I've got a case of the Jheeps!

I’m sure you’ve all heard the word Schadenfreude before. It’s a German word that describes deriving pleasure from the misfortune of others. Like when someone gets hit in the balls and we all laugh.

But I want to know if there is a word for another feeling I get from time to time.

See I was flipping through the TV guide the other day and I saw that Bravo or some channel was showing a live performance by Fiest. You know, that irritating 1234 ipod woman.

Now my first thought was Wow, people still want to see her? And then I started thinking about that 1234 song and how popular it was. Then I started picturing young hipster couples in their condos or town homes having a romantic evening while listening to Fiest, making out and having sex while listening to 1234.

(the morning after)

Needless to say this gave me a creepy feeling that was something between anger, shame and embarrassment. But I wasn’t angry, ashamed or embarrassed at myself. The image that I had conjured up was so lame that it made me uncomfortable to picture it. That is the feeling I’m talking about. Let me give you a few more examples.

Witnessing someone getting married while dressed as Admiral Ackbar.

Attending a serious Air Guitar contest.



Looking at Donald Trump’s hair.

Watching Corky sing Fight the Power in that episode of Life Goes on.



Watching any episode of Ready or Not.



If you’re not getting the feeling after all that then you are not human. Go power down for the rest of this post.

So is there a word for this feeling? I’ve been looking around and the closest I can find is the term vicarious shame. But that’s two words and I want it to be one. Looks like I’m going to have to make the word myself. Cue the montage.



Whew. Ok the new word is Jheeps. It’s short for the Johnny Creeps. Don’t like it? Too bad! My feeling, my word. I can’t say I’m in love with it either but I can’t think of anything better. Probably because I can’t stop thinking about that Corky video.

So now when you’re sitting around and someone switches the TV to an old SNL rerun and oh god it’s a Chris Kattan sketch.

You can say Change it! That little fucker is so lame he’s giving me the Jheeps!

I was going to post a video of a Chris Kattan sketch but I can’t bear to watch one either. So instead here’s a video of Tom Servo making fun of Chris Kattan. Enjoy.