's the kind of negative feeling that can cause you to withdraw from people who are sharing their joy and successes, or even to withdraw from entire spaces where these are highlighted.
We watched Natalie Wynn's (ContraPoints') long video on envy years back, which we misremembered as being much clearer on the topic, but looking back over the transcript for it didn't help us at all. In fact, it made us more confused
We've had the same problem before with not finding suitable words, such as the pain of being misunderstood, a true-neutral replacement for the verb to hope, or the inability to experience hope.
#AskFedi #linguistics #language #words #GenuinelyAsking #NoReplyGuysPlease #English #German
