[German] high or Swiss.. can I pick it out. .

Language Corner
21
Olay used to be called Ulay in the UK (i.e. It was spelled "Ulay" on the jar) until the 90s, I think. I assume it was changed to bring the branding into line with other countries and save label printing costs. I must admit, I still call it Ulay.

22
Only since 1999, and I still hear many older people refer to it by its old name (like all the people who still call Snickers bars 'Marathon').

23
Oh dear. It seems I'm "older people".

24
But it used to be called Ulay in the UK when it was first introduced ( more years ago than I care to remember) and they changed the name to Olay after quite a few years for some reason. It was called Olaz in France and Belgium.

Here you go

http://www.theguardian.com/notesandq...,-4512,00.html

25
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gypserie

http://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires...gypserie/38720

Dosen't seem to be a Swiss word.

26
Scouser is much closer, with all the 'rrrr' for 'ck' (I'm storrr on a rorrr- I am stuck on a rock)

Paillard btw is a very common surname in the small Vaud town of St Croix.

Of course Austrian and Bavarian sound very much like Swiss German to the inexperienced ear.

27

Well, that’s weird Laertes. Neither my translation program nor my Collins Gem French/English dictionary have gypserie.

28
O/t very slightly but... I think I found a swear word...! On tv, we had dinner at Steakhouse tonight then came up to our room. Watching "Promi Inner". Some blonde chick on there called Larissa was really pissed off. And she kept saying "scheizer"... in a way like its a swear word. Amirite??

29
You might be on to something there...but all these decent folk on EF wouldn't bring themselves to such low levels of expression

30
Lol sorry! Is it a bad one or just a tut-tut one?!

A lady at my husband's office told us of a friend of hers. A British lady. She was so proud of her son speaking Swiss German (she couldn't speak any) and was saying "listen to him!" With pride. But apparently the boy was cussing and jiving hahaha. My children won't get that one past me

31
It's not such a bad one... http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Scheiße

32
It's about on par with UK English "bloody", I'd say. Sort of thing a kid might get a frown or a tut for saying, but probably not sent to bed without supper.

33
We only have Snickers in Oz! Or have I missed Marathons......

34

There is no German word for it. A croissant is in Austria (where they were invented) all the way to Germany a croissant and nothing else. "Gipfeli" is pure Swiss German, a German baker would have no idea what you are asking for...

Never heard of Marathon, was that in Switzerland or the UK?

But a twix will of course forever be a raider... "London: My tailor is twix!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP84_ajwbCc

35
Croissants are called Hörnchen in many areas of southwestern Germany. There are all sorts of Kipfel, Kipferl, Gipfel etc. around also in Austria and Germany, even kifli in Hungary, kifla in Serbia and Bosnia and кифла in Bulgaria. Admittedly, they are not exactly the same as a Swiss Gipfeli , but those are just the usual regional differences in recipes and languages.

The original Austrian Kipferl , very often mentioned as the origin of the croissant, bore even way less similarity to a French style croissant than for instance a Swiss Gipfeli to a Southern German Hörnchen or a Northern German Kandore .

Vienna as the origin of croissants is very much contested by experts. The original Viennese Kipferl was made of roughly the same dough as a brioche , very spongy, not flaky at all. An Austrian opened a Kipferl bakery ( Boulangerie Viennoise ) around 1839 in Paris, and he even introduced the Viennese steam oven to France, which was important to keep the crust of the baked goods very soft, like brioche. Croissants made of puff-pastry-like flaky dough, as known today, appeared in France even later.

Anyway, there are German words for croissants, and the Swiss German Gipfeli is just one of them.

Now let's keep this thread open again for what it was meant for.

36
Thanks for the history of baking lesson... but you are missing the point. A croissant is a specific product and no, a Kipferl is - as you said yourself correctly - not the same thing. If I want a croissant in Germany do I need to order a croissant. Just because American bagels originated from Polish Beigels does not mean that you can use the words synonymously - if you want a bagel, you will have to call it bagel.

37
Someone once told me (or I read it somewhere) Swiss German is not so much a language, but more of a throat disease.

Anecdote: many, many moons ago, I went to see a Switzerland vs England footy friendly at the old Wankdorf stadium. On the bus on the way back we were standing next to a couple of lads and I honestly couldn't tell you whether they were speaking Scouse of Swiss German.

In my own defence, we'd only been here for a few years, most of which had been spent living in French-speaking canton Fribourg, so my exposure to Swiss-German was limited.

38

I think that was the first swiss word my youngest learned in Kindergarten! She came home and then said "Scheisse!" when she dropped something on the floor. I told her not to say that because it was rude, and she told me everyone says it so how can it be rude! I don't think it is considered that bad here, all the kids say it! I guess the equivalent in English is saying "oh shit!"

39
I have always thought it sounds very welsh - very singsong

40
When you are grown up, you do not anymore say "Scheisse", but–if at all–"Scheibe" (engl.: a windows' glas*) to express the same feeling more politely, since the German Eszett "ß", aka sharp-S, resembles the "b" and is used Teutonic German where the Swiss use a double "ss". Quite inventive, isn't it?

* BTW, is there an English word for the glas of a window?