[GuidoK]

Ok, I thought envious was basically projected on physical things where jealousy can also be on human characteristics (like you are jealous "when your wife laughs very hard at the jokes of your best friend", where jealousy is sprung from the fear of loosing what you have). But its difficult to express the exact differences, every language has a lot of words for roughly that same emotion with all its tiny differences and sometimes personal interpretations.

But I understand what you mean. In the US people grand or tolerate more in other people if they have worked for it than over here where they usually grand someone nothing more than what they have themselves which is imho one of the worst characteristics a person can have. I think in comes to some degree from the calvanistic christian norms and values that are embedded in northern/western european culture. For instance I totally dont see that with italians/italian culture for example. Italian men are obviously jealous when their wife is looking at another man, but I dont think they think you're a duche because you drive a ferrari (to put it in US context)