Untranslatable German Words: der Schickimicki Posted by Sten on May 3, 2018 in Culture, Language
A friend of mine told me this week: “Schickimicki is one of my favorite German words!” It made me realize, it is quite a cute word! It also made me wonder: How would you accurately translate it to English? It is harder than you might think. Let’s go!
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What does Schickimicki mean?
Ein Schickimicki? (Image by Jon Hernandez at Unsplash.com)
As you can tell from the capitalized S, Schickimicki is a noun. However, it is perhaps even more as an adverb. As a noun, it is male: der Schickimicki. It is somebody that values trends and fashion and other trendy items, so it is a “trendy person”. But it is often used somewhat abwertend (derogatory), seen as somebody doing schick over the top. Sie halten sich für sehr wichtig (They think they are very important). So a certain Arroganz (arrogance) is associated with it too.
If something is Schickimicki, like a Schickimicki-Auto, it is a fancy car, but one that has a lot of Schnickschnack. While Schickimicki is not a bad word, it is generally not something people aspire to be!
What would be a literal translation of Schickimicki?
Actually, Schickimicki does not even mean anything in German. It comes from the word schick, which means “fashionable”, “posh”, “smart”. Nothing bad! If somebody finds something schick, or says that you look schick, that is a great thing! No derogatory meaning there! But once you make it a Reduplikation (reduplication), where you repeat (a part of) the word, it is bound to change the intention behind the word. So really, you cannot translate the word directly. We can try though, English also knows Reduplikation (think of “knick-knack” from last week). Let’s give it a shot: What about “trendy-fendy”? You tell me. If you have a suggestion, let me know in the comments below!
How would you use Schickimicki in a sentence?
Either you use it to refer to a person:
Er hat sich gestern eine neue Hose gekauft, weil die gerade im Trend sind. Dabei hat er letzte Woche auch schon neue gekauft. Solch ein Schickimicki!
(Yesterday, he bought himself some new jeans, because they are fashionable right now. Even though he bought new ones just last week. Such a Schickimicki!)
Ein Jaguar ist ja eine tolle Sache, aber ich fahre lieber Volkswagen. So ein Schickimicki-Auto fahre ich nicht!
(Sure, a Jaguar is a nice-to-have, but I prefer a Volkswagen. I don’t drive such a Schickimicki car!)
What is the nearest English equivalent to Schickimicki?
For the person, perhaps just a “trendy person”, though that does not have the derogatory ring to it. And it does not have the same nice flow.
For the adverb, we can be more creative. English has “fancy-schmancy” on offer, for example! That has a similar derogatory meaning, so it would appears to be quite a good translation for Schickimicki. In my experience, however, you will hear Schickimicki a lot more in German than you hear “fancy-schmancy” in English.
What do you think of the word Schickimicki? Does your language have a more accurate translation? Let me know in the comments below!
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About the Author: Sten
Hi! I am Sten, both Dutch and German. For many years, I've written for the German and the Dutch blogs with a passion for everything related to language and culture. It's fascinating to reflect on my own culture, and in the process allow our readers to learn more about it! Besides blogging, I am a German-Dutch-English translator, animator and filmmaker.
Comments:
Maynard Spitzack:
Sehr interresant! Danke?
James Richards:
Hi Sten, maybe the nearest English word you are looking for is a Chav – noun. Chiefly English slang: dictionary description is disparaging and offensive people. However “Chav” in conversational English can be used in many more ways, eg to include people who wear over the top fashionable brands, flashy jewellery, sometimes fake to give an impression. In everyday English you will hear words such as “Chavs or Chavey” to describe such people. However it does not work for your description as an adverb, If you can afford to drive a Jaguar why drive a Volkswagen, that surely applies to whatever language you speak. Never really heard the expression,“fancy-schmancy” in conversational English, possible equivalent word is a “show off” or “all the gear no idea” even “shallow”, the list is endless. Hope the above helps.
Art Trujillo:
I believe Schickimicki should be changed to mean “milk shake.” While you come up with reasons for rejecting my suggestion, I will go to a Dairy Queen to have a chocolate Schickimicki.
Ian Colville:
The Oxford English Dictionary doesn’t include ‘fancy-schmancy’ and, like James, I’ve never heard of it. My offer is ‘fancy-Dan’, which must come close, as someone who’s dressed up to look more trendy or fashionable than he can really be.