Can anyone refresh my memory? I am looking for a word, I believe German, but used in English to describe the taking of delight in someone else's misfortune.

i think it's "shadenfreude".
spelling may be wrong.

just checked:
"schadenfreude"

Welcome, Donald, good to have you!

Thankfully, "schadenfreude" is not an affliction I suffer
from. I don't suffer from insanity, either--I'm quite
comfortable with it, thank you.

not to be confused with Weldscmerz ( - are all these angst-connoting words german derived??!!!!!)

.....whoops misspell - should have been Weldschmerz!

actually, the anglicized spelling is usually weltschmerz.

but you're right about those fun-loving Germans; schwarmerei and weltanschauung are a couple more angst-ridden borrowings.

tsuwm,
how do you KNOW these words!?

with respect...

http://members.aol.com/tsuwm/

>>actually, the anglicized spelling is usually weltschmerz.

It's Weltschmerz auf Deutsch , too.

I just finished reading an interesting book on this topic by the Harvard science historian Anne Harrington: "Reenchanted Science: German Holism from Wilhelm II to Hitler". Besides unearthing surprising connections, it also shows the difficulties experienced by Anglo-Saxons to put themselves mentally in the German mode of discourse (to penetrate the "skin" of German thoughts).