Guten Tag! Today we’re looking at a peculiar German word: Fisimatenten.

If you’re thinking, Well, that doesn’t look like a German word, you’d be right! There are a few different theories as to this word’s origins.

But before we get into that, what on earth does Fisimatenten actually mean?

Die Fisimatenten

Fisimatenten is difficult to translate accurately, as it has a variety of meanings, but it roughly translates to ‘nonsense’ or ‘messing about’. It is a plural word (so you wouldn’t have a singular ‘Fisimatent’, for example).

Mach keine Fisimatenten!
Don’t mess about! / Don’t make excuses! / No nonsense!

Duden describes Fisimatenten as,

“Etwas, was unnötigerweise etwas anderes behindert, verzögert”
“Something that unnecessarily hinders or delays something else”

Similar words to Fisimatenten include:

der Unsinn – nonsense
der Blödsinn – stupidity
die Dummheiten – stupid behaviour/activities
die Schwierigkeiten – difficulties (being awkward/difficult)
die Ausreden – excuses
die Umstände – fuss, bother

As you can see, there are several, different ways to use the word Fisimatenten!

So where did this word come from?

Theory 1: I am visiting my aunt – Ich besuche meine Tante

The first theory is that Fisimatenten is an interpretation of the French phrase Je visite ma tante – ‘I am visiting my aunt’ – used in the 19th Century as an excuse to get out of unpleasant or unwanted plans. So when someone tells you to stop with the Fisimatenten, they are telling you to stop making excuses!

Theory 2: Come visit my tent – Besuchen Sie mein Zelt

The second theory is that it is an interpretation of the phrase Visitez ma tente – ‘Visit my tent’ – allegedly said by French soldiers in the Franco-Prussian war to invite women into their tents. So when someone advises against Fisimatenten, you could say they are telling you not to get up to any ‘nonsense’ or ‘funny business’!

Theory 3: Officer commissions – Offizierspatente

The third and most likely theory, however, is a much more straight-forward one! It is said to come from the Latin visae patentes – officer commissions (‘Offizierspatente’ in German). Becoming an officer was such a long, arduous process back in the day, that the phrase visae patentes soon came to be used when talking about anything that was unnecessarily kompliziert (complicated) and involved a lot of hassle (die Mühe).

A note on spelling:

It is not known why Fisimatenten starts with an F rather than a V, like its origin words (visite/visitez/visae). One explanation might be, that the letter V is often pronounced like an F in German, so this may have influenced the word’s spelling. You can read more about German letter pronunciation by clicking on this post.

The French connection:

France had a big influence on Germany during the 18th Century. Click here if you’d like to read about French loanwords in the German language.

Bis bald!

Constanze