Expressions
"Too soon alt and too late schmart"
An old German proverb from a plaque which hung on the kitchen wall in Uncle Shorty's and Aunt Meil's house. Contributed by David Hildermann
Was, man nicht andern kan, nimmt man geduldig an.
What one cannot change, one accepts patiently. Volga German Proverb.
"Wahn mir sich zumma Lammja macht, da fress' um die Wölfe.
If you act like a lamb, you'll be devoured by wolves.
"Der Russe hat eine warme Seele, der Deutsch hat einen kuehlen Kopf, der Russland Deutsche hat beides, ein warme Seele und einen kuehlen Kopf"
(Russians have a warm soul, Germans a cool head, and German-Russians have both a warm soul and a cool head.)
Unser Leute - Our People.
Arbeit mach da Leben Süss - Work makes life sweet.
He who will not work, neither shall he eat
Mit arbeit versicht man den ganzen Tag. A guy could waste the whole day working.
A German falls into work as another man falls into sin.
Ach du Lieber - Oh you dear one.
Huniacks or Hunyaks - According to the Oxford English Dictionary, 1989, Vol. 7 "hunyak" is a term for Hungarian immigrants, similar to Polack for Polish immigrants. The first printed use of hunyak cited by this dictionary is 1911. Although the term may have originally been coined for Hungarians, apparently the German community readily picked it up and used it among themselves. When I was a child and was being stubborn about something, my mother, whose parents came from Germany, would always say, "Don't be such a hunyak!" We would then both laugh, which would break the spell of obstinance I was in. She is now 87 and I asked her what the term meant to her. She said that when she was young the term loosely meant an ignorant, uneducated, common day-labor type of person. There were no racial implications in the term as they used it. - Contributed by James Klein
Wie Geht's? - How goes it?
es isch selva kumma, es kann sich selva gehe - It came by itself, it can leave by itself. A fatalistic saying about illnesses, justifying the lack of medical treatment.
Manche Hähne glauben, daß die Sonne nur ihretwegen aufgeht. - Some roosters believe that the sun rises only on their account.
Jeder Hahn ist König auf seinem Misthaufen. - Every rooster is king of his manure pile.
Geh mit den Hühnern schlafen, aber steh mit den Hähnen auf. - Go to sleep with the hens but get up with the roosters.
Morgen, morgen nur nicht heute sagen all faulen Leute. - Tomorrow, tomorrow but not today say all lazy people.
Was du heute kannst besorgen, das verschiebe nicht auf morgen - What you can do today don't put off until tomorrow.
Auch ein blindes Huhn findet mal ein Korn - Even a blind hen sometimes finds a grain of corn - or - dumb luck!
Auf die kann man Häuser bauen! - With her, you can start building houses! - or - You can count on her!
Ein guter Hahn wird selten fett. - A good rooster seldom gets fat.
Nichts haben ist ein ruhiges Leben. - Owning nothing makes for a quiet, peaceful life.
Lieber eine Laus im Kraut als wie gar kein Fleisch. - Better a louse in the cabbage than no meat at all.
Schulden sind keine Hasen; die laufen nicht fort. - Debt are not rabbits; they never run away.
Lügen ist leichter als Garben dreschen. - To tell a lie is easier than threshing grain.
Bettelleute haben es gut; es bricht ihnen kein Ochs kein Horn und frisst ihnen auch kein Maus kein Korn; Bettelleute haben es gut. - Beggars are lucky! Nobody breaks the horn of his ox, no mouse eats his grain, Beggars are indeed lucky.
Man kann den Ochsen nur zum Wasser führen, saufen aber muss er selbst. - One can lead an ox to water but you cannot make him drink.
Wer den Kopf gewaschen haben will, der muss selber dabei sein. - Need something done, do it yourself, or, Anyone who wants to have his head washed must be on site himself.
Wenns auf die Größe ankäme, dann könnte man mit den Kühen auch Hasen fangen. - If it was a matter of size only, then we could catch rabbits with cows.
Der hat lieber einen leeren Darm als einen müden Arm. - He prefers an empty gut to a tired arm.
Der schlägt ja rein wie der Blinde in den Käs. - He gobbles up the cheese like a blind man. Note: This means he is a glutton, eating without seeing the size of the cheese.
Ich wuenschen euch a Glückseliges Neues Jahr, langes Leben, Gesundheit, Friede und Enigkeit,
und nach dem Tod die ewige Glückseligkeit - I wish you a blessed New Year, long life, health, peace and ?, and after death the eternal blessedness.
Ich wünsche Euch Glück und Segen wie Wasser Trepflein in dem Regen.
Ich wünsche Euch so viel gute Zeit wie Sand am Meer liegt und breit.
Ich wünsche Euch noch so viele Jahre lang wie Sterne bei nacht am Himmel sein.
I wish you as many blessings as drops of water in the rain.
I wish you as many good days on earth as there are grains of sand on the shore.
I wish you as many years of happiness as there are stars in the sky at night.
Gesundheit, Fried un' Freid un' ewige Seligkeit
Health, Peace, Joy and eternal Blessedness.
Viel Glück und Segen im neuen Jahr.
Die beste Gesundheit und langes Leben!
Much happiness and blessings in the New Year.
The best health and long life!
Volkskulture
An emphasis on being plain-folk, blunt, and honest has always struck me as being at the core of being a German from Russia.
Here is an excerpt from page 111 of a wonderful book, Arnold Marzolf's Let's Talk German-Russian with Ernschtina un Hanswurscht, entitled "Hock dich!" :
"German-Russians were often a bit short, curt, rough, direct, earthy, and at times even crude in their speech patterns. Their motto seemed to have been, 'Don't judge us by the way we sound, but by who we are.' Even today, when you enter a high-class German-Russian home, you may hear the traditional, formal High German, 'Bitte, setzen Sich sich' (please be seated). However, you are more apt to hear a grunt or an ejaculatory command that reminds one of a football yell. In their beloved dialect, they may say: 'Hock dich nah!' ...'Sit down!' or just Sit!' (without the word 'please')."