Thank You, Germany!
Why, you ask? For giving us the term Schadenfreude. This is truly an awesome word, and one we really needed. There isn't an American equivalent.
It is defined as: “pleasure derived from the misfortune of others”. At lot of languages have a term for this, but a lot of them borrow from the German, and none roll off the tongue so nicely.
Basically, it is laughing at your friend who trips in a pothole, or chuckling at the antics of the Three Stooges, or finding just about anything on The Simpsons funny, but can include finding sheer joy at the utter failings of others, such as seeing an “enemy” fail in a venture.
Take, for example, the sight Sheeps and I witnessed last Sunday. We had a long day of yard work ahead of us, so decided to catch a nice brunch, beforehand. There is a wonderful deli near to the house, but it is very popular, so parking is at a premium. We ended up having to park at the far side of the plaza. On the way back to the car we passed a family heading in. They had a boy, about 10, who was terribly interested at the contents of one of the storefronts (though I have to wonder why – it was a Citi-Bank loan store, so nothing interesting inside…) He had his forehead pressed against the glass and was looking in, sliding along as he continued walking. Well, the storefront was not *all* glass, as it had nice, solid, steel dividers between the window sections, as the boy soon found out. With a loud “clang!” and an “ow!”, the boy bounced off the window frame. It was one of those moments of horror wherein you wondered if the boy was all right, but the guffaws of laughter would not be halted. Hey, even the parents were laughing. We apologized, as we stumbled past, tears of joy dripping down our faces… It was one of those “had to be there” moments, and I was glad we were.
Thanks Germany! Great word.
It is defined as: “pleasure derived from the misfortune of others”. At lot of languages have a term for this, but a lot of them borrow from the German, and none roll off the tongue so nicely.
Basically, it is laughing at your friend who trips in a pothole, or chuckling at the antics of the Three Stooges, or finding just about anything on The Simpsons funny, but can include finding sheer joy at the utter failings of others, such as seeing an “enemy” fail in a venture.
Take, for example, the sight Sheeps and I witnessed last Sunday. We had a long day of yard work ahead of us, so decided to catch a nice brunch, beforehand. There is a wonderful deli near to the house, but it is very popular, so parking is at a premium. We ended up having to park at the far side of the plaza. On the way back to the car we passed a family heading in. They had a boy, about 10, who was terribly interested at the contents of one of the storefronts (though I have to wonder why – it was a Citi-Bank loan store, so nothing interesting inside…) He had his forehead pressed against the glass and was looking in, sliding along as he continued walking. Well, the storefront was not *all* glass, as it had nice, solid, steel dividers between the window sections, as the boy soon found out. With a loud “clang!” and an “ow!”, the boy bounced off the window frame. It was one of those moments of horror wherein you wondered if the boy was all right, but the guffaws of laughter would not be halted. Hey, even the parents were laughing. We apologized, as we stumbled past, tears of joy dripping down our faces… It was one of those “had to be there” moments, and I was glad we were.
Thanks Germany! Great word.
posted by Turtle at 11:56 AM
1 Comments:
D'oh!
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