# Schadenfruede: English equivalent? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 10, 2003, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schadenfruede-english-equivalent/187537 "2003-07-10T19:10:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schadenfruede-english-equivalent/187537/21 "2003-07-11T03:10:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Trigonal Planar \* > \*\*Actually, **Sofa King** , I’ve often wondered exactly the same thing as you. We verberize all sorts of nouns all the time - do speakers of other languages do this too? \*\* This is very common in Chinese. **China Guy** or others can give you more details. European languages do this from time to time, but not quite in the manner that English does it, and not as freely. In English, it’s common to use a noun form as an infintive verb – to ski, to saddle, to ice (a cake), to lord (over someone). In Romance languages, for example, these kinds of verbs formed from nouns would require special verbal ending to indicate the indicative form of the verb. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schadenfruede-english-equivalent/187537/22 "2003-07-11T10:30:31Z")
Well, if it’s a Germanic language (as English is), then yes, we do make verbs from nouns and nouns from verbs. And we import _a lot_ of words from English/American. In Iceland and Norway there is a lot of effort to try and find/invent words to replace the ‘contamination’ of _anglisisms_. There is a fear that the language will die out if this is left to roam without being kept in check. Of course, languages evolve faster than authorities, so it’s a lost battle to start with. Especially in computer related matters, there’s simply no way to construct new words, when English words can be imported with great success. The relative closeness of, say my native language, and English, makes importing the word easy. I’ve done this comparison on this board before, but it’s fun and I don’t mind repeating. Let’s see the exact same sentence in English and Swedish: Shall we go to my room? Skall vi ga till mitt rum? Even for those who never saw a Swedish word before in their lives, I’m sure the relationship is obvious. I’d say it’s a combination of bliss and curse. The countries most ‘vulnerable’ to the contamination (Scandinavian countries, Holland), are the countries where television is not dubbed (roughly), and where the population is best at speaking/reading/using English. This gives us an edge internationally, so in many ways, it’s a good thing. And as for the OP: Scadenfreude Skadeglädje We’re as bad as the Germans. And as we have the word, we didn’t import it. ---
**Author:** ![parlo\_americano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b19c9b/32.png) [@parlo\_americano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/parlo_americano)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schadenfruede-english-equivalent/187537/23 "2003-07-11T11:42:48Z")
What about Masochist? Or is that more about causing pain? Or as we say in Jersey “you sick bastard, what the hell’s wrong with you?!” Okay it’s not one word but it is ten syllables and if you’ve ever seen any official German document you’ll be treated to words like: Arbeitsgenehmigungspflichtige (9 syllables) ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schadenfruede-english-equivalent/187537/24 "2003-07-11T11:55:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by parlo americano \* > \*\*Okay it’s not one word but it is ten syllables and if you’ve ever seen any official German document you’ll be treated to words like: > Arbeitsgenehmigungspflichtige (9 syllables) \*\* Hey, what about: Donaudampfschifffahrtskapitaensmuetzenabzeichen. (13 syllables) This is: “the pin on the hat of a captain of a steamboat on the Danube.” German can go absolutely nuts with compound words. Oh, and those three "f"s in a row are indeed the correct spelling. Pffffffffft.😃 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schadenfruede-english-equivalent/187537/25 "2003-07-11T11:57:06Z")
**parlo americano** , masochism is about deriving pleasure from _receiving_ pain. And I’m afraid to say that the word “masochist” was originally coined in the German language, after a Spanish/German writer called [Leopold von Sacher-Masoch](http://homepage.newschool.edu/~schlemoj/imptopia/krafft-ebing.html). ---
**Author:** ![parlo\_americano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b19c9b/32.png) [@parlo\_americano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/parlo_americano)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schadenfruede-english-equivalent/187537/26 "2003-07-11T12:42:42Z")
I should’ve known. I should’ve payed attention to mike myers, Saturday Night Live , Dieter and his monkey, but no I had to find out for myself… there’s nothing kinkier than germans. Oh well, English is a hodge-podge, a smorgasbourd, of words Schadenfreude is another. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schadenfruede-english-equivalent/187537/27 "2003-07-11T12:47:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tim Winker \* > \*\*I should clarify **Trinopus** - I don’t mean is there an English word that means what Schadenfruede means - I mean is there any word at all in English that describes something - anything - in **one** word which takes other languages **several** words to do. \*\* Absolutely yes. English is a very concise language compared to most. You can see this in just about any bit of translated text - the English is typically the shortest. I used to work in a translation company, and we had set percentages for expansion, ie “English to French, the French will take up 15 percent more space… English to German, the German takes up 25 percent more space” etc. etc. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schadenfruede-english-equivalent/187537/28 "2003-07-11T13:16:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*And I’m afraid to say that the word “masochist” was originally coined in the German language, after a Spanish/German writer called [Leopold von Sacher-Masoch](http://homepage.newschool.edu/~schlemoj/imptopia/krafft-ebing.html). \*\* And I’m afraid to say that good ole’ Leopold has nothing to do with the famous “Sachertorte”. But then again eating a piece of “Sachertorte” is anything but masochistic. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schadenfruede-english-equivalent/187537/29 "2003-07-11T13:25:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by parlo americano \* > \*\*… there’s nothing kinkier than germans. > \*\* Yes there is. Japanese… But I do think Germans take the cake for so called “Western Civilization”, with the English probably running a close second. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schadenfruede-english-equivalent/187537/30 "2003-07-11T13:32:04Z")
The search feature of the SDMB is your friend: Doing a search on “_schaden_”, I found [This thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=189221&highlight=%2Aschaden%2A) discussing Bill Bryson’s apparent incompetence in discussing the history of the English language and languages in general. Within this thread, **Snoooooopy** posts the following: > [@](#): > > Mrs. Byrne’s Dictionary of Unusual, Obscure and Preposterous Words defines “epicaricacy” as “taking pleasure in others’ misfortune.” So I think this most directly responds to the OP. ---
**Author:** ![RiverRunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schadenfruede-english-equivalent/187537/31 "2003-07-11T13:40:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by WordMan \* > \*\*So I think this most directly responds to the OP. \*\* No, the OP asked whether English has any single words that require multiple word phrases in other languages to convey. So far, **Athena** is the only one I’ve seen actually suggest an answer. (I skimmed a few of the posts, though.) RR ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schadenfruede-english-equivalent/187537/32 "2003-07-11T14:13:24Z")
The English word “groovy”. I can’t think of a foreign word that captures its precise metaphorical range. ---
**Author:** ![23skidoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/f04885/32.png) [@23skidoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/23skidoo)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schadenfruede-english-equivalent/187537/33 "2003-07-11T16:48:21Z")
The word that I’ve had the hardest time explaining to foreigners is “cheezy”. “It’s like when something is earnest, but then it ends up being bad, but then it’s so bad that it, like, y’know, good?” _unblinking foreign stare_ ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schadenfruede-english-equivalent/187537/34 "2003-07-11T18:03:32Z")
No, no, you’re thinking of “corny”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schadenfruede-english-equivalent/187537.md?page=1)