With friends like this

My daughter has introduced me to a new word: “fremdschamen”. Its origin is German or Dutch; there are two dots (an umlaut) above the “a”. It means being embarrassed and ashamed on account of the behaviour of others, especially that of friends. I cannot say that I am friendly with the present government of India, but on occasion I have had cordial feelings towards them. Over the past several months, they have been repeatedly embarrassing me. I experience fremdschamen!

Read Full Story>>