Only one group [of immigrants] has managed to resist in significant numbers the temptations of English. I refer to the speakers of the curious dialect that is known generally, if mistakenly, as Pennsylvania Dutch. The name is an accident of history. From the early eighteenth century to almost the end of the nineteenth, Dutch in American English was applied not just to the language of Holland and its environs but to much else that was bewilderingly foreign, most especially Germans and their language--Doubtless in confusion with the german word deutsch.
A striking feature of Pennsylvania German is its wealth of curiously specific terms. Notions and situations that other languages require long clauses to convey can often be expressed with a single word. For example:
Fedderschei--the condition of being reluctant to write letters.
Aagehaar--an eyelash hair that grows inwardly and irritates the sclera.
Dachdrops--water dripping from a roof.
Aarschgnoddle--globules of dung found on hair in the vicinity of the anus.
--
Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States by Bill Bryson
Funny thing is, a direct translation of aarschgnoddle is basically "ass-noodles". That cracks me up.
A striking feature of Pennsylvania German is its wealth of curiously specific terms. Notions and situations that other languages require long clauses to convey can often be expressed with a single word. For example:
Fedderschei--the condition of being reluctant to write letters.
Aagehaar--an eyelash hair that grows inwardly and irritates the sclera.
Dachdrops--water dripping from a roof.
Aarschgnoddle--globules of dung found on hair in the vicinity of the anus.
--
Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States by Bill Bryson
Funny thing is, a direct translation of aarschgnoddle is basically "ass-noodles". That cracks me up.
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let me know as soon as you get a chance
thanks!
So yeah .. real deep!
I notice your humour is dry as ever, keep that up