Page 4 - GC-May-June-21

German Leckerbissen

Part 1 German States information regard- Another Aberglaube is to not
by Daniel Schwarz ing Covid-19 infections and vac- wish someone a happy
ne of the closest words to cines on their web site www.rki.de , birthday in person before
tidbit in German is Lecker- and their information in English is
Obissen. Literally Leckerbis- at www.rki.de/covid-19-en . their actual birthday, to
sen means tasty morsels or bits. The Wedding Band – In Germany avoid getting bad luck. There
following are some tidbits of Ger- and Austria, engagement rings are is even a tradition called
man culture, foods, traditions, histo- worn on the left hand ring finger, reinfeiern where people have
ry, language, and current events. and then after the wedding, both the a birthday party and
Der Struwwelpeter - A young engagement ring and wedding band
children’s book with illustrations are worn on the right hand ring fin- celebrate the night before,
written by Heinrich Hoffmann in ger. Depending on the ring designs, but don’t wish happy
1845. It is still available and adver- the engagement ring is sometimes birthday until midnight!
tised in German as Der Struwwelpe- still worn on the left hand ring fin-
ter oder lustige Geschichten und ger. Men put their wedding band on unique word. Its use can just be an
drolige Bilder für Kinder von 3 bis the right hand ring finger. attention getter. If you have a con-
6 Jahren (translated as: The In Switzerland, they reverse this versation with German speakers,
wildly/sloppy boy with lively sto- tradition of engagement and wed- very likely you will hear it spoken,
ries, cute pictures for children ages ding rings. The U.S. has continued such “na ja”, meaning “anyway
3 to 6 years old). Wow! The 10 to follow the traditions of the an- yes”. Or just saying “Na” which is
stories in the book tell about grue- cient Egyptians and Romans keep- short for “nein” (no). Even when
some consequences in poetic words ing both rings on the left hand. They Germans meet, you might hear
and illustrations what happens to belied that on the left hand ring “Na?” meaning “what’s up”. Gram-
Struwwelpeter and young children finger a vein led to the heart – the matically it is called an interjection
that misbehave doing naughty “Vena Amoris.” It’s a nice romantic such as oh, gee, eh, hay, and many
things such as cruelty to animals, belief. more in English.
playing with matches, thumb suck- Superstition (Aberglaube) – A Pumpernickel – We all have
ing, etc. However, the consequences superstition about black cats is fa- been accustomed to hearing this Struwwelpeter
are crazy and beyond demented! miliar to Americans and others strange word associated with a dark
For an example, the story of around the world. However, Ger- German rye bread, but may not have 2021 could be the last year in Ger- neighboring countries possibly be-
“Little Suck-a-Thumb” (Die Ge- mans have taken this omen of bad heard of the possible story of its many to use Daylight Savings Time, ing on different local times! Germa-
schichte vom Daumenlutscher) is luck to a bifurcated direction. Yes, etymology. The word in two parts, since the European Parliament vot- ny is now normally 6 hours ahead of
about a tailor with a huge pair of the direction in which the black cat pumper and nickel when translated ed in 2019 to remove DST perma- us in the USA. So, don’t phone them
scissors that comes to chop off little crosses your path determines if it into German is pumpern meaning to nently, but each country needs to at 9 p.m., unless you want to wake
children’s thumbs if they suck their brings you bad luck or good luck! break wind or fart, and Nickel is a adopt this including Germany. This them up, and hear Was ist loss!
thumbs! Wow! Also just seeing an They even have phrases for this: nickname for Nicholas which has can become a can of worms, with (What’s the matter!)?
illustration of Struwwelpeter on the “Schwarze Katze von rechts nach been associated with a devilish char-
book cover with wild hair and very links, Glück bringt’s” (Black cat acter. Therefore, the story goes that
long scary fingernails is enough for from right to left brings luck); pumpernickel is named for a farting
any young child or adult to not want “Schwarze Katze von links nach re- devil. Keep eating, it tastes good,
to even open the book! This is a chts, was Schlecht’s” (Black cat and is also good for you.
good example of judging a book by from left to right brings bad luck). Birthday celebrations and
its cover, and being right! Common Word - Na! A small song – Another Aberglaube is to not
Covid-19 updates – The Ger- word in German that is used in wish someone a happy birthday in
man public health institute equiva- many ways, and has so many differ- person before their actual birthday,
lent to the U.S. Center for Disease ent meanings, and even no meaning to avoid getting bad luck. There is
Control and Prevention (CDC) is at all. It is probably the first word in even a tradition called reinfeiern
the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), your German dictionary Wörterbu- where people have a birthday party
located in Berlin, Germany. The ch under the letter N, but the multi- and celebrate the night before, but
RKI gives regional and specific ple meanings only touch on this don’t wish happy birthday until
midnight! Then wish them Alles
Gute zum Geburtstag, or more for-
mal Ich Gratuliere zum Geburstag,
and sing happy birthday to them.
The common birthday tune that is
sung, is the same as in English. You
only have to learn two lines to sing
it in German. They are: Zum Ge-
burtstag viel Glück (Happy Birth-
day to You,), and Zum Geburstag
liebe (add name) (Happy Birthday
dear – name). However, a more
popular song among family is Wie
schön dass du geboren bist (How
wonderful that you were born).
Time zones – No, not The Twi-
light Zone, but the 24 time zones
established on our earth to help us
organize our days and nights based
Which hand does the ring go on? on sunlight around the globe. Ger-
many only has one time zone called
Central European Time (CET) Mit-
teleuropäische Zeit (MEZ), howev-
er, Central European Summer Time
(CEST) Mitteleuropäische Sommer-
zeit (MESZ) is also observed when
Daylight Saving Time (DST) is in
use. The DST occurs in Germany
the last Sunday in March to the last
Sunday in October.
This is different from the
switching schedule in the USA.

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