While most of us today don’t speak Pennsylvania Dutch, I wonder if at your house there might be a few “Dutchy” words or expressions still in circulation. There are two words my Mother used that I never found in the English Dictionary. She would say, “Don’t ruch around so much.” Or: “She was a really ruchy baby; she just wouldn’t sit still on your lap.” So I understood "ruchy" to mean some form of squirmy or restless. I’m not even sure how to spell it, because I never saw this word written down.
Another word used at our house was “shustle.” You would talk about a person shustling through things, meaning going through fast and sloppy, likely leaving a mess behind. Or you might say someone has “shustlich,” meaning that fast and sloppy was their style. Or: "Don't shustle so." The word didn't quite have the power of "a bull in a china shop," but on that order.
Then there was a word I heard at school. The teacher would say, “Now this afternoon we’re all going to red out our desks.” That meant to clean out your desk. Do any of these words sound familiar to you?
Or do you use other words from the PA Dutch? I’d love to hear about them. Oh, and also my father would often greet his brother-in-laws and cousins with a hearty “Ve gates?”— How’s it going? I'm guessing that's still common in Lebanon County.
How about 'fershtey?' for 'do you understand.' I don't know how it was spelled.
ReplyDeleteAnd what about 'mach schnell' for 'hurry up'.
I remember my father (Jim) using these phrases more than grandpa, but I think they were all handed down.
Larry
Interesting! That reminds me of an expression both Grandpa and my mother used: Machs nix aus. It basically means makes no difference, doesn't matter. Sometimes Grandpa would just say "Machs nix." I think the word-for-word translation from German is "makes nothing out."
ReplyDeleteI remember Dad saying something that sounded like 'fur-stand-zee' I think it meant "do you get it?"
ReplyDeleteGoogle translator just found me "Verstehen Sie" meaning "Do you understand?"
I bet that's what Dad was saying. But was it Pa Dutch? I think it's just as likely he picked it up in German from their landlord as from Grandpa.
Susan Randolph emailed to say:
ReplyDeleterootchie and yooksie are used in our house all the time...they both mean the same thing really...wiggly, can't sit still"
Leads me to believe that the Boyers have very active children!