Schadenfreude - now we said it too!
Schadenfreude \SHOD-n-froy-duh\
1. noun: A malicious satisfaction obtained from the misfortunes of others.
2. adjective: When the noun form is worked into an article, specially when it is only marginally salient, it modifies the byline to say, "I'm hip and well read".
Recently we have noticed that Schadenfreude is the new Weltanschauung. Have you noticed?
Schadenfreude is showing up all over. Today's NY Times, in an article by David Carr, (A B-Movie Becomes A Blockbuster 2/20/06) pulls Schadenfreude right out of the German and into the English. The long haired Gauls have never been more flattered!
Boston Legal featured the concept of schadenfreude. It's also been spotted by the astute Rominger Legal reading team in dozens of other magazines and articles.
We can't help but point out that this "discovered" concept is really just a one word equivalent of, "the people seem to enjoy a good gladiator fight".
USED IN A SENTENCE - Around here shad en fries is usually served for lent.
So now that we've proven our etymological prowess is up to par with the WSJ and NY Times, we'll get back to tearing down the employee bulletin board.
3 Comments:
The reason not too many people comment on your blog may or may not be directly correlated to all of the big words in play here. I consider myself to be a fairly intelligent individual, but the only words I understand seem to be "the", "of", and "and". But I did start watching Boston Legal because of your posts, and for that, I thank you.
Gauls = French.
Author responds: The poster has a point, the gauls did develop into the French, as well as several other European persuasions. However, certain tribes were aligned with the Teutons and other Germanic peoples. See for example: "The Romano-Gallic seems to have continued looking to Rome for status for some time, though from the middle of the fifth century they increasingly entered the service of the Germanic kings. The area eventually fell under the sway of the Franks". - http://www.ancientlibrary.com/wcd/Gaul
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