Many folks use the word 'jealous' to sometimes mean 'envious.' There is a general trend among language authorities towards always loosening the rules; we can imagine that, in a few years, it will be accepted that the two words mean the same; that would be a sad mistake.
Envy is the emotion of desiring what someone else has. Oh man, I wish I had a car like that! Or, that woman is too good for that man. Or: I wish I could sing like X, whoever that is! That's all envy, and by now you must be thinking: wait, I call that feeling jealousy!! Well, it's not too late to change your evil ways!
Jealousy is significantly different. It's the attitude that you don't want to share what you have. You're jealous of your privileges; you don't want others to have them. You're jealous of your wife; you don't want others to look at her! As you can see, it's completely different from envy. Envy is a common emotion. Jealousy is a far more petty emotion. (Except in the case of wanting to completely control your spouse, which is to some extent supported by society, though the spouse in question might not appreciate this attitude.)
Even the writers for the New York Times, it seems, confuse Envy with Jealousy. This writer would be jealous if she did play this game, but hated anyone else to pick it up!
In my opinion, the words mean such different things that using them as interchangeable gives up far too much.
Kay
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