Let’s Learn Languages

This thread seems to have got stuck.

I was wrong on Erik, obviously, but on my third try I was correct on Swiss 'kitchen cupboard' tho Wiebke didn't answer, but she's got quite a bit going on atm, so no surprise. Or maybe third try doesn't count, which would partially explain nobody reacting to "Meerwutz".

Somebody please put us out of our misery and re-start the game @YvonneBlue @Wiebke @Merab @fluffysal @PiggyintheMiddle :D
 
Mrs Tiggy Winkle said:
This thread seems to have got stuck.

I was wrong on Erik, obviously, but on my third try I was correct on Swiss 'kitchen cupboard' tho Wiebke didn't answer, but she's got quite a bit going on atm, so no surprise. Or maybe third try doesn't count, which would partially explain nobody reacting to "Meerwutz".

Somebody please put us out of our misery and re-start the game @YvonneBlue @Wiebke @Merab @fluffysal @PiggyintheMiddle :D
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Sorry, I am currently really busy getting my new (disabled) home life under control and into a routine while still recovering from major surgery, still fighting acute exhaustion, constant balance issues and other unexpected stuff my new rogue inoperable brain tumour is unleashing on me... Not mention the steroids that I have to take and which are really messing with my body rhythm.
And all that as quickly as I can push it safely. I also need time to properly process the sudden and total upheaval of my life. Hanging out on the forum is what I do for my own emotional comfort when I have the energy for a bit extra and am not just flat out back in bed again. ;)

Threads like this one are for a bit of light fun. You will find that they often happen in spits and spurts and then peter out gradually. If you have adopted one of them, just try to push them on again whenever they get stuck or leave be and revive again some time later on when they will garner a bit more interest again. ;)


Chuchichästli is indeed kitchen cupboard. It is the word used to identify that you can really speak Swiss dialect and that you are a proper Swiss. ;)

Wutz is an informal German word for 'pig' (mainly used in southern Germany) so Meerwutz is quite simply the same as the official Meerschweinchen - 'sea pig'. Like we talk about piggies instead in of guinea pigs. :)
:)
 
Wiebke said:
Sorry, I am currently really busy getting my new (disabled) home life under control and into a routine while still recovering from major surgery, still fighting acute exhaustion, constant balance issues and other unexpected stuff my new rogue inoperable brain tumour is unleashing on me... Not mention the steroids that I have to take and which are really messing with my bod
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No, I am sorry, Wiebke! I added your name so as not to leave you out, but I know you've got a lot going on medically atm, without knowing all the details. It sounds horrendous, far worse than I knew. So I'll take care not to bother you again with stupid posts. Heartfelt apologies.
 
Mrs Tiggy Winkle said:
This thread seems to have got stuck.

I was wrong on Erik, obviously, but on my third try I was correct on Swiss 'kitchen cupboard' tho Wiebke didn't answer, but she's got quite a bit going on atm, so no surprise. Or maybe third try doesn't count, which would partially explain nobody reacting to "Meerwutz".

Somebody please put us out of our misery and re-start the game @YvonneBlue @Wiebke @Merab @fluffysal @PiggyintheMiddle :D
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Hmmm... Weihnachten
 
Wiebke said:
Cornish for nadolig llawen in Welsh. :D :D :D

(Remember Llawen from the Tribe 2015-23. And what the sisters' Welsh names mean? :D )
View attachment 262187

PS: Mochyn-y-mor: look up the old Welsh word for guinea pig yourself!
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I'm guessing they are Merry and Happy 😊 😃

The Swiss-German word I remember best from my visits there was "Roestigraben" (I couldn't put the 2 dots over the o using my phone ... but I think I spelt it right otherwise!). Any takers for the meaning? 😉 😁
 
Qualcast&Flymo said:
I'm guessing they are Merry and Happy 😊 😃

The Swiss-German word I remember best from my visits there was "Roestigraben" (I couldn't put the 2 dots over the o using my phone ... but I think I spelt it right otherwise!). Any takers for the meaning? 😉 😁
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I will explain the Röstigraben concept once somebody else has figured out the word.

And yes, they were Merry and Happy. Bless them. With their horrendous background I wanted them to have very positive names. ❤️
 
Wiebke said:
I will explain the Röstigraben concept once somebody else has figured it out.

And yes, they were Merry and Happy. Bless them. With their horrendous background I wanted them to have very positive names. ❤️
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Röstigraben is something to do with the culture of Switzerland‘s German and French speaking peoples.
 
