Curmudgeons and Schadenfreude

11/03/05 00:00:00    

By Michael Mealling

cur·mudg·eon (kr-mjn)

n.

An ill-tempered person full of resentment and stubborn notions.

scha·den·freu·de (shadn-froid)

n.

Pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others.

One can be curmudgeonly without engaging in or hoping for the rather shameful emotion of schadenfreude. There is a difference between saying you think someone is wrong and seeming to openly hope for and possibly work toward their failure.

In the native German the term schadenfreude has two connotations. Private or secret schadenfreude is an understandable human emotion that we know we have but keep to ourselves along with those other emotions that keep us from turning into emotional animals. Open or public schadenfreude is when you verbalize or take action to express or bring about your internal schadenfreude. The first is a base human emotion we learn to live with. The second is shameful, wrong and a character flaw to be corrected.

Or, stated in a more pop culture accessible way: Oscar the Grouch is a curmudgeon. But we all still love him. But if Big Bird's nest burned down you wouldn't find Oscar standing in the burned out ruins singing “Nyea, Nyea You suck!” That's the difference between being a curmudgeon and engaging in public schadenfreude.