I got it. Kleenex?
Damien Broderick wrote:
>
> >> The Germans have a useful word
> >>I coin a term for the
> >>pleasure we receive in *hearing about* the misfortunes of others, at great
> >>length: Scheherazadenfreude.
>
> >Of course practical people will call it "Sche" or "Schefre" of "SZF" because
> >no-one uses such long words in conversations.
>
> Well, I'd hope that practical people would laugh very briefly at my
> whimsical little joke and zip on.
>
> *sob*
>
> Nobody gets my jokes. Waaaahh.
>
> WARNING: INTOLERABLE PEDANTIC EXPLICATION AHEAD:
>
> Scheherezade was the ingenious young woman in 1001 NIGHTS who kept her head
> by entertaining the King with endless stories, many of them about
> misfortunes at sea, betrayed lovers and the like. She has become the emblem
> of story-telling.
>
> Schadenfreude is the German word for taking pleasure in the misfortune of
> others.
>
> My pun fuses the name and the word. You are meant to smile, then put it out
> of your mind forever.
>
> >And I personally don't think I
> >take pleasure in hearing about other people's misfortunes, unless it's a
> >funny story. Do you take pleasure in hearing about the death of someone's
> >mother?
>
> Absolutely, I agree. Look at my doleful face.
>
> (Hey, I thought *I* was the sanctimonious guardian of morals and decency
> around here?)
>
> Damien
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Jul 27 2000 - 14:02:39 MDT