Epicaricacy
What does it mean?
I'm Lady Rose Epic. But do you know where the 'Epic' bit comes from? (for those readers who haven't checked out my 'about' page - shame on you!) I'll enlighten you. Have you watched You've Been Framed (RIP btw) and guffawed at the mishaps presented as light family entertainment? Well, my friend you have experienced Epicaricacy!
The Germans say it well with the beautifully sounding and relatively well known word Schadenfreude: 'Schaden' translates as damage, hurt or harm and 'Freude' as joy. But Epicaricacy is the English equivalent; not widely known and rarely used. It's derived from the ancient Greek: 'Epi' (upon) 'kharis' (joy) and 'kakos' (evil). A quick Google search will define Epicaricacy as '...rejoicing at, taking fun in or getting pleasure from the misfortune of others'. I like the Collins dictionary definition for Misfortune: '...something unpleasant or unlucky that happens to someone'. See where this is going??
Are those who feel that sense of smug satisfaction and their supposed right to ridicule the misfortune of others bad people?? Or are they merely enjoying a relatively humourous moment? That's a toughie. Some would say its a dark side of human nature. Perhaps its dependent on what happened, to whom and the severity of their misfortune. Someone who dumped their partner only for said partner to win the Euromillions jackpot the next day may make you chuckle but a motorcyclist who sped past a zebra crossing while an old lady was struggling to get across, then crashes into a stationary lorry parked in a loading bay may not be so funny (I see you chuckling...you evil person!) So who's to decide?!
Epicaricacy is enjoyed in a variety of ways, including a smirk, a chuckle, perhaps even a noticeable laugh or a taunt...whatever takes one's fancy; but the person on the receiving end feels humiliation, embarrassment, shame, a feeling of being humbled, momentarily stripped of dignity and abased. I expect that's not very pleasant and it certainly isn't a consensual exchange! In the BDSM Domination world the defining factor as with most things, is consent. Consider if you will, a mistress punishing a submissive for attempting to top from the bottom. Imagine their predicament when kneeling on raw grains of rice, while hooded and handcuffed for an hour due to their failings. That would be pretty satisfying. Certain behaviours deserve consenquences which can only serve to elicit a response of epicaricacy to the sadistically inclined! This is why we smile, cackle, laugh and scream with delight in the dungeons! We also devilishly orchestrate impossible scenarios, predicting the inevitable purely to bathe in the ensuing epicaricacy. Of course that isn't the ONLY reason for fun in the dun (for the know it all's who may be reading this!) but a sub willingly abandons themselves to the mercy of their mistress, so it's acceptable to enjoy their misfortunes - they desire to be a conduit for epicaricacitious (?) events.
As a dom, of course I'm partial to a fair bit of Epicaricacy and I liked the word so much that I simply had to have it incorporated into my Mistress name. I initially wanted to have the entire word, but during the trial stages, Lady Rose Epicaricacy was proving to be far too tricky for many to pronounce, and definitions were constantly being asked for which was a distraction from the focus of what I offered as a dom - but, every cloud...'Epic' is a brilliant alternative, due to the conventional term! So my slogan 'Submit...it'll be Epic' is rather more cryptic, devious and ambiguous than it appears!
There is another German word which I'm yet to discover the English equivalent for: Freudenfreude...that feeling of joy when someone succeeds, even if you've not contributed to that success. If you know what that word is, let me know!
