today in intriguing german loanwords:
der lachende erbe • a relative distant enough to not feel grief upon your death but close enough to benefit from your will
the literal translation, a “laughing heir,” (ie. an heir that laughs all the way to the bank upon learning of your gruesome death-journey through the gastrointestinal tract of the loch ness monster) has become a recognized term in the law of inheritance as well as a popular dickensian trope.
