- Men show their characters in nothing more clearly than in what they think laughable.
- – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe –
- Theory of Colours:
- …Goethe knew his compatriots well and their sick pleasure in Schadenfreude..
Quote of the day
English words derived from German culture
The following youtube clip just sums it all up in naming all the strong German feelings going from the need for lebensraum and angst to fahrvergnügen (not listed in the Webster’s Dictionary…yet) to schadenfreude.
[youtube w7Je3TBtA_8]
Being German myself, it is hard to know how much of a cliché is rooted in these words and how much of it is so true.
The Germans want their privacy, hence Lebensraum.
They can be driven by Angst for their security.
The Fahrvergnügen has been invented by VW back in the 90s to advertise the German car industry.
Schadenfreude is definitely on the list, but seems contradictory for a country which has to pay church tax (shouldn’t church goers be without schadenfreude?) Schadenfreude – another term coined for this emotion is Gluckschmerz – stems from envy, and the Germans are known for Neid (envy).
Well, Germans don’t know really know about the meaning of these terms meant for English. These words have no negative connotations for them.