Prefix Verb Advent Calender – 4

(sich) vergnügen

It comes from the word genug (enough) and the original meaning was to be enough for someone – so we’re dealing with a for-ver here.with the for-ver). Now, life a few hundred years ago was quite hard for most people and having enough to eat wasn’t a given. So a change from “The harvest is enough for me” changed to “The harvest makes me happy” isn’t too far fetched-  and that is exactly the change that happened with vergnügen.
Nowadays, it’s mostly used with a self reference in sense of having fun, enjoying oneself. And when I say mostly, I mean rarely because the word isn’t all too common. You’ll probably see the related words more often.
das Vergnügen – the pleasure, joy, fun
vergnügt (ge-form) – jolly, gleefull(y)
der Vergnügungspark – theme park, amusement park
Viel Vergnügen! – Enjoy! (slightly stiffer than “Viel Spaß!”)

• Thomas und Maria vergnügen sich im Bett. (adult)
• Thomas and Maria are having fun in bed.

• Es war mir ein Vergnügen. (sounds a bit distinguished but not too much)
• It was a pleasure (for me).