“Vorfreude ist die schönste Freude”
"Anticipation is the greatest joy"
“La ilusion es la mayor alegria”
"Anticipation is the greatest joy"
“La ilusion es la mayor alegria”
“Vorfreude” is a curious German noun and I don’t know if there’s another language, which has a word to express exactly that feeling. “Anticipation” is not quite right. LEO traduces it as “pleasant anticipation” in English, “ilusion” in Spanish and “pregustare” in Italian. I don’t know enough Italian to judge the correctness of this translation, but as well as the English word, the Spanish one does not express the same emotion as the German. Maybe it is the fact that the word joy (Freude) is actually part of the German word what makes the difference.
But despite that the exact word is missing in several languages, the concept of “Vorfreude” is global and easily pictured: the Christmas time and especially the advent calendar (which is also a German invention by the way…) are the most striking examples of “Vorfreude”: the joy in anticipating the Christmas festivities, the illusion of the presents or the exciting wait for Santa Claus to come in the morning.
Of course it is debatable if it is the greatest joy. All of us who like surprises (which by definition lack anticipation) can argue against it. I’ve already had that discussion with some German friends and we ended changing the saying to:
But despite that the exact word is missing in several languages, the concept of “Vorfreude” is global and easily pictured: the Christmas time and especially the advent calendar (which is also a German invention by the way…) are the most striking examples of “Vorfreude”: the joy in anticipating the Christmas festivities, the illusion of the presents or the exciting wait for Santa Claus to come in the morning.
Of course it is debatable if it is the greatest joy. All of us who like surprises (which by definition lack anticipation) can argue against it. I’ve already had that discussion with some German friends and we ended changing the saying to:
“Vorfreude ist auch eine Freude”
"Anticipation is also a joy"
And that is something I definitely agree with.
"Anticipation is also a joy"
And that is something I definitely agree with.
The other day I rediscovered this strange kind of joy while waiting for my new acquired lap top bag to arrive. I started to shop online through Amazon some years ago and quickly became addicted to it, particularly for buying books. Many may argue that online shopping lacks the excitement of actually going to the store, look around, search for the stuff, and so on.
But online shopping has one thing that normal shopping does not: Vorfreude!
But online shopping has one thing that normal shopping does not: Vorfreude!
After you buy your stuff, you have to wait for the postman to deliver it and those days are filled with that joyful anticipation. Every time I hear a truck parking in front of the building I run to the balcony hoping to see the yellow color of the DHL truck. And when it is there, the next seconds (in which I expect the doorbell to ring) contain the highest amount of concentrated "Vorfreude" I’ve experienced since opening my Christmas presents as a child.
It’s such a strong emotion, that maybe I should talk to my German friends again and return the saying to its original form…
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