Hey cunning linguists, what’s the German word for “Fear of buying something new because that would still leave you with the old thing that kind of works as well and it’s not eco to just throw it out so you try selling it for a nominal amount on Craigslist but all you get are incoherent replies from flakes trying to put food on the table by buying lots of stuff low and selling higher, so then you try giving it away on Craigslist and Facebook and you get some sweet housebound invalid who says they’ll come in a week but nothing happens, but you know if you take it to Goodwill they will toss it in a huge cardboard box of other goods and it will probably end up in a landfill, so you’ll wind up stacking it in the garage with all the other stuff that’s hard to get rid of and it’s easier just to not buy the new thing.” It’s not neophobia (fear of new things), it’s hassle of dealing with the replaced stuff responsibly. Surely more creative languages have a neologism for this?
I looked for the word and I mostly found articles like “Why we always want to buy new stuff.” Who are these people?! We’re living with a 5-year-old TV streamer that reboots regularly, a 10-year-old TV with the CBS logo burned into the corner, a 15-year-old vacuum you have to turn over and jiggle to unplug attachments, a 20-year-old microwave that can barely warm a Hot Pocket, chipped plates, etc. They were all premium, expensive products in their day. It would be nice to have the new shiny improved model, but not if it’s going to leave the old thing.
