Envy vs. Jealousy 9-1-04

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" background="042d05a3.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>Big Ring Media Team, Inc.</B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Big Ring Media Team, Inc."><B>home</B></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="043d2123.jpg"> <div> Click on this link to return to <A HREF="id40.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Word Watch by Subject">Word Watch by Subject</A>.</div> <div> Click on this link to go to <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Word Watch by Date">Word Watch by Date</A>.</div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Envy vs. Jealousy 9-1-04</I></div> <div> In both advertising and editorial we've seen misuse of “jealousy” and its various forms. Here's the helper tool: I'm jealous of what I have. I'm envious of what you have. I can't be jealous of your new car or your job or your afghan, whether that's a hound or a throw your grandma made just for you. I can be envious of those things. And I can be jealous of my dog or my spouse or my independence.</div> <div> It's worth noting that this is one instance where we deviate from our well-worn Webster's. In our Random House Webster's College Dictionary, the first definition of “jealous” actually says, “resentful and envious, as of someone's success,” thereby suggesting the terms are synonymous. Oddly, they make no such connection when defining “envy: a feeling of resentful discontent, begrudging admiration, or covetousness with regard to another's advantages, possessions, or attainments; desire for something possessed by another.”</div> <div> While our Webster's may muddy the meaning of these two terms, we like to maintain a distinction between them.</div> </td> </tr></table></body>