alternatives.....

[janzman]

Can anyone suggest an alternative in English or any other language to the word Schadenfreude....taking pleasure in others misfortune (or maybe watching reality television).

[jno]

there isn't really one in English - that's why we've imported the German word. I don't know about other languages.

[janzman]

Im rather afraid that you are right jno, but what a great pity a word that describes so much of modern British life particullarly television should not be an English word .ah well...c'est la vie.......

[Quizmonster]

As J says, there is no single-word alternative, but - given that the German word itself is just two words strung together anyway - why not create a hyphenated English word for the same purpose. What about malice-joy, for example?

[jake-the-peg]

From Dilbert

"I'm having a Schadenfreude party - want to come?"

"Ooh that Sounds llike fun"

"Too bad you're not invited"

[jno]

yes, 'taking a malicious pleasure in...' But nailing words together doesn't always work as well in English as in German. Malice and Joy sound like a pair of punk newlyweds.

[Quizmonster]

Well, J, perhaps we don't take "nailing words together" to the same LENGTHS as do the Germans, but that's not to say we never do so in a lesser way when we find it convenient. The only difference is that, by their linguistic tradition, they just string them on, whereas, in ours, we hyphenate them. Three-year-old, up-and-over and many similar three-word constructions are perfectly acceptable in English, so I can see no really valid objection to the two-word concoction, malice-joy. I have to confess, however, that I can't see it catching on, mainly because people like to show off their knowledge by using the German original!

[fredpuli47]

I thought schadenfreude was English ! One feature of English is its borrowing of words from other languages and from everywhere: from Finnish to Japanese from Arabic to Romany.Usually the word has a meaning which is not easily represented by a single English word. Naive is an example from French. Sometimes it is for something which itself is imported: karaoke, sauna, ombudsman Given time, we stop seeing imports as imports. Once they are current we forget they are foreign. With Schadenfreude we only have to stop writing a capital S and the word is ours ! (I'm already there )

[Quizmonster]

Of course it's English, Fred, but I'll consider it fully naturalised only when I hear a typical Sun-reader speaking about "shaddenfroody"!

[chadad]

The meaning of Schadenfreude is not \" joy in the misfortune of others \".
But more nearly \" Serves him right \". or \" seeing someone get their comeuppance \".
in other words, \" seeing someone get their just desserts \"