- Frenemy
Frenemy or frienemy is a
portmanteau offriend andenemy which can refer to either an enemy disguised as a friend or to a partner that is simultaneously a competitor. The latter can describe relationships involving:
#People;
#Politics and International Relationships; or
#Commercial Relationships between Companies.People
In personal relationships, the use of the term 'frenemy' has become increasingly used to describe two (or more) people who are apparently friends but are actually enemies. Such relationships may occur due to the desire (of either) to keep a close eye on the actions of their close rival (i.e. keep your friends close, keep your enemies even closer).
Alternatively, two people who are apparently enemies may actually be friends in private, with the apparently hostile relationship portrayed in order to deceive or for other forms of gain. Such an arrangement may even be used to cover up a secret relationship between the two parties. Or, the two people might actually like and hate each other simultaneously.
Businessweek noted that frenemies in the workplace are becoming more common due to increasingly informal environments and the "abundance of very close, intertwined relationships that bridge people's professional and personal lives. While it certainly wasn't unheard of for people to socialize with colleagues in the past, the sheer amount of time that people spend at work now has left a lot of people with less time and inclination to develop friendships outside of the office" [ [http://www.businessweek.com/careers/content/jun2007/ca20070614_437227.htm Frenemies at Work] , Liz Ryan, BusinessWeek, June 14, 2007.] .First used by author
Jessica Mitford .Politics and international relations
Frenemy has also been used by some scholars of International Relations to refer to countries that are both allies and enemies. Key frenemies of the United States include
Israel ,Pakistan ,Saudi Arabia , and thePeople's Republic of China . It can also refer to the mutually beneficial relationship between fundamentalist terrorist organizations and authoritarian political parties/military structures.Commercial relationships
An example of a commercial 'frenemy' relationship is that between
Google and WPP. Sir Martin Sorrell said he counts Google as a frenemy of WPP, the ad agency empire that he built. [Chris Hughes (2006-10-28). [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/66fe8286-6621-11db-a4fc-0000779e2340.html Ad and subtract] "Financial Times".] On one hand Google offers WPP a chance to buy cutting edge interactive ads for its clients. On the other hand, Google makes no secret of its intentions to allow anyone to buy ads for themselves, which could disintermediate against ad agencies.Strategies for dealing with frenemies vary. Sorrell said at UBS Media Week's conference that he wants WPP to be Google's biggest customer, but that he knows Google sees him as competition. [Staci D. Kramer (2006-12-4). [http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/media-week-day-1-ubs-sorrell-on-anything-and-everything-google-is-the-frene/ Sorrell On AnyThing And Everything; Google Is The “Frenemy”] "paidContent.org".]
Microsoft climbed to greatness onIBM 's back, but had to go to great lengths to appease its much larger partner. Microsoft called this practice "riding the bear". [ [http://www.pbs.org/opb/nerds2.0.1/serving_suits/microsoft.html Riding the Bear] "PBS: Nerds 2.0.1".] Similar relationships existed betweenPayPal andeBay (the latter of which acquired the former after unsuccessfully competing) andYouTube andMySpace .In popular culture
Frenemies was used in the popular
New Radicals song,You Get What You Give - released on April 20, 1999.The word was further popularized when used as the title of an episode in the
HBO series,Sex and the City episode #46 October 1, 2000Frenemies .In the episode "Shock" the two girls involved in the main plot were frenemies. Enemies in front of the camera, but best friends when they were alone.
On
February 13 ,2007 , comedianStephen Colbert quoted the word frenemy on hisComedy Central show "The Colbert Report " during his segment "The Wørd ." He used the word to describe the foreign policy between theUnited States andChina , saying that the United States is friends with China as far as the "invisible hand of the market," but enemies as the two nations are widely considered to be international rivals in military power. He then hosted an interview with "New York Times " editorSheryl WuDunn , author of the book "China Wakes ", to discuss whether or not China is a "friend, enemy or frenemy" to the United States.The
Mean Girls DVD contains the followinginterstitial program ::Regina: We do not have a clique problem at this school.:Gretchen: But you do have to watch out for "frenemies".:Regina: What are "frenemies"?:Gretchen: Frenemies are enemies who act like friends. We call them "frenemies".:Karen: Or "enemends".:Gretchen: Or friends who secretly hate you, we call them "fraitors".:Regina: [rolls eyes] That is so gay.:Karen: [gasps] What if we called them "mean-em-aitors"?:Regina: [scoffs] :Gretchen: No, honey, it has to have the word "friend" in it.:Karen: Oh...References
Jessica Mitford is quoted in “Decca: the letters of Jessica Mitford - edited by Peter Sussman” as saying that the word frienemy was coined by one of her sisters when she was a small child to describe a rather dull little girl who lived near them- they were inseparable companions, all the time disliking each other heartily". Apparently it was one of Decca's favourite words.See also
*
Coopetition
*Promoting adversaries External links
* [http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=50948 Sorrell To Analog: It's Time To Read The Writing On The Blog]
* [http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/business/items/200611/s1796206.htm Sir Martin sorrell discusses medi changes]
* [http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-eun8jan08,1,7226121.story LA Times: Google an ally, not a threat, media exec says]
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