@Wiebke
Just a guess, Röstigraben might be the border or divide between areas where Rösti is traditionally eaten and areas where it is not traditionally eaten

piggieminder said:
Seapig? German
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Literally 'Seapig', but it means guinea pig: it's like 'pig from over the sea'. Otherwise known as Meerschweinchen in High German which is 'little pig from over the sea'. In High German 'Meerschwein' also exists and it officially means 'porpoise', so more like 'a pig-like creature IN the sea', but 'Meerschwein' to mean guinea pig is coming in more and more colloquially, especially among guinea pig lovers.
 
Merab said:
Röstigraben is something to do with the culture of Switzerland‘s German and French speaking peoples.
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Indeed.

Rösti, which means literally roast (of potatoes) is the German Swiss national dish and is actually the traditional farmers breakfast. You go out at 5 o'clock and -20 C to milk the cows in winter...

The Röstigraben 'the rösti ditch' describes the divide between the German and the French speaking parts of the country, politically as well as culturally and not just the language. The German part tends to be traditionally more conservative while the French part is generally more liberal, for instance. And of course the languages also connect us with our neighbouring countries which we have close local connections to.

Being a multi-lingual country has very much its own challenges. The UK is comprised of several whole nations plus smaller dependencies. Switzerland only comprises small parts of several neighbouring nations but it has in many ways taken the opposite approach to the UK: very much from the grassroots up (the most direct democracy) and it is held together by deliberate choice of wanting to be part of a Swiss nation (initially a coalition of cantons) and not the country whose language you share. However, finding the famous Swiss compromise (nobody is happy but everybody can live with the result) can be very challenging; especially when the two largest blocks, the German and the French speaking parts of Switzerland don't see eye to eye on many issues. Political representation is an essential tool of Swiss politics so the majority of voters is representated from parliament up right into the government of 7 ministers, of which two have to be French speakers. It is also compromised of the 4 largest political parties, so who gets into the government has to be both from the right party as well as the right part of the country... It makes for stability but leadership in a fast moving crisis can be weak, as the pandemic has shown. :)

The divide between the German and the Italian speaking part south of the Alps (about 10% of the population) is called the polenta ditch after the main dish of the Italian speaking population. The French and Italian parts don't have much of a shared border as they are basically Alpine valleys. The fourth national language, Romansh, is only spoken in a very few Alpine valleys in the Southeast by about half a percent of the overall population.

My friends who grew up on the German/French border use both languages but it depends on the context and not so much the people as to which one they use. German is better for facts and organisation. Emotional concepts and situations happen in French.

PS: Here is how a proper Swiss roesti is made. It does nicely silence a room! It's still one of my favourite dished. Ask @Claire W - she's had quite a few rösti dinners over the years! :D
Rösti - Wikipedia
 
I have been lucky enough to taste it and I can definitely confirm that Swiss Roesti is truly delicious and is now one of my favourite dishes especially @Wiebke version 😋

I have tried making the roesti myself but it never turns out as nice as @Wiebke makes it ❤️
 
I live in southwest Germany not that far from the Swiss border. Linguistically, the local dialects belong to the same family as Swiss German, but that doesn't mean i can understand Swiss German! I first ate Rösti in a restaurant in my town, and had it several times afterwards, served piping hot, yum yum. But of course it might very well not be quite like the original you'd get in a good Swiss restaurant and I'm sure not as good as Wiebke's homemade. Super-interesting post btw @Wiebke
 
Mrs Tiggy Winkle said:
I live in southwest Germany not that far from the Swiss border. Linguistically, the local dialects belong to the same family as Swiss German, but that doesn't mean i can understand Swiss German! I first ate Rösti in a restaurant in my town, and had it several times afterwards, served piping hot, yum yum. But of course it might very well not be quite like the original you'd get in a good Swiss restaurant and I'm sure not as good as Wiebke's homemade. Super-interesting post btw @Wiebke
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We are all from the Alamannic tribe in the Southwest of Germany (the upper Rhine Valley), including the Alsace (now part of France) but spread over three countries. The Alamans became subject to the Frankish kings very early on before they could really form their own kingdom, so they are not so much known.

The Swiss dialects are on a different branch of Allemannic that has stayed more old-fashioned and has not made some of the language shifts that the rest of German made since early medieval times; they are called the upper Allemannic branch of dialects.
Basel City is the only exception - Baseldüütsch belongs to the lower Allemannic branch of dialects with the German Allemannic and the Alsatian dialects and is very much part of that major trading and cultural network of the Upper Rhine Valley cities - Strasbourg, Freiburg, etc.
 
Now that I've graduated I have some time on my hands.

Thinking of self teaching some languages.

I speak fluent French, lived in France.

At the bookstore where I work I get a pretty good discount.

Thinking of ordering pimsleur Farsi and Bosnian CDs to listen to and some grammar books.
 
Yes, a class is always best. But I like pimsleur because you can get a really good accent. I always fool people that I'm fluent when I say my pimsleur phrases and they always keep talking like I should know more.
 
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