The term sympathy derives from the action of condolerse : experience compassion, sharing a pain. The concept is usually used in the plural (condolences) to refer to participation in someone else’s pain or the expression of condolences in the face of a loss.
For example: “The owner of the company sent his condolences to the widow”, “The president sent his condolences to the families of the victims”, “The neighbors expressed condolences for the tragedy of the young man. “
According to abbreviationfinder.org, condolences are expressions that a person makes to make public their sadness for the death of someone and to communicate to the relatives and friends of the deceased that they share their regret. These messages are carried out as a way to accompany those who are suffering and to show their support.
With regard to the term condolences, which in many contexts can act as a synonym for condolences, it is interesting to note that it is the disused way of expressing «me pesa», that is, the verb after the indirect object, as opposed to what we would say today. To those who offer their condolences to another person or offer their condolences “the death weighs” on them, share the weight with them and let them know through this simple action.
Condolences are often developed following formal or respectful formulas. Rulers and leaders often communicate their condolences to people they do not know using these formulas that are socially accepted. A message of condolences can be the following: “I want to express my sincere condolences for the recent death. I hope that he can find prompt resignation in the face of loss and that the soul of the deceased may rest in peace ”.
It is also possible to express condolences informally, when someone wants to comfort a friend or family member for a loss. In these cases, phrases such as “I’m very sorry, count on me for what you need” or “We are with you in this hard time, all of us who love you will help you get ahead” can be pronounced.
And as we enter the field of informality, we begin to see the variety of ways in which each society expects or admits that people express their empathy for the loss of others: first, we have the greetings and set phrases, the formal messages that teach us to repeat to use in corporate settings; later, the language also gives us ways to express condolences to our loved ones, apparently spontaneously.
But it is important to note that many people feel great discomfort when facing the death of someone close to a friend or acquaintance, and do not know how to react, despite knowing the aforementioned phrases and ways. In most western cultures, death is a cause of deep sadness, it is an event that we prefer not to talk about in order to avoid that memories annoy us; All this negative charge that they instill in us since we were little turns against us when we say a simple “I’m very sorry.”
It is known by the name of a book of condolences to the one that is placed in the funeral services or funerals so that the assistants write their messages of tribute to the person who is being veiled on their pages. Once again, although there are trends regarding the use of this book, given that it is something so intimate, it is likely that those close to the family of the deceased write in a close and loving tone, recalling anecdotes or promises, or making reference to secrets that will never come to light, perhaps using internal codes so that no one can decipher them.
