''Firgun'' (
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
: פירגון) is an informal modern
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
term and concept in
Israeli culture
The roots of the culture of Israel developed long before modern Israel's independence in 1948, and traces back to ancient Israel ( 1000 BCE). It reflects Jewish culture, Jewish history in the diaspora, the ideology of the Zionist movement that ...
, which compliments someone or describes genuine, unselfish delight or
pride
Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". A healthy amount of pride is good, however, pride sometimes is used interchangeably with "conceit" or "arrogance" (among other words) wh ...
in the accomplishment of the other person. Another definition describes ''firgun'' as a generosity of spirit, an unselfish, empathetic joy that something good has happened, or might happen, to another person. The concept does not have a one-word equivalent in English.
[Carmon, Irin]
HEBREW’S SPECIAL PRIDE
Tablet Magazine; June 18, 2012[Kordova, Shoshana]
Word of the Day / Firgun: The art of tooting someone else's horn
Haaretz. Aug. 25, 2014
Balashon. March 07, 2010 The infinitive form of the word, ''lefargen'', means to make someone feel good without any ulterior motives. This absence of negativity is an integral part of the concept of ''firgun''.
Etymology
The word can be traced back to the
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
word ''farginen'' (a
cognate
In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymology, etymological ancestor in a proto-language, common parent language. Because language c ...
of the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
word ''vergönnen''). A relatively modern addition to Hebrew, the word was initially used in the 1970s, and gained momentum in subsequent decades. According to
Tamar Katriel
Tamar may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Tamar'' (album), by Tamar Braxton, 2000
* ''Tamar'' (novel), by Mal Peet, 2005
* ''Tamar'' (poem), an epic poem by Robinson Jeffers
People
* Tamar (name), including a list of people with ...
, professor of communications in the
University of Haifa
The University of Haifa ( he, אוניברסיטת חיפה Arabic: جامعة حيفا) is a university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation in 1972, becoming Is ...
, ''firgun'' differs from giving compliments, since it is "about an affinity that is authentic and without agenda".
The concept of ''firgun'' can be found in
Talmudic Hebrew as ''ayin tova'' or ''ayin yafa'' - "a good eye". Those phrases are not commonly used in modern Hebrew.
International Firgun Day
In 2014,
Made in JLM
Made in JLM ("Made in Jerusalem") is a nonprofit organization that connects and provides resources for the tech and startup ecosystem in Jerusalem.
History
Founded in 2012 by Hanan Brand, Roy Munin, and Uriel Shuraki, the NGO focuses on bringing ...
, an Israeli non-profit community group, set out to create "International Firgun Day", a holiday celebrated yearly on July 17, where people share compliments or express genuine pride in the accomplishment of others on social media. To help promote the holiday, Made in JLM holds an overnight marketing hackathon at the night before July 17 and an online automatic ''firgun''-generating tool in several languages, called the ''firgunator''."
Firgunator
/ref>
See also
* Chutzpah
Chutzpah () is the quality of audacity, for good or for bad. It derives from the Hebrew word ' (), meaning "insolence", "cheek" or "audacity". Thus the original Yiddish word has a strongly negative connotation but the form which entered English ...
* Praise
Praise as a form of social interaction expresses recognition, reassurance or admiration.
Praise is expressed verbally as well as by body language (facial expression and gestures).
Verbal praise consists of a positive evaluations of another's a ...
*Schadenfreude
Schadenfreude (; ; 'harm-joy') is the experience of pleasure, joy, or self-satisfaction that comes from learning of or witnessing the troubles, failures, or humiliation of another. It is a borrowed word from German, with no direct translation ...
(antonym)
External links
International Firgun Day Website
References
{{Israel topics
Hebrew slang
Israeli culture
Yiddish words and phrases
Words and phrases with no direct English translation