Swiss Expressions Loaned Into Standard German
The word Putsch is one of those widely used in political context even in notable Standard German newspapers. The word Müsli, however, is a special case: in Swiss German (and only there), Müsli is the diminutive of Mus ("mouse") and stands for "little mouse". To describe the food, the Swiss would use a special spelling, which is nowhere used abroad (in English one says Muesli): Müesli.
- Nature:
- Gletscher (A glacier, in the Western Alps; in the East Alps a glacier is called a Ferner or Kees)
- Gülle (Liquid manure)
- Lärche (Larch)
- Lawine (Avalanche)
- Murmeltier(Marmot)
- Senn(Swiss alps farmer)
- Politics:
- Putsch (Putsch, or Coup d'état)
- Reichsdeutsche (Germans living in the German Empire; this term was coined in 1871 by Swiss German-speaking people.)
- Überfremdung (So-called "over-alienation" of the country)
- conventions and customs:
- Heimweh (Homesickness; first described among Swiss soldiers who missed their homes in the Alps)
- Vignette (Automobile sticker verifying payment of a road tax)
- kitchen:
- Müsli (Muesli, a breakfast food)
- Cordon bleu (Cordon bleu, a chicken dish)
- Fondue (Fondue, a melted cheese dish)
- Raclette (Raclette, a melted cheese dish)
- Bündnerfleisch (A seasoned, dried meat, also called Bindenfleisch or Viande des Grisons.)
- other:
- unentwegt (Steadfast)
Read more about this topic: Helvetism
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“She had exactly the German way: whatever was in her mind to be delivered, whether a mere remark, or a sermon, or a cyclopedia, or the history of a war, she would get it into a single sentence or die. Whenever the literary German dives into a sentence, that is the last you are going to see of him till he emerges on the other side of the Atlantic with his verb in his mouth.”
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