Friday 17 October 2008

Living in a Bilingual World (Vivace)


Amidst all the conmotion caused by the recent financial meltdown in the US and Europe the linguistic pedant in me has only had time to focus on one particular word that has been bandied about in newspapers both in the USA and GB. Never uttered by broadcasters or newsreaders, this word has had more cameo appearances in the written press than 'Joe' from 'Friends' has had leading roles since the famous show wrapped up.

Schadenfreude has been defined by the online dictionary I regularly default to as 'enjoyment taken from the misfortune of someone else.' Always capitalized, as are all other nouns in the German language, this term is totally apposite to how the majority of the population feels towards the bankers responsible for so much turmoil, otherwise known as... (and here, the reader might want to insert a British slang term that rhymes with the aforementioned profession, and which yours truly is loath to reproduce in print for fear of offending the well-meaning folk who visit these cyber-shores). On talking to other people about this 'completely-out-of-the-blue economic crisis' (Ha! Who are they kidding?) the feeling I get from them is one of largely unanticipated delight in the suffering of these merchants of doom.

The word Schadenfreude is a linguistic beauty. Derived from the German Schaden (damage, harm) and Freude (joy), this term carries a heavy sadistic meaning inside it and yet you wouldn't notice it. The 'sch' sound cushions the brutal impact of such strong definition. However, before our Teutonic friends get a bit too 'fröhlich' about this latest Anglo-Saxon-German encounter (and without a penalty shoot-out in sight, would you believe it!) I must warn them that there is a word in the English language that means almost the same.

Epicaricacy is derived from the Greek and it first made its debut in Nathan Bailey's 18th-century Universal Etymological English Dictionary. It used to be spelled Epicharikaky but with the passing of time its ortography changed to what it is today. Its history tells us that it is a compound word made up of the Greek words epi (upon), chaira (joy), and kakon (evil).

Brushing aside reports that apparently people with low self-esteem are more likely to feel schadenfreude (notice the non-capitalisation in English) than are people who have high self-esteem (no, me neither), lately I have found myself struggling to sympathise with those who play Russian roulette with our mortgages and finances. I know that it is my duty to feel compassion for my kinfolk in times of distress and yet the only maxim that comes to mind is that of Nietzsche when he said 'Lachen heißt: schadenfroh sein, aber mit gutem Gewissen': "Humour is just Schadenfreude with a clear conscience."

Now, that's a piece of advice I am willing to follow, how about you?

Image taken from http://www.cartoonstock.com/

Copyright 2008

32 comments:

  1. Always a fan of Nietzsche...gotta love his honesty.

    PS. I'm loving the new header-I'm a Gordon...well, I call him Sting- fan too!

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  2. I love this post. Schadenfreude is a linguistic beauty, indeed. Great etymology and it's fun to say, too. I must use it this week!

    Thanks, Cuban! I feel funny calling you Cuban...Mr. Cuban. ;^)

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  3. We have discussed "epicaricacy" a lot on Wordcraft, and I even have a Blog entitled: "friendsofepicaricacy." Therefore, I enjoyed your post, Cuban, and your love of language is apparent.

    "Epicaricacy" never was carried over from Bailey's to the OED. That is unfortunate because many don't consider it a legitimate word, given that the OED is our gold standard. I hope that, with the update of the OED, we will soon see "epicaricacy" added. While there are plenty of citations defining the word, there are very, very few where people use the word. Let's change that!

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  4. Thanks for your kind comments, my lovely fellow bloggers and readers.

    Kalleh, on researching the subject for my weekly column on all matters linguistic, I asked a language scholar who teaches at Middlesex University and he assured me that the OED carries a very old definition of the word, circa 19th century. True, I have not checked this fact, for my time is limited and I don't get paid to do it (are you reading newspapers editors?) but I will investigate further. Thank you ever so much for your clarification :-).

    Greetings from London.

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  5. Que poco se de lenguas (y eso que vivo de ellas). Por eso tengo que visitarte con tiempo, para absorver tus ensenanzas, estimado Cubaninlondon. Y las de tus comentaristas!

    Delicioso tu blog. Vi que hiciste cambios en la fachada. Tengo que acostumbrarme.

    Greetings from NY.

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  6. Gracias, eu, si, el sen-or Sting estuvo de visita y me recomendo que pusiera la letra de una de sus canciones :-)

    Saludos desde Londres.

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  7. Qué tal, Cuban! Me gusta mucho esta sección tuya...

    Ya que tocas el tema germano-inglés, quiero decirte que en los años que llevo aquí, los angloparlantes son los que más rápido aprenden el Alemán (muy similar en muchos aspectos) pero sin embargo el acento es el difícil de cambiar.

