Schadenfreude

[Jenny A]

"Schadenfreude (/ˈʃɑːdənfrɔɪdə/; German: [ˈʃaːdn̩ˌfʀɔɪ̯də] ( listen)) is pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others.[1] This word is taken from German and literally means 'Harm-Joy.' It is the feeling of joy or pleasure when one sees another fail or suffer misfortune. It is also borrowed by some other languages." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schadenfreude

Once upon a time I went regularly to a restaurant above a private parking lot well marked as such with plenty of warnings about being towed for illegal parking. Yet people regularly parked there anyway, and inevitably their cars were booted. The towing company would only accept cash to unboot and pointed the booted to the nearest bank/ATM. We couldn't hear the drama, but it was fun to watch from above.

When we asked for a booting booth, the hostess knew exactly what we wanted. We obviously weren't the only ones.

Is schadenfreude itself immoral, or do we have to cause the misfortune or revel in undeserved misfortune of others for it to be immoral?





Oh, and immoral or not, do you admit to schadenfreude?

[DramaQueen]

Here, we call it šmáta

[Exian]

I'm surprised any part of 'schadenfreude' means 'joy'. Are there any happy sounding German words?

I don't think it's always immoral; it depends on the format, the severity of the misfortune, and where the fault lands . When watching a show like Tosh.0 or AFV, there's an understanding that you aren't going to witness death, and since its in the past there's the assumption that there has been recovery. So we laugh. Or I do, anyway. It's the same with telling a story. You could be describing some horrible luck that happened to you in the past, but because you are standing there now, you must be ok, so it's ok to laugh. You could witness some extremely terrible things and react appropriately, and have a good laugh later on recalling.

Of course, getting joy from watching a person die is immoral, at least according to my morals.

[Jenny A]

Here, we call it šmáta

Where is here? I tried to find a definition for smata and failed.

[Surgenator]

If you're laughing at someone's stupidity, then I don't think it is amoral. That includes people who win the Darwin award. I know I'm harsh, but being that stupid is punishable by death.

[Jenny A]

I'm surprised any part of 'schadenfreude' means 'joy'. Are there any happy sounding German words?

I don't think it's always immoral; it depends on the format, the severity of the misfortune, and where the fault lands . When watching a show like Tosh.0 or AFV, there's an understanding that you aren't going to witness death, and since its in the past there's the assumption that there has been recovery. So we laugh. Or I do, anyway. It's the same with telling a story. You could be describing some horrible luck that happened to you in the past, but because you are standing there now, you must be ok, so it's ok to laugh. You could witness some extremely terrible things and react appropriately, and have a good laugh later on recalling.

Of course, getting joy from watching a person die is immoral, at least according to my morals.

Mostly German sounds angry to me, but that doesn't mean it is angry.

I agree with you it's okay to laugh, at least I hope so because I sure do. The laugh is in part relief it's not us. Schadenfreude is the cousin of sick humor. But there's a point where it's too horrific or too undeserved and it's not funny anymore. When it's your past self it's always okay to laugh.

[DramaQueen]

شماتة/shamata

[Jenny A]

شماتة/shamata

Ummm? English definition please?

[DramaQueen]

Schadenfreude

[Jenny A]

If you're laughing at someone's stupidity, then I don't think it is amoral. That includes people who win the Darwin award. I know I'm harsh, but being that stupid is punishable by death.

I'm not sure how much I want to be laughing at retardation. But people who are but behave as if they are. . . that's funny. Or sad. depends on the consequences. --- Though I admit laughing at the Darwin Awards even when perhaps I shouldn't.