"Only the Germans would invent Schadenfreude..."

[elfs]

There is this assumption that there's no word in English to match the German term schadenfruede, "malicious satisfaction in the misfortunes of others." This popular notion has been repeated often in the popular press and even shows up in Dictionary.com's "usage" segment.

I'm happy to report that such a popular notion is wrong. Schadenfreude is a late-comer to our shores. The correct English term is epicaricacy, and it means exactly the same thing.

Comments

Re: Gmilut Chasadim would be charity

[unmutual.livejournal.com]

Oh.

The more I learn about these things outside the synagogue in which I was brought up, the more I realize that they were really just making it all up as they went along. *sigh*

Two things...

[shunra.livejournal.com]

...one, they use it in a context that is different from "modern Hebrew, as spoken in Israel", not least because it is spoken within rather exclusive, tightly knit communities.

...two, that's not all they were making up. I was brought up in a similar manner and have been making up for lost time and hidden information ever since. Feel free to leave a comment on my journal (anywhere is ok) if you want pointers about the main lies and misdirections. :-)