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L O W L A N D S - L - 30 April 2013 - Volume 04<br></font></font><a href="mailto:lowlands.list@gmail.com" target="_blank"><font color="#000000" face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">lowlands.list@gmail.com</font></a></span><font color="#000000" face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> </font><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><font color="#000000" face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> - </font><a href="http://lowlands-l.net/" target="_blank"><font color="#000000" face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">http://lowlands-l.net/</font></a><br>
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><div style="margin:0in 0in 0pt"><div style="margin:0in 0in 0pt"><span><font color="#000000"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">From: <span tabindex="-1" id=":131"><span name="Heiko Evermann">Heiko Evermann</span> <span><<a href="mailto:heiko.evermann@googlemail.com">heiko.evermann@googlemail.com</a>></span><br>
</span></font><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Subject: Etymology<br><br></font><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Dear Lowlanders,<div> </div><div>maybe you can help me find the etymology of a phrase. It is an expression that my wife uses, when the kids are asking whats up for dinnner. The tradition in several families seems to be to avoid this answer. Kids can be picky when it comes to food and avoiding the confrontation up to the last possible moment seems to be a frequent move employed by parents. Often accompanied at the table with the (in)famous German proverb "es wird gegessen, was auf den Tisch kommt", which roughly translates to "you eat whatever is on the table". But I doubt that this can fully express the heavy burden of the German expression, as in German it is not about "you" but a passive construction: Whatever is on the table is eaten, no discussion, period. You are not involved in the decision.<br>
</div><div><span>In my native </span><span>Holstein (as I have heard) the canonical answer for Topfgucker (pot-lookers) is "Swienschiet mit Dill", though we did not use that phrase at home as my </span><span>mother's mother came from Saxony. My wife, however, uses a different expression and that is the one I would like to ask about:</span><span><br>
</span></div><div>My mother-in-law comes from Königsberg/Ostpreußen. Born in 1944, the family had to flee to west Germany a few months later. She grew up in an east Prussian family and some words of their dialect have remained in use in our family. Here the answer for Topfgucker is "Apfel(l?)agatschla(g/ch) mit Mollebeeschen". This phrase was intoduced into the family by an aunt who came trom east-Ostpreußen and who passed away a long time ago.<br>
</div><div>Those still using this phrase have no idea about the origin. But as "Swienschiet mit Dill" has an understandable meaning in Plattdeutsch, I thought, maybe even this family heritage from Ostpreußen had a meaning in the original dialect?<br>
</div><div>Recognizable at the beginning seems to be "Apfel" (apple) and Beeschen sounds a bit like "Beeren" (berries). The rest is unrecognizable to me. <br></div><div>Any ideas about this phrase? And any other standard responses for Topfgucker around<span></span> Lowlands land?</div>
<div> </div><div><div>Heiko Evermann</div><div>Ellerau/Germany</div></div></font></font></span></div></div></span><div style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;text-align:center"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><font color="#000000" face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">==============================</font></span><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><font color="#000000"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif"></font><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">===========================<br>
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