Dec
30
I studied French in high school and college, and was delighted to learn that my increasing knowledge of a foreign language also broadened my understanding of English. “Ennui” fascinated me because there was no easy way to translate it into English. The best my teacher could do was add several melancholy adjectives to the word “boredom” and ultimately admit there was no English equivalent. When I learned “ennui,” I realized what a mishmash of fragments stolen from other languages our native tongue is. I also learned how culture and geography shape language. English speakers must not experience ennui — at least to the degree as do the French — and so have no native word for it. (This theory doesn’t hold up when applied to German’s “schadenfreude,” however. We English speakers certainly do take pleasure in other people’s misfortune. I guess we were too busy laughing to give it a name.)
Ryan Miller, San Luis Obispo
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