[General] sense of humor

[UM Chakma]

Hi there,
After struggling to find out the meaning of "sense of humor", finally I could find the meaning, but I think I didn't get the meaning so well. So, I need some help from you.
Well, sense of humor means to be able to see things as funny. I don't understand if it means positive or negative. Could you please provide some situations where we use like "She's got a great sense of humor." etc.

Thanks!

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

Hello, UM Chakma:

I just wanted to remind you that perhaps a "sense of humor" depends on a particular culture.

Is there a universal sense of humor? In my opinion, probably not.

Whenever I look at the popular American TV comedy "Friends," I often wonder how much of the humor (especially the nuances) can be understood by non-English-speaking people. I feel that subtitles or dubbing can never convey certain ideas or feelings that only Americans can truly appreciate.

Maybe a sense of humor basically involves NOT taking oneself too seriously. I sincerely feel that there are some people who do NOT have a sense of humor. Or their sense of humor is very different from that of most other people.

If you have been following the presidential candidates in the United States, you will have noticed that some of them are joking about whether or not one of them has real hair. And one candidate just recently joked that the color of her hair is NOT natural. I suspect that in some cultures, politicians would never, ever engage in such "humorous" talk.

 

[Tdol]

It often means that people don't take themselves too seriously and can enjoy a joke at their expense.

 

[Barb_D]

Having a good "sense of humor" is a good thing.

Making inappropriate use of humor is not.

I have never seen "She has a good sense of humor" us anything other than a positive statement.

 

[Eckaslike]

It often means that people don't take themselves too seriously and can enjoy a joke at their expense.

Someone I know only laughs at the expense of others. I don't think English has a word to specifically describe that type of humour, but I know that German has the word schadenfreude, meaning something like "malicious joy".

Does anyone know an English word for that type of sense of humour?

 

[Rover_KE]

epicaricacy

 

[Eckaslike]

Thank you Rover, :up:

I have learnt something tonight. Strange that I knew the German word and not the English one!

 

[emsr2d2]

"Schadenfreude" is usually what we say in BrE.

 

[MikeNewYork]

It appears that epicaricacy gets little action.

Ngram

 

[emsr2d2]

I'd never heard of it until this evening.

 

[Tdol]

epicaricacy

C'mon, Rover, I mean haha. ;-)

 

[TheParser]

I know that German has the word schadenfreude, meaning something like "malicious joy".

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

In my opinion, advanced students should definitely add "schadenfreude" to their passive vocabulary. They may occasionally come across it in highbrow writing. They may also even occasionally hear it spoken by someone.

The Masters (the Fowler brothers) felt, however, that its use was "pretension and nothing else."

They felt that "English can be found for" many foreign expressions. In this case, they suggested "malicious pleasure."


Source: H.W. Fowler and F.G. Fowler, The King's English (first published in 1906).

 

[SoothingDave]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

In my opinion, advanced students should definitely add "schadenfreude" to their passive vocabulary. They may occasionally come across it in highbrow writing. They may also even occasionally hear it spoken by someone.

The Masters (the Fowler brothers) felt, however, that its use was "pretension and nothing else."

They felt that "English can be found for" many foreign expressions. In this case, they suggested "malicious pleasure."


Source: H.W. Fowler and F.G. Fowler, The King's English (first published in 1906).

I've got to disagree with the Fowlers there. "Schadenfreude" is well-accepted and a good addition to the English language. Maybe it was different in 1906.

 

[Eckaslike]

I've been thinking about this. I suppose "gloat" is a home-grown word which has a similar meaning to "schadenfreude".

"I would join her for a good gloat."

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/gloat

 

[SoothingDave]

You have to be the winner in order to gloat. You don't need to be the winner to enjoy the misfortune of others.

 

[Eckaslike]

That is true, and I also think gloating doesn't usually involve laughing, whereas schadenfreude means not just taking pleasure from seeing someone's misfortune but actually laughing about it, such as when someone slips over on ice which may actually be quite serious.

I think gloating can also often contain an element of revenge, which doesn't need to be present in schadenfreude.

You can really see why the word needed to be brought into the language.

 

[Barb_D]

I'm not aware of any requirement to laugh to qualify for that word.

 

[Eckaslike]

Well if it doesn't involve laughing then that goes back to my suggestion of "gloat":

"A disaster for the media, but worth a gloat from everyone else." http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/gloat

There is no sense of winning in that context. The impression is that the general public are just enjoying the misfortune of others in the media.

I might gloat when a presenter I'm not keen on gets their lines wrong on live television. I haven't won against them; we don't know each other, but I might just revel and take pleasure, or gloat, at their misfortune.

I'm just wondering if someone can come up with a better, or closer suggestion?

 

[Barb_D]

I'm enjoying the heck out a certain Christian fundamentalist who works against the cause of gay rights because he claims it is an attack on traditional marriage being exposed as an adulterer. I don't know him. I'm just enjoying the chaos his supercilious life is now in. Though I have pity for the wife.

Gloat might work but I "liked" a post that asked if you can overdose on schadenfreude.

 

[Eckaslike]

I agree that schadenfreude seems to have something about it which gloat doesn't. I just can't put my finger on it. It may, perhaps, be easier to fit into more contexts than gloat.

When comparing the two, gloat often seems to have to be "manhandled" into a sentence to make it work, whereas schadenfreude just seems to fit well.