to live vicariously
to experience something through the actions of another person
TRANSLATION
vicarious (adjective) = stellvertretend vicariously (adverb) = indirekt leben, sich durch jemand anderen selbst verwirklichen --- GOOGLE INDEX vicarious, vicariously: approximately 3,800,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
But behind the seemingly scandalous behavior, Elizabeth Taylor was a woman with a clear sense of morality: she habitually married her lovers. People watched and counted, with VICARIOUS pleasure, as she became Elizabeth Taylor Hilton Wilding Todd Fisher Burton Burton Warner Fortensky — enough marriages to certify her career as a serial wife.
(New York Times)
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One of the great attractions of patriotism - it fulfils our worst wishes. In the person of our nation we are able, VICARIOUSLY, to bully and cheat, especially with a feeling that we are profoundly virtuous.
- British writer Aldous Huxley
(New York Times)
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One of the great attractions of patriotism - it fulfils our worst wishes. In the person of our nation we are able, VICARIOUSLY, to bully and cheat, especially with a feeling that we are profoundly virtuous.
- British writer Aldous Huxley
Did you
know?
vicarious (adverb = vicariously)
adjective
- experienced in the imagination through the feelings or actions of another person
- acting or done for another
(Oxford English Dictionary)
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Earl Woods, the father of professional golfer Tiger Woods, once said his son was "The Chosen One" and compared him at various times with Mahatma Gandhi, Muhammad Ali and Nelson Mandela. Although he claims he was misquoted, he was roundly criticised as an extreme example of the vicarious parent.
The so-called "Tiger Mother" is another example of what some people view as someone living vicariously through their children. The Tiger Mother is an ambitious, very strict mother who pushes her children to high performance (see OWAD archive). Others would argue that most parents live vicariously through their children to some extent. There is probably some truth in that.
Films are another way that we lead vicarious lives in the modern age. After all, is there a better way to experience adventure, thrills and romance without the associated risks? Sometimes referred to as vicarious identification, psychologists also use this phenomenon to explain why many people are emotionally attached to sports teams.
Etymology: from the Latin "vicarius", meaning "substitute, deputy" (adjective and noun) and from "vicis" "turn, change, exchange, substitution." The word vicar has the same root and stems from the notion of an earthly representative of God or Christ.
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SYNONYMS
by proxy, indirect, surrogate, empathetic
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"A good manager takes vicarious pleasure in seeing his own workers achieve success."
adjective
- experienced in the imagination through the feelings or actions of another person
- acting or done for another
(Oxford English Dictionary)
---
Earl Woods, the father of professional golfer Tiger Woods, once said his son was "The Chosen One" and compared him at various times with Mahatma Gandhi, Muhammad Ali and Nelson Mandela. Although he claims he was misquoted, he was roundly criticised as an extreme example of the vicarious parent.
The so-called "Tiger Mother" is another example of what some people view as someone living vicariously through their children. The Tiger Mother is an ambitious, very strict mother who pushes her children to high performance (see OWAD archive). Others would argue that most parents live vicariously through their children to some extent. There is probably some truth in that.
Films are another way that we lead vicarious lives in the modern age. After all, is there a better way to experience adventure, thrills and romance without the associated risks? Sometimes referred to as vicarious identification, psychologists also use this phenomenon to explain why many people are emotionally attached to sports teams.
Etymology: from the Latin "vicarius", meaning "substitute, deputy" (adjective and noun) and from "vicis" "turn, change, exchange, substitution." The word vicar has the same root and stems from the notion of an earthly representative of God or Christ.
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SYNONYMS
by proxy, indirect, surrogate, empathetic
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"A good manager takes vicarious pleasure in seeing his own workers achieve success."
