JG :
many of these terms of "endearment" are often used locally .
since i grew up in hamburg/northern germany , the term "wilde biene" (sometimes "tolle biene" ) is certainly familiar to me .
it meant a girl that was just a little on the wild side . it meant you could ask her out for a dance or a motorcycle ride without having to be concerned about a longterm commitment - but there were certainly no sexual undertones in those days !
"krasse alte" would certainly have gotten you into trouble if overheard by her husband/man/boyfriend . it would be like saying "she's gotten old and mean" .
"bub - bube" is usually used in southern germany/austria .
in hamburg one spoke of "junge , jung , knabe("knabenschule" = boys' school) .
even within a certain area of germany , such as northern germany , there were quite distinct words/expressions used that were often only understood by the locals .
since i grew up and worked in the port of hamburg before coming to canada , i'm still familiar with a fair number of words that were only understood there .
there are many books that have been written in the various dialects of germany . i have a collection of probably 30 to 40 books mainly written in the various north-german dialects , but also some written in bavarian dialect and austrian dialect .
i'll look in again and see what going on in this thread .
hbg
this website gives a pretty good overview of the "north-german dialects" - aka "plattdeutsch"
[URL=http://]http://www.plattmaster.de/sprache.htm[/URL]NORTH-GERMAN DIALECTS
JG :
"dienermaedel"
"diener" is male (male servant)
"maedel" is female (maedchen = girl)
this combination doesn''t sound right to me .
there is certainly a "WIENER - MAEDEL" , a girl (or rather "fraeulein") from vienna .
i wonder if the word you are looking for is "dienst-maedchen or dienst- maedel" ?
it would be an old-fashioned "housemaid" .
btw there is a separate german google at www.google.de .
i often find it helpful when looking for german information .
KEEP LOOKING !
hbg
old-fashioned "dienst-maedchen" in hamburg ca. 1850
Der Zierfisch
Ziert der Zierfisch sich beim lecken
springt der geile Stör ins nächste Becken
Dort wartet schon die scharfe Flunder
und reißt sich rasch das Höschen runder
IN MANY languages, it is said, there is no nonsense poetry, and there is not a great deal of it even in English. The bulk of it is in nursery rhymes and scraps of folk poetry, some of which may not have been strictly nonsensical at the start, but have become so because their original application has been forgotten. For example, the rhyme about Margery Daw:
See-saw, Margery Daw,
Dobbin shall have a new master.
He shall have but a penny a day
Because he can't go any faster.
Or the other version that I learned in Oxfordshire as a little boy:
See-saw, Margery Daw,
Sold her bed and lay upon straw.
Wasn't she a silly slut
To sell her bed and lie upon dirt?
There was an Old Derry down Derry, who loved to see little folks merry;
So he made them a book, and with laughter they shook at the fun of that Derry down Derry.
'safte frau'
) frau , things will be allright ! :wink: 