Word of the Day

I like to be exposed to new words, so for a couple of years I have been getting the free word of the day from Merriam-Webster.com ....today's word was especially interesting. Here are the contents of the e-mail I received today.

schadenfreude \SHAH-dun-froy-duh\ noun, often capitalized

: enjoyment obtained from the troubles of others

Example sentence: "There is simply no higher level of schadenfreude than when the rich or famous stumble." (John Gonzalez, Boston Magazine, August 2005)

Did you know? "Schadenfreude" is a compound of the German nouns "Schaden," meaning "damage" or "harm," and "Freude," meaning "joy," so it makes sense that "schadenfreude" means joy over some harm or misfortune suffered by another.

"What a fearful thing is it that any language should have a word expressive of the pleasure which men feel at the calamities of others," wrote Richard Trench of Dublin, an archbishop with literary predilections, of the German "Schadenfreude" in 1852; perhaps it was just as well he didn't live to see the word embraced by English speakers before the century was out.

My addition: I experience schadenfreude every time I hear a new Bushism on NPR.