On the Google Word of the Day Widget, they had one of my favorite words of the day. This is one I learned watching Dennis Miller on HBO when I was in High School:
schadenfreude \SHOD-n-froy-duh\, noun:
A malicious satisfaction obtained from the misfortunes of others.
That the report of Sebastian Imhof’s grave illness might also have been tinged with Schadenfreude appears not to have crossed Lucas’s mind.
– Steven Ozment, Flesh and Spirit
He died three years after me — cancer too — and at that time I was still naive enough to imagine that what the afterlife chiefly provided were unrivalled opportunities for unbeatable gloating, unbelievable schadenfreude.
– Will Self, How The Dead Live
Somewhere out there, Pi supposed, some UC Berkeley grad students must be shivering with a little Schadenfreude of their own about what had happened to her.
– Sylvia Brownrigg, The Metaphysical Touch
The historian Peter Gay — who felt Schadenfreude as a Jewish child in Nazi-era Berlin, watching the Germans lose coveted gold medals in the 1936 Olympics — has said that it “can be one of the great joys of life.”
– Edward Rothstein, “Missing the Fun of a Minor Sin”, New York Times, February 5, 2000
About the Author: My Toastmasters Blog is written and edited by Chris Elliott, a professional speaker and blogger. Chris serves as a leader for supply chain and international non-profit organizations. He enjoys using his knowledge and experiences during his speaking engagements, workshops, consulting projects, and one-on-one coaching sessions. The result—connecting people and empowering change. If you would like information on how you can bring Chris to speak to your next meeting, please download Chris' one sheet or contact him by clicking here.
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