The Surprising History of Schadenfreude
Schadenfreude is a compound word made up of two German words "Schaden", meaning "harm" or "damage" and "Freude", meaning "joy"
Do you ever find yourself having a good laugh at failed compilations on YouTube?
Whether it’s someone crashing hilariously on a skateboard, a child running unconsciously through a glass door, or a cat failing to jump a mile and falling into embarrassing laughter – we’re all one for a good laugh at these things and more.
However, the Germans have a specific word for this feeling.
Well, they do and it’s called schadenfreude.
The feeling of Schadenfreude is when you feel joy, pleasure, or self-satisfaction that comes from learning about or witnessing the suffering, humiliation, or failure of others.
So, for example, I can say that I experienced pure schadenfreude watching the German soccer team lose to the South Korean soccer team at the 2018 World Cup, leading to their exit from the group stage while defending their title.
Schadenfreude is a compound word made up of two German words “Schaden”, meaning “harm” or “damage” and “Freude”, meaning “joy”.
So the word literally translated into English means “harm-joy.”
The origins of the word.
The term originally dates back to German texts from the 1740s and is not mentioned in English texts until 1852 and then 1867.
Although Schadenfreude has equivalents in other languages, such as Arabic and Hebrew, there is no specific English equivalent in common use.
There is a direct equivalent borrowed from Greek called “epicaricacy”, although it is relatively unknown and unused by English speakers.
The phrase “Roman holiday” is also used to describe the scenario.
“Roman holiday” comes from Lord Byron’s poem Child Harold’s Pilgrimage, in which a gladiator in ancient Rome hopes to “butcher a Roman holiday”, thinking about how the gladiator’s audience will enjoy his suffering.
While Schadenfreude can be tragic, it can mostly be light entertainment – nothing sinister like a “Roman holiday”.
So there you have it man; The next time you and your friends are watching YouTube and see someone fall off a rope swing or you see someone jump out of their skin with a scary joke, make sure their laughter is doing the schadenfreude!