German is a wonderful language and the long words replete with profound significance, such as Schadenfreude, are perfectly marvelous, but why don't we have our OWN words for these things? Why should we allow ourselves to be indolent in terms of our own creative output in defining emotions such as this in our own language? English is an interesting language because it stems from two separate roots: Anglo-Saxon and Latin. The wealth of options provided by these twin rivers should give us ample words from which to choose one that is the equivalent of Schadenfreude and so many other psychology-based terms that have been used for over a century without any attempt to create one that is based in our own language.
So here it is: Schadenfreude, of course, signifies the sort of joy that one feels when reading about or seeing the tragedy or agony that is being experienced by another. Usually, it is not felt when a friend or loved one experiences pain but rather when a public figure or personal enemy is pierced by a shaft from an unlucky working of fate. In this sense, it is quite different from sadism, which is the art of inflicting pain upon another and rejoicing in it or actually being excited by it. Schadenfreude is a passive business, kind of a guilty pleasure but one that does not involve any action on the part of the individual who experiences it.
I have a close friend who is a novelist who delights in the use of the word. In fact, most of his recent novels have used it more than once and it is a word that trips over the tongue and resonates with a melody all its own, but even so, let us try to create a new word for ourselves!
I have been thinking about it all morning. It would have to be a bind-word, I think, one that combines two separate words, in the same way that Schadenfreude does. So what combinations would give some of the same music and significance? I think 'bliss' and 'joy' and 'thrill' might be part of the equation and on the other side of the coin as it were, 'sorrow', 'bitter' or something that instantly summons thoughts of pain or misfortune. And then, a lovely bind-word came to me. 'Caustic-bliss'. Or I suppose 'Thrill in sorrow' could work... Will keep thinking about it as I am determined to add a word to our lexicon.
Later: 'Poisoned joy' or 'Poison Bliss'. I like 'Poison Bliss' best!
About Me
- Valkyrie Hawk
- My name is Eugenia-Maria Martino de Conde. Freyashawk is the name under which I write game guides and play many games. I specialise in Northern mythology but my original academic background is in History and British Law. Mine is the view of an exile, a Swan-Maiden rather than a god. Not an exile from heaven (that would be arrogant), but an exile nonetheless. I have lived in La Jolla, Nepal, London, Southampton, Manhattan, Roma, Pennsylvania et alia but spiritually belong to no land. Thus the affiliation with the air, hawk and swan. A Valkyrie chooses heroes from the slain. Walking among the dead is disconcerting. My greatest loves are my daughter and my Puttikins, my Himalayan cat clan. As Freyashawk, I write strategy guides for games. Time to write another novel for a writer can be a Valkyrie, creating warriors from her imagination that inspire people in the eternal battle between good and evil. Therein is the power I desire.