    Un abrazo,
    AB

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  8. Two small details:
    1- It seems all languages have plenty of words most people never use an many don't even know .
    2- Foreign words are often charming and many people prefer to use them instead of our own.
    Why?
    Saludos,
    Al Godar

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  9. Gracias, agu, bueno el inglés surgio del aleman, asi que los de GB le deben mas a los teutones de lo que ellos piensan

    Al, the answer is that languages are like the horizon, just when you think you're there, it keeps running away. The answer to the second question is that some foreign words or phrases sound 'cool' and appropriate within a specific context. Likethe example I have just given. I cannot imagine anyone using epicaricacy; it is a bit of a mouthful, and schadenfreude carries that 'alien' touch with it.

    Greetings from London.

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  10. Yes, the word SCHAFENFREUDE seems to express such a universal concept that you have to wonder why it doesn't exist in other languages...

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  11. Mary, thanks for your visit and your kind comments.

    Greetings from London.

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  12. I can't quite see myself using either Schadenfreude or epicaricacy, but I enjoyed learning the meaning...I do enjoy etymology.

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  13. Haha this post made me laugh because my daughter at five years old tried explaining the concept of Schadenfreude to the other children on the school bus.

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  14. Diva, I don't think anyone uses the word in oral conversations, it would be a bit of a mouthful methinks.

    Blicky, thanks for popping by. Does your daughter perhaps point at the bully who has just dropped her lunch in the playground and after laughing her head off, says: 'That's Schadenfreude what I am feeling!' :-D

    Greetings from London.

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  15. Great post! The problem with feeling Schadenfreude is that its karma often bites back.

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  16. Ah, karma, I forgot about that! Hmmm... well, I think the harbingers of this financial mess are the actual victims of their own karma. Don't you think?

    Greetings from London.

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  17. "Skadeglädje", the Swedish word for "Schadenfreude", is constructed in the same way as its German friend and I was looking for an English friend some time ago. I tried to explain the word to a Canadian friend, but he couldn't give me the English version so thanks for enlightening me ;-)

    How's it going with the book - any better now?

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  18. 'Skadeglädje'.

    It is very similar in spelling. Is Swedish a Germanic language? Icelandic is, but I don't know whether Scandinavian languages are a group of languages per se (like Slavic, for instance) or they are Germanic but are called Scandinavian after the region.

    The book is full of ups and downs in my opinion. I have resigned myself to enduring this situation as opposed to to putting it down. What is interesting is that there are sections that trigger thoughs off in my brain that are not related to the subject matter, namely, women, but countries, cultures, class. Odd, isn't it?

    Greetings from London.

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  19. Excellent! i didn't know this English word "epicaricacy" ..sounds like delicacy but meaning is not that charming.
    as for "schadenfreude", mon Dieu there are so many German words i fell in love with when i studied German at highschool, das Schicksal, in particular..

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  20. Schicksal... hmmm... this word in particular is difficult for non-German speakers to pronounce (well, like many words in German, come to think of it) and that's why I have always seen in written form.

    Thanks for passing by.

    Greetings from London.

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  21. In a single word schadenfreude vindicates entirely the sometimes clumsy linguistic principle of the compound noun. As a concept, I'm not sure where one would have to be standing within the current financial climate to feel comfortable in applying it with full force.

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  22. Wise words, dick. I am standing on the side of those who don't know, who know that they don't know and most importantly, who know that those who know prefer us to carry on not knowing.

    Thanks for passing by.

    Greetings from London.

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  23. leaving sintaxis apart, I agree with Dick, I believe -semantically - there is little room for so-called "schadenfreude" ...world is so global! you never know when someone else misfortune will become your own disgrace... hugs

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  24. Great post and very much linguistic beauty. BTW love that cartoon

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  25. Thanks, betty and brit gal sarah.

    You can rest assured, betty, that the gloating did not last long. It was too expensive! :-D

    Greetings from London.

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  26. You're so right - Swedish, is a Germanic language, and together with Danish, Faroese, Norwegian and Icelandic it forms one of the three Germanic branches, but in the Nordic countries there are also non Germanic languages - sami, and Finnish.

    I'm glad you've decided to finish the book ;-)Odd? Nah... Just like there are constructed roles for women and men there are specific roles and hiearchical structures for countries, cultures and classes so I'm not surprised that you come to think of other topics ;-)

    Greetings from Sweden!

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  27. Thanks again, sara, I never knew that Swedish was a Germanic language, that was a wild guess.

    The bit I am reading now (almost reaching the 200th page, a milestons, hooray!:-D) is about myths and although it is heavy with scientific lingo it is very interesting.

    Greetings from London.

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  28. love the etymology and linguistics lesson, will totally pass this on.

    hello from illinois :)

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  29. Hello, dd, thanks for popping by.

    Greetings from London.

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