Lexicon:Modern/Baenthoer

Baenthoer
Stage	Modern CLT
Pronunciation	/ˈbaɪn.θɔɪɾ/
Part of speech	Noun
Etymology	from Middle bēnsuthōr, from Proto bensupethor; syllables lost at each stage
Related words	wishi, seiksei, eimoe

Baenthoer — the error of taking a thing said to everyone as a thing said to you.

Notes

A proclamation read at the Forum, a Skald’s story about a foolish man, a physician’s general warning — a person in the grip of Baenthoer hears any of these as aimed at himself and answers accordingly. Sometimes with fury and sometimes with gratitude, and both are equally misplaced. Held to be a small failing rather than a serious one, and a common subject of gentle mockery. The Academy notes it as a hazard of vanity: to believe a general statement was meant for you is to suppose the speaker had you particularly in mind, which is a flattering thing to suppose and rarely true. The middle of the word fell out of it centuries ago and what remains cannot be construed.