Wiezenhymers

Douglas G. Wilson douglas at NB.NET
Fri Mar 30 13:26:05 UTC 2001


The usual spellings are "weisenheimer", "wisenheimer". There's also
"wiseheimer".

The etymology given by M-W, RH: "wise" + "-heimer" (as in "Oppenheimer" etc.).

Supposedly from ca. 1910.

The books overlook the fact that Weisenheimer is itself a real surname (I
think "Wisenheimer" also may exist as a real surname ... maybe "Wiseheimer"
too).

Mencken mentioned "[Wise]heimer" along with "[Butt]inski" in 1921.

-- Doug Wilson



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