Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Not Lost in Translation

Since there were a few of you who ventured to give guesses for the 8 words I posted at the end of the meme yesterday I will include the actual meanings today.  Then as a lazy blogger's excuse for a post I'll give you links to 3 dialect-related posts from between 3 and 4 years ago. 
 
1. Hinnerdale: Pennsylvania German for your hind end. Boy, you better straighten up and fly right or I'm gonna paddle your hinnerdale!

2. Dingolay: Trini slang meaning to dance with abandon. Yuh was at de fete (party) las' night?  Yes, an' I get on bad when I dingolay!

3. Stroobly: Pennsylvania German for unkempt or messy hair. I never saw such stroobly hair, now comb it before you leave this house!

4. Yampee: Trini slang for the gunk in the corners of your eye in the morning. So late in the day an' yuh jus' wake?  Don't lie I see the yampee in yuh eye.

5. Ferhoodled: Pennsylvania German for being completely mixed up or confused.Was it the second right after the old barn or the first right after the second barn?  Ach, I'm so ferhoodled!

6. Mamaguy: Trini slang for flattery designed to manipulate. Flora, yuh lookin' so good tonight.  Oh, don't mamaguy me!  I just finish rolling roti dough and I'm covered in flour.

7. Grex: Pennsylvania German for complaining, fussing or whining.  Especially applicable to fussy babies or children but applicable to adults who are out of sorts as well. Why you grexing so?  Things aren't so bad.

8. Pull bull: Trini slang for when people use their private car as an unlicensed taxi in order to make some money. Winston, yuh best go pull bull if we would pay the light bill this month.

For a bit more Dutchified Inlish check here.
For a few Trini phrases check here.
For a whole story in Trini slang check here.

18 comments:

furiousBall said...

oooh, I need to run all of these past Abbe. She said she was Gretzy last night. I thought she was talking about ice hockey and told her that she wasn't Wayne Gretzky

Bijoux said...

Wondering how I can fit any of these into an everyday conversation. But I like (M)ary's definition of yampee best!

Anonymous said...

How do I love Ferhoodled and Stroobly, let me count the ways!
-Jazz

Craig said...

Hey, I guessed pretty good on the 'Hinnerdale'! (I confess, I was just sorta cracking wise on 'the valley in the hiney'. . .)

Suldog said...

Those are all fantastic words! You have enriched my day with them, seriously. Such flavor to all of them...

Commander Zaius said...

Here I thought us Southerners were the only ones that had their own language.

S said...

I think it would be cool if you did a voice recording of your triniaccent doing these sentences.
I would like to hear ya talk like that, guryl!

G-Man said...

May I ferdoodle yer stroodle?

Please?

G-Man said...

...Oooops!

I meant to say stroobly!

The very thought made me ferdoodled!

Craver Vii said...

This may turn out to be a handy resource for me. There is a possibility I may be working with someone from Pennsylvania, and it would be funny to sprinkle some of this vocabulary in our conversations.

Cricket said...

Heh, heh. Truly you are the Empress.

KFarmer said...

Thanks for the needed laugh!! : )

Sorry about the babies. Hope they all get to feeling better soon.

I've been looking for a good picked egg recipe : 0

If you would care for a few southern bugs, let me know. I threw a HUGE beetle out the back door the other day. If I had known he/she was needed or wanted... it would be on the way north...

(M)ary said...

I shake my hinnerdale when I dingolay!

Ps I feel sorry for your kids...when you are 100 and your mind has faded, your babble will be in at least three dialects...
(What's mom saying? I don't know. Something about her hinnerdale...)

(M)ary said...

Cocotte: thanks for mentioning the yampee definition...I spent my spring break in Cancun with my friend and her parents ...I read books on the beach...so I never got a chance to be a yampee

Anonymous said...

Ferhoodled: My new favourite word. I bow down to you my Queen of memes, and as your humble subject it is my duty to tell you that I have made a stab at your last meme.

My apologies, great one.

Kat said...

That was fun! I'd like to use a couple of those. :)

Maria said...

Very informative. I know a few Indian-English words too. I must post them. BTW that 'rolling roti' comment sounds very Indian...

Cosima said...

Oy, my comment got eaten. Here I go again:

hinnerdale = hinterteil

dingolay = a crispy dingo, cut in thin slices and deep fried

stroobly = strubbelig

yampee = a pj worn the other way around

ferhoodled = verhunzt

mamaguy = the opposite of "Papagei", a female perrot

grex = greek mexican food of course

pull bull = Pennsylvania's answer to Spain's bull fight?

Btw tramp stamp is called "Arschgeweih" (ass antlers) in Germany, which is a bit nicer to say :), and the "funny bone" is a "Musikantenknochen" (musician's bone), because it sings and swings a long time after impact.