{"id":5330,"date":"2014-08-10T17:21:23","date_gmt":"2014-08-10T17:21:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=5330"},"modified":"2017-11-16T10:21:32","modified_gmt":"2017-11-16T10:21:32","slug":"words-and-signs-you-might-encounter-in-deepest-bavaria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/words-and-signs-you-might-encounter-in-deepest-bavaria\/","title":{"rendered":"Words and signs you might encounter in deepest Bavaria"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Beer<\/a>

Servus! Photo by quinet (Thomas Quine) on Flickr.com under CC BY 2.0<\/p><\/div>\n

If you visit Bavaria (especially if it\u2019s a little place out in the depths of the Bayerischer Wald<\/em>), you are likely to encounter the Bavarian language in one form or another. Spoken Bavarian probably sounds incomprehensible as a non-native German speaker, even if your Hochdeutsch is of a good standard. But when it comes to speaking, there are several things you could do to communicate with a Bavarian person, such as speak in Hochdeutsch (there\u2019s a pretty good chance they\u2019ll speak it back), or speak in English (there\u2019s a reasonable chance they\u2019ll speak it back), or use the age-old technique of pointing at things and hoping for the best.<\/p>\n

When learning a language, people often focus on speaking as the most important thing, because they want to be able to communicate. But it\u2019s important to know what you are reading, too. After all, if you speak to someone and don\u2019t understand them immediately, you have ways of getting around that (as mentioned above). However, if you read<\/em> something you don\u2019t understand, what can you do then?<\/p>\n

Although most things are written in Hochdeutsch across Bavaria, you will find some adverts, signs, and slogans written in Bavarian \u2013 especially if you\u2019re in a more traditional and less touristic place. So if your German is good but your Bavarian is not so good, how will you know what you\u2019re reading?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where this post comes in! I\u2019ve compiled a list of possible words, signs, adverts and slogans that you might see in Bavaria, to help you out with this. Please feel free to add to this list \u2013 I would love it to become an ever-expanding resource for people!<\/p>\n

TOILETS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Need the toilet? In German, you know which word you\u2019re looking out for on the toilet door. It might say M\u00e4dchen and Junge \u2013 girls and boys. Or maybe Damen and Herren \u2013 women and men. But what if you were confronted with two toilet doors, one saying \u201cMadls\u201d or \u201cDirndls\u201d, and one saying \u201cBuam\u201d \u2013 and with no little pictures to tell you which is which? Have no fear, here\u2019s the answer!<\/p>\n

MADLN<\/strong>:<\/em> Women
\nDIRNDLN<\/strong><\/em>: Women (a variation that refers to the traditional Bavarian Dirndl dress)
\nBUAM<\/strong><\/em>: Men<\/p>\n

You may see this written on toilet doors in traditional restaurants, cafes and shops in Bavaria. Now you know which is which!<\/p>\n

FOOTBALL<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bavaria is home to FC Bayern M\u00fcnchen. Their slogan or motto is \u201cMia san mia\u201d, which is, naturally, Bavarian. As it is now a famous slogan, you may see it in all sorts of places, either in reference to football or not. So, to clarify:<\/p>\n

MIA SAN MIA:<\/em><\/strong> Originates from the German \u201cWir sind wir\u201d, which means \u201cWe are we\u201d in English. It basically means, \u201cWe are who we are\u201d.<\/p>\n

RESTAURANTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\u201eRottach-Egern<\/a>

\u201eRottach-Egern – Kramer Lad\u2019l – Essen ist ein Bed\u00fcrfnis\u201c von User:Mattes – Eigenes Werk. Lizenziert unter Public domain \u00fcber Wikimedia Commons –<\/p><\/div>\n

A restaurant is one place you\u2019re likely to find lots of Bavarian words, as they like to keep things traditional and homely. The above sign is just one example. The first sentence is in Hochdeutsch (standard German), whereas the second is in Bavarian.<\/p>\n

