Perhaps It Is The Zeitgeist To Blame

It is extremely easy to generate controversy without really saying anything. Take the two posts down issue; first it complains about usage of German and other borrowed words in English, then it justifies their use, while still chiding those who do it pretentiously.

In the middle there is a claim that the writer is better than everyone who practices such word usage. That is clearly a little pretense intended to let the reader know something.

Even so, more than one person seemed offended and even came back with thinly veiled attack.

He complained about foreign words inserted in literature and conversation, therefore he is an ignoramus who resents "big" words. The original complaint was somewhat mitigated, however we conclude he must now not like "big" words, like jumbo, or large, or grandisimo.

I'm not claiming not to be a dullard of sorts. Big words are a requirement if I am to carry on a conversation with my brother or his sons. I like them, so I suffer through.

My guess is that there is just a glimmer of the fighter in me, maybe the redneck. That results in expressing a desire to slap or punch rather than endure the pseudo intellectual, assumed superiority which is increasingly cultivated among some segments of our ever angrier populace.

It's the zeitgeist

Sometimes I'd be just as happy to punch someone as argue, even though they might punch me back harder. I take my chances.
However, I ought to add that I haven't punched anyone in decades. Not since high school--I don't think. There are periods of time which are too much of a blur and almost anything might have happened.

If schadenfreude rhymed with orange I would like it better. Since it does not refer to a fun sex act, as the sound of it indicates it should, I simply don't like it. Sue me.

In the public arena you could stir up a lot, if you had the platform, by saying something like "I'm gunning for his senate seat in the next election".
Or say something nice, or not, about Obama, or Rush Limbaugh. It wouldn't take much to get either side going. And it can be done without ever addressing an issue of any importance.