Recently, I met a woman from Switzerland. We talked about the different regional dialects of German and Swiss German. Among other things, she gave me some examples in order to realize how differently Swiss people talk. Of course, I do not want to withhold my newly acquired knowledge about Swiss German.

 

Cake – der Kuchen

Swiss people have, at least, eleven different words for “cake”, which is Kuchen in standard German. Although, I neither speak nor understand Swiss German there are, nevertheless, some terms I could have guessed. These are:

Tuurte

Taatere

Chüeche

Chueche

Flaade

Tuurte and Taatere remind me of the standard German word (die) Torte, which is “cake” in English or “pie”. The Swiss German term Flaade reminds me of the High German word (der) Fladen. A Fladen can be a round flat cake or a round flat bread.

When a Swiss person would have used one of the following words I had not understood anything.

Patsch

Tünne

Pitte

Tünnele

Wääje

Tülle

 

Kiss – der Kuss

The standard German word for “kiss” is Kuss. Some Swiss people use this expression, too, but other would prefer other ones. The terms Chuss and Chüssli are close to Kuss and I had probably understood a Swiss German speaker using this expression before I had come familiar with these terms. I would also have understood the term (der) Schmatz because this is also a word in standard German. It means “smacker”, “smacking kiss” or “smack (of a kiss)” in English.

The term Schmutz confuses me a little bit because in High German (der) Schmutz means “dirt”. Last but not least, I’m drawing a blank on the other terms because I cannot draw a parallel between those ones and any standard German words.

Kuss

Chuss

Chüssli

Schmatz

Schmutz

Muntsi

Müntsi

Muntschi

Schmützeli

Müntschi

Trüütli

 

Core – das Kerngehäuse

What is left when you nibble off an apple? Ask this question a native German and you would probably receive different answers. The High German word for an apple’s interior is Kerngehäuse (core) but I don’t think that any German would use this term, at least, I would not. I think most Germans would opt for a regional variety. For examples, I would call the core of an apple Griepsch, like maybe most people form Berlin and Brandenburg. I am also familiar with the term Butze but unfortunately, I have forgotten in which region of Germany this term is used. And how do Swiss people call the interior of an apple? Here are the answers:

Chäschi

Üürbi

Butze

Bitzgi

Güegi

Bixi

Gröibschi

Bütschgi

Gigetschi

Bätzi

Gürbschi

 

Crust – der Brotkanten

Bread is one of THE German foodstuffs. And there is something special about fresh bread from the bakery, at least for me. When I buy a whole loaf of bread I usually cut off the crust, spread it with butter, besprinkle it with some salt, and then eat it with relish. The High German word for my beloved crust is Brotkanten but in everyday communication I only say Kanten (edge). And here are the terms Swiss people use in their everyday discourse.

Brotdünkli

Häuli

Güpf

Agöäli

Bödeli

Chropf

Mürggu

Mötschu

Putti

Ahäuli

Muger

Aagoal