What is he?
06.11.2010
Does that ever happen to you? You've never heard a word before, you become aware of it and then suddenly you hear it all over the place?
Recently I was talking to my son's teacher and she called him "wief". Of course, I could have asked her then and there what she meant, but I just nodded as if I knew what she was talking about and went home to look it up in the dictionary. From her tone of voice, I gathered "wief" was something positive, but I thought I should check all the same.
So I got down the huge Oxford Duden dictionary from the top shelf. U, V, W... no wief! My son was something that wasn't in the dictionary! I felt a little unsettled. I phoned a friend.
"Wief? That's like clever, you know? Smart."
Oh, well, that's all right, then, I thought.
The following week, I'm talking to one of the ladies who runs the after-school club, and what does she say about my son? That's right. "Er ist wief!" This time I knew what she was talking about.
A couple of days later I heard it again. I'd been in Germany for longer than I care to remember and never — not once — had I heard the word wief, and then suddenly I hear it three times in a row!
There should be a word for this phenomenon, but I've yet to come across it!
auf der Stelle
etw. nachschlagen
entnehmen
trotzdem
verunsichert
einem lieb sein
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COMMENTS
I, too, hadn't heard of the word "wief" until after I have read what you have written. However, I couldn't understand what you mean by the sentence "I'd been in Germany for longer than I care to remember and never — not once — had I heard the word wief". Could you please rewrite (simplify) it?
And neither had I (I'm German). I think it is derived of "gewieft".
Dear ksfno1
I meant that I've been in Germany for a very long time — 18 years! And when I do remember just how long I've been here, it reminds me that I'm not 21 anymore. That's why I wrote, "longer than I care (or want) to remember." Hope that helps!
Dear linguafanatic
I think you're right. I also couldn't find "wief" on leo.org, but the translation for gewieft is "streetwise" or "smart". When I googled "wief" I found a Swabian site (http://www.altwuerttemberg.de/schwaebisch/default.asp?q=wief) where the definition was listed as "pfiffig". So I have come to the conclusion that "wief" is the Swabian form of "gewieft". Call me Miss Marple!
All the best,
Dagmar
Your explanation really helps. Thank you for helping me with it, Mrs. Taylor!
Wow, thanks Anne! Or should I say Miss Marple? :-)
Dagmar