“Essen ist ein Bed\u00fcrfnis, aber genie\u00dfen eine Kunst!!”<\/strong> – “To eat is a requirement, but to enjoy it is an art!!”
\n“Drum schaugst a bi\u00dfl rei zu uns!”<\/em><\/strong> –\u00a0 “That’s why you should come in and see us!”<\/p>\n

Here are some more words and phrases you might see in\/around Bavarian restaurants and cafes:<\/p>\n

AN GUADN!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This little phrase in German would be \u201cGuten Appetit!\u201d which you can probably tell means \u201cA good appetite!\u201d in English.<\/p>\n

You are likely to see this little phrase plastered all over restaurant menus, and maybe hanging on a restaurant wall. Now you know what it means \u2013 the restaurant owners are wishing you bon appetit.<\/em><\/p>\n

STUBN<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

A restaurant is sometimes called a \u2018Stube\u2019. For instance, you might see the name of a restaurant as \u2018Schmankerl Stube\u2019 or \u2018Alpenglow Stube\u2019.<\/p>\n

Some places use the Bavarian word for Stube, instead \u2013 Stubn (or Stub\u2019n).<\/p>\n

So if you come across a Stubn, don\u2019t be confused \u2013 it is, in fact, a Stube \u2013 a restaurant.<\/p>\n

SCHWAMMERL (or: SCHWAMMAL)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Bavarian word for \u2018mushrooms\u2019. In Hochdeutsch, this would be \u2018Pilze\u2019. So if you see a Schwammerlsuppe (or, even more Bavarian: Schwammerlsubbm) on a menu, you\u2019re looking at mushroom soup.<\/p>\n

I did not even know the word \u2018Pilze\u2019 existed until a few years ago. I had used \u2018Schwammerl\u2019 my whole life, and thought that was the standard German word for mushrooms! That\u2019s how common the word Schwammerl is over there.<\/p>\n

SCHMANKERL<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Another word you may see on a menu, \u2018Schmankerl\u2019 is Bavarian for \u2018Spezialit\u00e4t \u2013 \u2018speciality\u2019.<\/p>\n

SUPERMARKETS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kaufland, a German supermarket chain, has advertising slogans written entirely in Bavarian. One of them says \u201cJoa servus. Kaufland is do!\u201d Translation:<\/p>\n

In Hochdeutsch: Ja hallo, Kaufland ist da!
\nIn English: Well hello, Kaufland is here!<\/p>\n

THE BAVARIAN FOREST<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since you might be out in the sticks of it when coming across many of these words, I thought I should briefly touch upon the Bavarian Forest. In German, we are talking about the Bayerischer Wald. Although you\u2019ll mostly see it written that way, there is a chance you could see the word \u2018Wald\u2019 (forest\/woods) spelt like this: \u2018Woid\u2019.<\/p>\n

WOID<\/em> <\/strong>is the Bavarian word for \u2018Wald\u2019 (forest\/woods). If you ever see \u2018Bayerischer Woid\u2019 written anywhere, they\u2019re talking about the Bayerischer Wald.<\/p>\n

On a similar note, here’s one example of a sign written in Bavarian – presumably on a mountain somewhere.<\/p>\n

\"\u201eSpruch<\/a>

\u201eSpruch in Bairisch – O Wanderer du sollst es wissen\u201c von User:Mattes – Eigenes Werk. Lizenziert unter Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 \u00fcber Wikimedia Commons<\/p><\/div>\n

Can you figure out what it says?<\/p>\n

And as always, feel free to add more examples in the comments!<\/p>\n

Servus! Kemmts fei wieda! \ud83d\ude09<\/strong>
\n<\/em>(Bavarian for: \u2018Bye! Do come again!\u2019)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

If you visit Bavaria (especially if it\u2019s a little place out in the depths of the Bayerischer Wald), you are likely to encounter the Bavarian language in one form or another. Spoken Bavarian probably sounds incomprehensible as a non-native German speaker, even if your Hochdeutsch is of a good standard. But when it comes to…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":5333,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,8],"tags":[358403,358402,376023,376027],"class_list":["post-5330","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-language","tag-bairisch","tag-bavarian","tag-language","tag-travel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5330"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9105,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5330\/revisions\/9105"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}