Get down to business! New Non-Fiction Books: More Mother Tongue Moans

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He loves to grumble on stage: the Bavarian cabaret artist Gerhard Polt (81) undoubtedly plays the funniest grumblers in our latitudes. He achieves this status not least by allowing his characters to swear figuratively, like Captain Haddock from Tintin and Struppy. An art to be learned. “If teachers taught their children how to learn to abuse (…), that would be wonderful,” Polt recently told Münchner Merkur.

It may take some time before swearing becomes a school subject. That’s why it’s a good idea to pick up the following beautifully illustrated dictionary that just came out: “Swear words that don’t exist in High German.” Written language is limited to such strong words as “idiot” or “idiot”, “in serious cases also by the corresponding expressions from the anal and fecal region,” writes the German writer Andrea Schomburg (68) in her charming little book.

“In High German, swearing is usually less interesting,” she continues. The German writer Thomas Mann (1875–1955) must have realized this in his time as well. When he needed a swear word in The Buddenbrooks (1901) to justify why Tony Buddenbrook was leaving his Bavarian husband, Mann asked his younger brother Viktor (1890–1949) in Munich: !” “Thomas Mann was thrilled and explained it,” says Schomburg. “The rest is world literature.”

Not only since the time of Polt, the Bavarian language has become a technical language for creative swearing, giving every curse a hint of wit. Or does Breznsoise (a salty pretzel) not make you laugh at the clumsy and worthless person that Schomburg describes in his book? Or “Zwiderwurzn” for a grumpy, grumpy person? The curse is best manifested when the offender can let off steam, and the offended is so overwhelmed by creativity that his face brightens.

Schomburg wants to surprise with his small selection of 50 swear words from German-speaking countries. She has trouble with Swiss German: “Bünzli” and “Schnudergoof” are hackneyed words that are probably known even in northern Germany today. How refreshing, on the other hand, is “Ballertralier” from Magdeburg for a coarse, uncouth and low-browed woman, or “Bullerballer” from Low German for a choleric person who becomes rude at the slightest provocation.

Although every word has been carefully researched and explained in detail, the poet and cabaret artist Schomburg does not claim to create an encyclopedia. Rather, the work is a little gem that shines through Nikolaus Heidelbach’s amazingly funny illustrations (67) for every swear word. Such a beautiful book can safely remain on the table in the living room – censure becomes socially acceptable.

Source: Blick