The upper franconian word of the year 2018 is "derschwitzen". The summer of 2018, with its weeks of high temperatures of over 30 degrees, was just that: "a sweat". This opinion was shared by a large number of the more than 1,500 entries sent in by numerous upper franconians by postcard, web form or e-mail.
"We are still under the impressions of the summer"
For four-headed jury, consisting of barbara christoph, head of the cultural service office of the district of upper franconia, sabine knieling from the media partner extra-radio from hof, dr. Almut konig from the chair of germanic linguistics at the friedrich-alexander-university erlangen as well as the director of the farm museum kleinlosnitz, bertram popp, the decision was accordingly quickly clear. "We are still under the impressions of the summer. Therefore, the decision for this dialect word was made very quickly and consensually", barbara christoph gives an insight into deliberations of the jury.
What does "sweat" mean??
According to almut konig from the chair of german linguistics at the friedrich-alexander-universitat erlangen, the official meaning of the word is "to go to the ground by sweating". The linguist explains: "our standard language does not know the word in its usual dialect meaning", according to the linguist. The german dictionary of jacob and wilhelm grimm lists the term "erschwitzen" with the meanings "to sweat, to sweat out or to gain something through sweating" at. "We have known the letter d as a prefix in the language since the 12th century. Century. In the bavarian and eastern french dialects this has partly been handed down until today."
The competition was strong: the finalists
This year, the "babbm" were still on the shortlist (lip herpes) "huts-on-bruh" (klob with sob), the "rowarn" (wheelbarrow or known wheelbarrow) and the "blunz’n" (bubble, usually filled with meat or also waste for a strongly protruding belly). The proclamation itself took place within the framework of the 21. Upper franconian dialect theater day at the farm museum in kleinlosnitz.
On the "upper franconia word of the year" campaign
In 2015, the district of upper franconia, together with its media partner extra-radio from hof, curated the "upper franconian word of the year" for the first time. The word must enrich our vocabulary and name what is meant in a particularly apt, original or precise way, according to the organizers. The winning word for 2015 was "wischkastla" as the upper franconian term for "smartphone", in 2016, the short upper franconian phrase "a weng weng" was used kurt. Last year, the almost forgotten term "urigeln" made a name for itself the race, which describes the tingling feeling when cold hands or tubes slowly thaw in the warm air.
This is the upper franconian word of the year 2017