Words That Shouldn't Exist, But Do

Schadenfreude

A sense of satisfaction or pleasure caused by someone else's misfortune. What kind of person gets off watching someone else suffer? Obviously some people must because the word exists to describe how they feel. If no one ever felt this way there probably would not be a word to describe it.

Platinado

This word exists only in the Dominican Republic. The most commonly eaten food, native to the DR, is platano. Platanos are a staple of poor people's diets. They are served as an accompaniment to a main course, or more often, the main course itself. Virtually every restaurant offers them as a side dish. They can't be too good for your health. They are double fried in oil and always covered with salt and ketchup. That's kind of typical of most native food. Since the quality of most food here is dreadful, most things are drowned in mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, raw onions, in fact, anything to disguise the flavor of the main ingredient There is a commonly held belief here that platanos (plantains to me) contain a chemical that causes the brain to act more slowly than normal and not function in a normal manner. Platinado is what the locals call someone who is not too bright, or dim witted. Their stupidity is attributed to over consumption of platanos. Another word that wouldn't exist if there was no way to apply it.