The Germans have a word for it

« previous post | next post »

The current Questionable Content:


Previously attested schadenfreude portmanteaux include podenfreude, spitzenfreude, googlefreude, etc.

[Hat tip: Alex Baumans]



33 Comments

  1. Stewart said,

    September 9, 2009 @ 9:35 am

    Clicking the image brings up a smaller image. 'Click to emsmallen'?

    Stewart

  2. greg said,

    September 9, 2009 @ 9:36 am

    if you enjoy this sort of thing, would it be an example of Paranomasienfreude – taking joy in puns? Or should we stick with German and go with Witzelfreude?

    Somewhat similar, of course, is Spoonenfreude – taking joy in Spoonerisms.

  3. Ginger Yellow said,

    September 9, 2009 @ 10:33 am

    Clicking the image brings up a smaller image. 'Click to emsmallen'?

    Debiggen.

  4. Spell Me Jeff said,

    September 9, 2009 @ 10:51 am

    Soloikofreude: taking joy at linguistic infelicities. The word itself is one. So take joy, poppycockers!

  5. Emily said,

    September 9, 2009 @ 10:57 am

    There's also "Palinfreude", though, as Steven Pinker noted about other neologisms based on then-current political names, this one will die with the political career of its namesake.

  6. Richard M Buck said,

    September 9, 2009 @ 11:17 am

    I think my favourite — although I can't remember where I came across it — was freudenschade, the pain one feels at seeing someone one dislikes doing well or having fun.

  7. J. W. Brewer said,

    September 9, 2009 @ 11:22 am

    That "freudenschade" concept has also been called, perhaps more boringly, gluckschmerz. Googling reveals multiple English-language contexts contrasting it specifically with schadenfreude. I'm not sure if it (i.e. gl.-schm.) is an "authentic" German word or one coined for use among Anglophones by someone who knew enough German to be plausible.

  8. Ginger Yellow said,

    September 9, 2009 @ 11:35 am

    There's also "Palinfreude", though, as Steven Pinker noted about other neologisms based on then-current political names, this one will die with the political career of its namesake.

    Quisling?

  9. acilius said,

    September 9, 2009 @ 11:46 am

    @Greg: Spoonenfreude- That one has potential… Though to keep it tied to Spoonerisms, it should be Froonenspeude.

  10. Blake Stacey said,

    September 9, 2009 @ 12:06 pm

    Does "Benedict Arnold" count as a "political" name? "McCarthyism" seems to be doing pretty well, too, as does "Churchillian".

  11. Gary said,

    September 9, 2009 @ 12:14 pm

    "Does "Benedict Arnold" count as a "political" name? "McCarthyism" seems to be doing pretty well, too, as does "Churchillian"."

    The evil that men do lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones.

  12. Sili said,

    September 9, 2009 @ 12:42 pm

    Machiavelli didn't even do anything evil.

  13. Jonathan said,

    September 9, 2009 @ 12:47 pm

    Oblique and trivial, the poster on the wall in the comic is for Mogwai's 'Happy Songs for Happy People' album, which features the nicely titled track, 'Moses? I amn't'.

  14. Bob said,

    September 9, 2009 @ 1:20 pm

    One word: Gleichgewichtzustandwiederherstellungsmoeglichkeit.

    Just because I can.

  15. Spectre-7 said,

    September 9, 2009 @ 2:17 pm

    I think my favourite — although I can't remember where I came across it — was freudenschade, the pain one feels at seeing someone one dislikes doing well or having fun.

    Nice, though I stlll rather like the Simpson's take on the subject.

    Lisa: Dad, do you know what Schadenfreude is?
    Homer: No, I don't know what "shaden-frawde" is. Please tell me, because I'm dying to know.
    Lisa: It's a German term for "shameful joy", taking pleasure in the suffering of others.
    Homer: Oh, come on Lisa. I'm just glad to see him fall flat on his butt! He's usually all happy and comfortable, and surrounded by loved ones, and it makes me feel… What's the opposite of that shameful joy thing of yours?
    Lisa: Sour grapes.
    Homer: Boy, those Germans have a word for everything!

  16. Dan T. said,

    September 9, 2009 @ 5:32 pm

    "Gerrymander" is after a 19th-century politician.

