Pronounced: (duh) double-dome, noun
Notes: I have not heard this term – have you?
Yesterday’s word
The word schadenfreude is “enjoyment obtained from the troubles of others”
First usage
Our word came into English in the late 1800s
Background / Comments
Our word came (as you probably guessed) from the German word Schadenfreude, which is composed of the words Schaden (damage; harm) and Freude (joy). (I think I have previously mentioned that nouns in German are capitalized). An archbishop, Richard Trench, once commented – before the word came into English – “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”. Of course some “calamities” are described for comic effect, begging for laughter. I remember watching sitcoms long ago that often would use comedic calamities. So, perhaps I was guilty of shadenfreude?
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 