Covet

Covet (pronounced kuhv-it)

(1) Wrongfully or inordinately to desire, or without due regard for the rights of others:

(2) To wish for, especially eagerly.

Mid 1200s: From the Middle English coveiten (to desire or wish for inordinately or without regard for the rights of others) from the Old French coveitier (desire, lust after) (from which Modern French gained convoiter), thought ultimately derived from Latin cupiditā and cupiditas (passionate desire, eagerness, ambition).  The Latin root was cupidus (very desirous) from cupere (long for or desire).  From this comes also the familiar cupid; The Vulgar Latin was cupidiētāre, a verbal derivative of cupidiētās.  Related forms are covetable (adjective), coveter (noun), covetingly (adverb), uncoveted (adjective), uncoveting (adjective), covetable (adjective) and coveter (noun).  From the mid-fourteenth century, it began to be used without the negative connotations, simply a neutral "desire or wish for eagerly; desire to obtain or possess".  Covet is a verb, covetousness, coveter & covetess are nouns, coveting is a noun & verb, covetous & covetable are adjectives, and covetingly & covetously are adverbs; the most common noun plural is coveters but the plural form of the rare (and probably obsolete) covetess would be covetesses.

Handbag and shoe covetess Lindsay Lohan with Hermes Birkin Cyclamen Bag in Ostrich Fuschia and Charlotte Olympia Kitty Moccasins, Mayfair, London, April, 2015.

Awarded annually since 1991 and sponsored by the periodical Annals of Improbable Research, the Ig Nobel Prizes are not exactly a parody of the Nobel Prizes but a way to bring to wider attention unusual, bizarre or otherwise thought-provoking achievements in science, literature and engineering.  One worthy subject for research likely to draw the eye of the Ig Nobel committee is the matter of which object of desire women covet more: handbags or shoes.  Inherently subjective and likely to much to vary within and between cultures, for reliable conclusions to be drawn the sample size would have to be large and include cohorts from many countries (excluding perhaps Afghanistan where women are not permitted covetous thoughts) but the larger the scale of the project, the more obviously it would deserve one or more Ig Nobels.

What should also be explored is whether shoes and handbags inhabit different psychological niches in fashion, one supposition being shoes are expressions of style, sexuality and status whereas handbags are symbols of identity, taste and wealth.  Both items are of course usually functional to some degree but that’s not of necessity what can make either highly coveted and while it might be helpful to analyse economic data, much weighting would be needed because although handbags generate more revenue per item, shoes are purchased more frequently (probably reflecting the shorter product life rather than any indication of the extent of the desire they exert upon covetesses).  It would appear there has never been published a large‐scale, peer‐reviewed psychological study which directly measures women’s qualitative desire (covetousness) for shoes vs handbags and while there are many fashion sites which discuss women’s interest in both categories, impressionistically, the theme seems usually to suggest such desires operate in parallel rather than in competition.  Most non-academic publications tend to present data in certain ways (luxury vs non-luxury; spend vs frequency; brand preference etc) but not “handbag vs shoes” in emotional terms.  So, it’s an unexplored topic and an obvious path to an Ig Nobel although, these days, a Ph.D many not be impossible.

The ass in thought crime

Thou shalt not covet is one of the biblical Ten Commandments (or Decalogue), regarded by most scholars as moral imperatives.  Both Exodus and Deuteronomy describe the commandments as having been spoken by God, inscribed on two stone tablets by the finger of God, and, after Moses shattered the originals, rewritten by God on others.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ass, or anything that belongs to thy neighbor.

Thy neighbor's ass (pronounced ass).

It differs from the other nine in that while they’re concerned with the actions of sinners, the prohibition on being a coveter is about a sinner's thoughts and thus, an early description of thoughtcrime (a word coined by George Orwell (1903-1950) for his dystopian 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four).  Indeed Matthew (5:28) anticipates Orwell in saying it’s not enough merely to obey the commandment “thou shalt not commit adultery” because “…I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” (King James Version (KJV, 1611)).  Jimmy Carter (1924-2024; US President 1977-1981) quoted this in his Playboy interview, a statement of presidential probity neither shared nor always adhered to by all his successors and predecessors.  In that context, it should be remembered there's an (unwritten) eleventh commandment: "Thou shall not get caught".