Guten Rutsch

[Millie Webb]

In my experience, "Rutsch mal", for "scootch over" or whatever, is common
all over Germany.  I have heard several Americans use "rutsch" for
"scootch", "scoosh", "slide" also, but it is nowhere near as common in
English (where it seems to occur most often in areas with large numbers of
German immigrants) as it is in German (I have heard it in NE Germany --
Sachsen, and SW Germany--Schwabian, two enormously different areas in terms
of dialects).  I always assumed that "Rutsch" in German came from its sense
of "slide", maybe with a touch of "push" added in (push to start someone
sliding...).  I have never heard the alleged Hebrew derivation.  Though I
must say, it is my opinion Yiddish had more of an influence in German slang
in some areas than the people living there still today would realize
("scheit", "toodeln" related to drinking, "batsch" for a slapping sound,
and/or really "botching" something up,...).  Then again, my random musings
like this have been "proven" wrong before... -- Millie


----- Original Message -----
From: "David Bergdahl" <einstein at FROGNET.NET>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, January 01, 2003 3:23 PM
Subject: Re: Guten Rutsch


> I never heard the expression but my Bavarian (1st) wife used "rutsch" all
> the time in the sense of "move over, slide over" and as an adj "rutschy"
for
> "slick, slippery"; moreover, a student in my American dialects class
> investigating "scoot" found "rutsch" to be a synonym in upstate New York
for
> a prompt something like "what do you say when someone wants to sit down
and
> the people sitting have to move?"  I doubt that Upstate is much influenced
> by Yiddish although Bayerisch is, like Yiddish, South [=high] German.
> _________________________________
> "Raffiniert ist der Herr Gott, aber Boshaft ist er nicht"
> --Albert Einstein
>