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I wonder if "defenestration of Prague" became a memorable term 1) because of its historical significance, 2) because "defenestration" sounds funny, or 3) becaus

I wonder if "defenestration of Prague" became a memorable term 1) because of its historical significance, 2) because "defenestration" sounds funny, or 3) because nobles at the time just thought it was absolutely hilarious and became obsessed with it to the point that it just stood the test of time.

manuelabeledo 3y ago
I would think that the start of the Thirty year war is of historical significance, like the killing of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Also, it’s pretty cool to think that the term “defenestration” survived for several hundred years. Imagine if, two hundred years from now, people were still adding the suffix “gate” to signify a scandal.
- htfu 3y ago
  Not to be a dick but "historical" and "significance" are much older words. Old Greek and Latin (as is defenestration).
inglor_cz 3y ago
Reddit is obsessed with defenestrations of Prague. I have a u/DefenestrationPraha handle there and when I created it, I thought "no one is ever gonna know what this obscure event was". Since then, I ended up on the beetlejuicing subreddit quite a few times.
TechBro8615 3y ago
For me it occupies an early memory because of Latin class ("de" + "fenestra" literally "down from the window") where we all found the story quite amusing.
jakubmazanec 3y ago
Jára Cimrman has the answer: "When Cimrman contemplated Czech history, he pointed out an interesting phenomenon. Major European events often begin in the Czech Republic, specifically in Prague, and usually through a so-called defenestration. The first Prague defenestration ignited the revolutionary storm of the Hussites and thus the whole European Reformation. The second defenestration in the 17th century plunged our continent into the turmoil of the Thirty Years' War. As is typical for Cimrman, he subjected the term defenestration to thorough examination. In his work Die Fensterpolitik he writes: Defenestration is generally understood as throwing one or more people out of a room through the window. However, this is not accurate. Not every act of throwing out of a window is defenestration. If it happens, for example, during a marital dispute or in the final phase of a dance party, then it is not a defenestration in the true sense of the word. The people being thrown through the window must hold some significant public function. He also asked the question, why did our ancestors prefer to get rid of uncomfortable actors through the window rather than the door? According to him, the old experience, succinctly expressed in the proverb: "if you throw him out of the door, he will return through the window", probably had an effect. By the reverse process, namely defenestration, the danger of returning to function is minimized." (CIMRMAN, Jára; SMOLJAK, Ladislav; SVĚRÁK, Zdeněk. Hry a semináře : úplné vydání. Praha a Litomyšl: Ladislav Horáček – Paseka, 2010. ISBN 978-80-7432-036-1. S. 368. Dále jen Hry a semináře.)
- antigonemerlin 3y ago
  It's articles that these that remind me of how much we English-speakers are missing in the full breadth of human literature. For every Shakespeare, there is a Jára Cimrman, and for every Jára Cimrman, there is another who goes unnamed.
  - yorwba 3y ago
    Fortunately, there's an English Wikipedia article that's also fun to read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%A1ra_Cimrman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%A1ra_Cimrman
mongol 3y ago
It really is a curious event. Apart from the two occurrences in Prague, you seldom hear about defenestrations. I can recall some movies where people are thrown out through windows, but apart from that, very little. I wonder if there was a symbolic meaning to it. Such as, meant to be humiliating. Or was it improvised in the moment?
- baron816 3y ago
  Seems to happen in Russia all the time
  - tkgally 3y ago
    A couple of lists of those recent defenestrations: https://www.newsweek.com/full-list-russians-fall-windows-putin-ukraine-war-1781790 https://www.newsweek.com/full-list-russians-fall-windows-put... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspicious_deaths_of_Russian_businesspeople_(2022%E2%80%932023) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspicious_deaths_of_Russian_b...

manuelabeledo 3y ago

I would think that the start of the Thirty year war is of historical significance, like the killing of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Also, it’s pretty cool to think that the term “defenestration” survived for several hundred years. Imagine if, two hundred years from now, people were still adding the suffix “gate” to signify a scandal.

htfu 3y ago
Not to be a dick but "historical" and "significance" are much older words. Old Greek and Latin (as is defenestration).

inglor_cz 3y ago

Reddit is obsessed with defenestrations of Prague. I have a u/DefenestrationPraha handle there and when I created it, I thought "no one is ever gonna know what this obscure event was". Since then, I ended up on the beetlejuicing subreddit quite a few times.

TechBro8615 3y ago

For me it occupies an early memory because of Latin class ("de" + "fenestra" literally "down from the window") where we all found the story quite amusing.

jakubmazanec 3y ago

Jára Cimrman has the answer: "When Cimrman contemplated Czech history, he pointed out an interesting phenomenon. Major European events often begin in the Czech Republic, specifically in Prague, and usually through a so-called defenestration. The first Prague defenestration ignited the revolutionary storm of the Hussites and thus the whole European Reformation. The second defenestration in the 17th century plunged our continent into the turmoil of the Thirty Years' War. As is typical for Cimrman, he subjected the term defenestration to thorough examination. In his work Die Fensterpolitik he writes: Defenestration is generally understood as throwing one or more people out of a room through the window. However, this is not accurate. Not every act of throwing out of a window is defenestration. If it happens, for example, during a marital dispute or in the final phase of a dance party, then it is not a defenestration in the true sense of the word. The people being thrown through the window must hold some significant public function. He also asked the question, why did our ancestors prefer to get rid of uncomfortable actors through the window rather than the door? According to him, the old experience, succinctly expressed in the proverb: "if you throw him out of the door, he will return through the window", probably had an effect. By the reverse process, namely defenestration, the danger of returning to function is minimized." (CIMRMAN, Jára; SMOLJAK, Ladislav; SVĚRÁK, Zdeněk. Hry a semináře : úplné vydání. Praha a Litomyšl: Ladislav Horáček – Paseka, 2010. ISBN 978-80-7432-036-1. S. 368. Dále jen Hry a semináře.)

antigonemerlin 3y ago
It's articles that these that remind me of how much we English-speakers are missing in the full breadth of human literature. For every Shakespeare, there is a Jára Cimrman, and for every Jára Cimrman, there is another who goes unnamed.
- yorwba 3y ago
  Fortunately, there's an English Wikipedia article that's also fun to read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%A1ra_Cimrman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%A1ra_Cimrman

mongol 3y ago

It really is a curious event. Apart from the two occurrences in Prague, you seldom hear about defenestrations. I can recall some movies where people are thrown out through windows, but apart from that, very little. I wonder if there was a symbolic meaning to it. Such as, meant to be humiliating. Or was it improvised in the moment?

baron816 3y ago
Seems to happen in Russia all the time
- tkgally 3y ago
  A couple of lists of those recent defenestrations: https://www.newsweek.com/full-list-russians-fall-windows-putin-ukraine-war-1781790 https://www.newsweek.com/full-list-russians-fall-windows-put... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspicious_deaths_of_Russian_businesspeople_(2022%E2%80%932023) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspicious_deaths_of_Russian_b...