Rich people suck

[muckefuck]

Y'all were so wonderfully helpful with my "entropy" question that I'm turning to you again to plug another lexical gap: We all know that Schadenfreude is joy in another's suffering. What do we call misery as someone else's good fortune? [Note: The first person to say "Freudeschaden" will receive 50 lashes. The second person will receive twice that--and so forth, doubling each time.] "Sour grapes" doesn't fit, though it might well be a product of such a reaction. "Envy" strikes me as too specific, since it carries the implication that the misery stems from wanting what the other person has, when there may well be other causes. Have at it!

(Also, is it culturally biased of me to assume that Russian has a word for this already?)

Comments

[carneggy.livejournal.com]

Check out this forum, where a number of people (including German-speakers) try to answer this very question. Several good answers in there.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

Geil! I really like Missgunst. I can't believe I haven't encountred it more frequently.

[lhn.livejournal.com]

A Google search finds some references to "glückschmerz".

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

OMFG does that sound made up. Hey, wait, it is!

"I've felt Glückschmerz (the opposite of Schadenfreude: not joy at another's sorrow, but sadness at another's good fortune; Glückschmerz is a coinage of "Wanda Tinasky," the pen name of a now silent columnist for a Californian newspaper, The Anderson Valley Advertiser, in the 80's, a writer some have identified as Thomas Pynchon [but, according to this article is probably local nutjob Tom Hawkins)." [Source.]

[foodpoisoningsf.livejournal.com]

From Schadenfreude to Gluckschmerz and Back: The Wanda Tinasky Story

That was a lot of schmaltze to wade through. But worth it.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

Mmm...Schmalz...

[goreism.livejournal.com]

This question wouldn't be inspired by this post on linguaphiles now, would it?

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

As I can't read it, I can't say!