Schwiezerdeutsch Blappera - When Sick or Hurt
Note: Christine Purves writes about Swiss dialect words, phrases and stories, which relate to the history of this community. Her column is printed with permission by the Swiss Community Historical Society.
By Christine Habegger Purves
I never heard my grandmother use the word "rheumatism," but she came close. She would say, "I got some rheumatic fer shoor."
Or more specifically, "I ha jetszt es haxaschuss, und es duet mi viel rookveh." Literally this means, "I have a witch's shot and it gives me a big pain in the back."
Our daughter, Mary, age 5, was taught her part in one of the many Swiss/English skits written by my mother, Martha Baumgartner Habegger. Mary was to enter the stage barefooted, crying, "Mi tsaia, ach, mi tsaia," meaning she had stubbed her toe.
In another skit by Martha, a woman gossips, "Eh, I heard yet dat Vilhelmenia got the bronky ammonia" (the bronchial pneumonia).
When we lived in Berne, Indiana, we heard about a boy falling out of a tree, breaking his arm. He was a "Schvander," short for a Neuenschwander.
His mother, obviously wanting to know how serious a fall this was, was seen rushing out of her home, calling loudly, "Het's chlepft, Glen, het's chlepft?" (Did you hear it crack, Glen?) Not "Does it hurt?" but "Could you hear it crack?"
If you had a cold and your nose ran, you were called a A"Schnudernahse."
Stories Posted This Week
Monday, May 5, 2025
Sunday, May 4, 2025
Saturday, May 3, 2025
- Pirate baseball win vs. Tigers
- Bluffton softball edged in battle of Pirates
- Committee meetings scheduled for Bluffton Council
- #1 recommended attraction in NW Ohio is in Ada
- Mental Health Awareness event with Seth Gehle
- Ohio highway patrol promoting motorcycle safety
- Recap of Bluffton Board of Education meeting for April 2025
- Weekend Doctor: Antidepressants in the long term
Friday, May 2, 2025
- BHS seniors exhibit art at Gallery 323 through May 7
- What's in your weekend?
- Pirate softball blanked by Lancers
- Pirate baseball blanked by Lincolnview
- Laman Promoted to VP Retail Credit Manager by CNB
- Local land conservancy hires first Executive Director
- Steiner to present Swiss Family Migration program on May 21
- 850 Days of Caring volunteers will pitch in for Hancock County
Thursday, May 1, 2025
- Angel M. Langhals owned LFE/API Meters
- Allen Co. task force targets target sex and human traffickers
- Blessing of the Bikes, May 4
- Metzger honored at 2025 Black Swamp Council meeting
- Volunteer invitation for Bluffton Pathway Count in May
- Pirate tennis edges Ottawa-Glandorf
- Bluffton EMS station staffing goes 24/7 on May 1
- You are what you eat: Link to immune system