Schadenfreude – a convenient overview for the beginner.

Apparently the Spectator claimed in 1926 that there is no English word for Schadenfreude “because there is no such feeling here.”

If Jane Austen had still been alive in 1926 she might have disagreed… One of the main characters in Pride and Prejudice identifies it as the core value for him and his peers. (Obviously she made his actual words a bit more pithy and charming.)

This also confirms (if such confirmation were necessary) that the Spectator has a long and proud tradition of publishing bollocks.