Schadenfreude

I've always been fascinated by the word Schadenfreude.  Remember when were a little kid and you'd giggle when you said "titicaca"?  Come on now, you know you did it!  It's one of those words you just can't say once.

Anyway, the other day I found myself musing over the meaning of the German word Schadenfreude.

I was watching a couple minutes of football at the moment of "touchdown." It was near the end of the game and the home-field crowd went wild. But wild for what? The success of their team? Yes, to some extent.

Maybe was it me or maybe it was just a Zeitgeist kinda thingy at that instant, but I watched the home-team fans reveling in that moment, while I observed the look of despair and misfortune of the other team.

I didn’t know it, but I was having a holy cow moment.

The score was lopsided and I admit, at that point I felt kinda sorry for those mopes.

Suddenly, the word Schadenfreude popped into my head and here we are.

So I'm asking myself, how did the other side feel? Since the word Schadenfreude existed to describe that, I thought, there must be an opposite German word or antonym to describe the other condition.

Of course, the first thing I did was go on line.

However, before I could come up with “that” word I needed a clear and precise definition of Schadenfreude.

There were a few, but the clearest and most precise meaning I could find was: "joy or pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others." Ah, that's it!

But how do we describe the opposite? If Schadenfreude is the "joy or pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others." Is the opposite word or antonym:

• the "joy or pleasure" derived from the fortunes of others
• or is it the upset or anger derived from the misfortunes of others
• or the upset or anger derived from the good fortunes or happiness of others?

See, it's not so easy. Is it?

So "riddle me this" dear reader, what German word or words would you come up with? Based on which definition?

And while you're at it, how will you feel if D207 looses the November Referendum, because you already know how they'll feel if they win - Schadenfreude.