# Is There a Word in German for This? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 2, 2002, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-in-german-for-this/111958 "2002-06-02T00:26:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gregor\_Samsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@Gregor\_Samsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gregor_Samsa)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-in-german-for-this/111958/1 "2002-06-02T00:26:35Z")
A quick question for German-speakers: Is there a word in German describing the concept of simultaneously exalting and vilifying something? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-in-german-for-this/111958/2 "2002-06-02T01:12:09Z")
Those germans! They just have a different word for everything! ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-in-german-for-this/111958/3 "2002-06-02T01:15:31Z")
Is there a word for it in English? ---
**Author:** ![LolaCocaCola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@LolaCocaCola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaCocaCola)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-in-german-for-this/111958/4 "2002-06-02T01:17:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Speaker for the Dead \* > \*\*Is there a word for it in English? \*\* hee hee! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![regnad\_kcin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@regnad\_kcin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/regnad_kcin)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-in-german-for-this/111958/5 "2002-06-02T01:19:03Z")
My German is pretty good, but I cant think of anything. You might want to rephrase the question, though, if you want to include native German speakers who dont speak English as a native language, as many might not know what “exalt” or “vilify” mean. “Praise and ridicule” come to mind, for example, and communicate your question just as clearly without making you look quite so arrogant. ---
**Author:** ![Gregor\_Samsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@Gregor\_Samsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gregor_Samsa)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-in-german-for-this/111958/6 "2002-06-02T01:24:07Z")
I don’t believe there is a word for it in English - the closest I could come up with was **love-hate** , but that doesn’t really cover it. I figured any language that had a word for “shameful joy” must have a word for this. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-in-german-for-this/111958/7 "2002-06-02T02:22:23Z")
Is there a word for it in English? Nortorious? ---
**Author:** ![peepthis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9d8465/32.png) [@peepthis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peepthis)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-in-german-for-this/111958/8 "2002-06-02T02:24:09Z")
Do you mean in the sense of “damning with faint praise”, or perhaps more like a “backhanded compliment”? ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-in-german-for-this/111958/9 "2002-06-02T07:28:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Speaker for the Dead \* > \*\*Is there a word for it in English? \*\* Ah, but in German there is the practice of running a whole bunch of words together to make a new word. Such as _fliegerabwehrkanonen_. I’ll let the German speakers give the literal translation but it is antiaircraft artillery. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-in-german-for-this/111958/10 "2002-06-02T07:37:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Qadgop the Mercotan \* > \*\*Those germans! They just have a different word for everything! \*\* Caught the Steve Martin reference–good show, old boy. Unless that’s not what you meant. ---
**Author:** ![donkeyoatey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@donkeyoatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donkeyoatey)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-in-german-for-this/111958/11 "2002-06-02T20:49:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Speaker for the Dead \* > \*\*Is there a word for it in English? \*\* Wouldn’t that be sarcasm? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-in-german-for-this/111958/12 "2002-06-02T20:56:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Doghouse Reilly \* > \*\* > > Caught the Steve Martin reference–good show, old boy. Unless that’s not what you meant. \*\* Yes, that’s what I meant. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-in-german-for-this/111958/13 "2002-06-02T22:20:50Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by David Simmons \* > \*\* > Ah, but in German there is the practice of running a whole bunch of words together to make a new word._\* Something we never do in English. :rolleyes: As far as I know there is no such word in German. It would be possible to construct one by “running a whole bunch of words together”, but it would be equally possible to do this in English – or even to form a compound based on Latin or Greek, like so many English words. ---
**Author:** ![Gregor\_Samsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@Gregor\_Samsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gregor_Samsa)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-in-german-for-this/111958/14 "2002-06-02T23:12:21Z")
I’ll tell you the reason I’m asking the question, if it helps - I’ll try to do so with as little arrogance as possible. I’m back in university after some years’ absence, and I am currently writing a paper for a history course. The thesis of the paper is something along the lines of, “White mainstream Canadian society’s attitude towards Native cultures in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was marked by a mixture of vilification and admiration, often seeming to exist simultaneously.” When I was last in school (10 years ago now), I thought I had run across a word in German that referred to that kind of simultaneous disdain and admiration. Possibly not, though, from what I understand now. Thanks for your help. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-in-german-for-this/111958/15 "2002-06-02T23:22:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lamia \* > \*\* > > Something we never do in English. :rolleyes:\*\* I don’t believe I said that. > [@](#): > > **… It would be possible to construct one by “running a whole bunch of words together”, but it would be equally possible to do this in English …** Yes it would be possible in English. But isn’t the far more common mode in English to put a hyphen in there somewhere? I suppose for every example of making one word of of several without hyphens in English there are maybe as many as ten such examples in German. Mark Twain had a lot of fun with this in _The Awful German Language_. But maybe having a little fun is a no-no. It wouldn’t be surprising if **all** languages have their little idiosyncrasies ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-in-german-for-this/111958/16 "2002-06-02T23:26:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lamia \* > \*\* > > Something we never do in English. :rolleyes:\*\* I don’t believe I said that. > [@](#): > > **… It would be possible to construct one by “running a whole bunch of words together”, but it would be equally possible to do this in English …** Yes it would be possible in English. But isn’t the far more common mode in English to put a hyphen in there somewhere? I suppose for every example of making one word of of several without hyphens in English there are maybe as many as ten such examples in German. Mark Twain had a lot of fun with this in _The Awful German Language_. But maybe having a little fun is a no-no. It wouldn’t be surprising if **all** languages have their little idiosyncrasies Incidently, **pipeliner** , according to Twain all you have to do is look up the German words for “disdain” and “admiration,” put _und_ between them, run them together and _voila!,_ you have what you are looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Gregor\_Samsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@Gregor\_Samsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gregor_Samsa)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-in-german-for-this/111958/17 "2002-06-02T23:45:35Z")
Maybe I’ll try that in this paper, **David**. Dankeundgutnacht. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-in-german-for-this/111958/18 "2002-06-03T01:49:43Z")
Do you mean Schadenfreude? Although if I were writing the paper, I’d try to use a word in English. Professors can tell when you’re trying to be pretentious. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-in-german-for-this/111958/19 "2002-06-03T02:04:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ratatoskK \* > \*\*Although if I were writing the paper, I’d try to use a word in English. Professors can tell when you’re trying to be pretentious. \*\* This is good advice. If such a word even exists it is obviously not well known, so **Pipeliner** would have to explain what it means anyway. Since the paper is not about Germany, the German language, or any related subject, there is no reason to use an obscure German word. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-in-german-for-this/111958/20 "2002-06-03T11:18:44Z")
Yeah, it certainly sounds like the word you may have encountered was “Schadenfreude,” but it doesn’t really explain the concept you’ve given. Schadenfreude is basically taking pleasure in another person’s pain or misfortune. I have a strong feeling that this is word that’s flagging your memory. I think “schadenfreude” is fairly well-established within academic circles (like “zeitgeist” or even “weltanshauung”) that it wouldn’t be necessarily construed as pretentious. That said, these aren’t the words you’re looking for, so any German construction we may find to explain your concept will be obscure. What’s wrong with the simple “love-hate relationship.” Too colloquial? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-in-german-for-this/111958.md?page=2)