Whenever we hear someone speak a language we know well but that’s ‘foreign’ to them, we tend to find it really funny. Though the person is really doing his or her best to fit in and be familiar with something that’s unfamiliar, we still point fingers and laugh. I remember going to a private school where everyone was ‘supposed’ to speak English a certain way and were punished – with mockery and derision – if they didn’t. Sad childhood, right? Well, not really.
Apparently, it’s all quite normal and it’s a part of understanding humour. It’s called schadenfreude, which is a German term referring to ‘malicious enjoyment derived from observing someone else’s misfortune’. It’s said to be the lowest human trait. It’s why we have a giggle when we see people fall or hit their heads or why we have a roar when we hear people speak in what we refer to as ‘funny accents’.
On our Lighter Side feature today, we’re sharing a video that shows a lady have a really hard time pronouncing a word. It’s one of those videos where half of you is saying “Oh dear, poor lady” while the other half can’t stop laughing. Fortunately, the lady in the video is quite relaxed about things so our guess is that it’s all good!