Thursday, May 29, 2008

Schadenfreude


Schadenfreude
- a malicious satisfaction in the misfortunes of others
- pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune.
From Wikipedia:
The word derives from Schaden (damage, harm) and Freude (joy); Schaden derives from the Middle High German schade, from the Old High German scado. Freude comes from the Middle High German vreude, from the Old High German frewida, from frō, (happy). In German, the word always has a negative connotation. A distinction exists between "secret schadenfreude" (a private feeling) and "open schadenfreude" (Hohn, a German word roughly translated as "scorn") which is outright public derision.

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