  17. peter said,

    September 9, 2009 @ 5:50 pm

    "Does "Benedict Arnold" count as a "political" name? "McCarthyism" seems to be doing pretty well, too, as does "Churchillian".

    Ditto: "Dreyfusard", "Teddy Bear", "Stalinist", "Ramsay MacDonald",
    "Hooverville", "Quisling", "Powellite", etc.

  18. lynneguist said,

    September 9, 2009 @ 6:24 pm

    Not a SchadenX, but an Xschaden (Googleschaden): see here

  19. acilius said,

    September 9, 2009 @ 6:44 pm

    @Dan T: And barely 19th century at that. Elbridge Gerry died in 1814, and had outlived his prime by twenty years.

  20. mattghg said,

    September 9, 2009 @ 8:05 pm

    One word: Gleichgewichtzustandwiederherstellungsmoeglichkeit.

    Just because I can.

    Because you can … reproduce a state of equilibrium?

  21. Reinhold {Rey} Aman said,

    September 9, 2009 @ 10:06 pm

    Returning to the topic of Mark's post: In the top black bar, the cartoonist sneaked in an obscenity:
    Number 1488: Inevitably Leads To Fickenfreude
    The pseudo-German Fickenfreude means "fuck-joy," "the joy of fucking"; from ficken, to fuck.
    Cunnilinguists, fellators, and fellatrices no doubt enjoy Leckenfreude, Schleckenfreude, and Saugenfreude.

  22. mollymooly said,

    September 9, 2009 @ 11:10 pm

    "Schadenfreude" and "freudenschade" seem little different from "gloating" and "begrudging", respectively.

  23. Steve said,

    September 10, 2009 @ 12:44 am

    Click to smallify? Click to belittle?

  24. Achim said,

    September 10, 2009 @ 3:27 am

    @ J W Brewer:

    That "freudenschade" concept has also been called, perhaps more boringly, gluckschmerz. Googling reveals multiple English-language contexts contrasting it specifically with schadenfreude. I'm not sure if it (i.e. gl.-schm.) is an "authentic" German word or one coined for use among Anglophones by someone who knew enough German to be plausible.

    I have just checked my intuition with Google. Restricting the search to sites in German and putting the word in quotes (to filter out listings such as "Glück – Schmerz") gets you 7 hits. The "Leipziger Wortschatz" does not know the word.

  25. Michael said,

    September 10, 2009 @ 6:47 am

    ""Schadenfreude" and "freudenschade" seem little different from "gloating" and "begrudging", respectively."

    Not so. Here is an Oxford entry for gloat: feast eyes or mind lustfully, avaraciously, malignantly &c.

  26. Spell Me Jeff said,

    September 10, 2009 @ 11:58 am

    Shadensigmundfreude: the joy critics take in falsifying Freud's claims.

  27. Bob said,

    September 10, 2009 @ 12:34 pm

    One word: Gleichgewichtzustandwiederherstellungsmoeglichkeit.

    Just because I can.

    Because you can … reproduce a state of equilibrium?

    Well, the possibility exists.

  28. carla said,

    September 10, 2009 @ 1:16 pm

    To my ear schadenfreude is different from gloating. Gloating can include lording one's own accomplishments or good fortune over others. Schadenfreude is taking joy in another's failures or bad fortune. Additionally gloating carries a connotation (at least to me) of being in the other's presence or earshot; it's belittling another by pointing out to them what you've got that they haven't. Schadenfreude, by contrast, is often enjoyed remotely.

  29. nbm said,

    September 10, 2009 @ 9:36 pm

    What is the word for regretting that some ill has befallen someone else, but being glad nonetheless that it was them rather than you?

  30. Karen said,

    September 10, 2009 @ 11:06 pm

    nbm: "Guilt"

  31. Stephen Jones said,

    September 11, 2009 @ 3:36 am

    'Schadenfreude' may have a more limited meaning than 'gloating', but 'gloating' definitely encompasses that meaning.

  32. aron said,

    September 20, 2009 @ 7:27 am

    @mattghg: sorry, but it seems that in fact you can't.
    Gleichgewichtzustandwiederherstellungsmoeglichkeit is not a correkt german word. it would have to be GleichgewichtSzustandSwiederherstellungsmoeglichkeit.

  33. Eric said,

    March 28, 2014 @ 2:43 am

    Haha! Foreign language can be really funny.

RSS feed for comments on this post