Dimitri Burkhard
"May I use your handy?" If you have lived in Switzerland long enough, you will have undoubtedly come across this question... It is a perfect example of a Swiss anglicism, or short: Swinglish"!
We have decided to publish the funniest Swinglish translations and anecdotes. It is actually normal for most Swiss to speak English fairly well (aside from German, French, Italian, you-name-it), but occasionally, words appear in the wrong context or are ever slightly off.
For native English speakers, this results in some pretty amusing "Swinglish" (i.e. "Swiss English"). But just to set the record straight, this article is not intended to make fun, but rather to put a smile on our faces. I mean, some of these Swiss "sayings" are truly "mega cool"!
A "Public Viewing" has nothing to do with a person who passed away...
An "Oldtimer" has four wheels instead of two legs and a cane!
A "Beamer" has little in common with a German car brand, as it is a video projector!
"Partnerlook" should be added to the English dictionary, no?
And since Switzerland is so unique, the Swiss simply invented a new word to describe it: "Swissness"!
Now this one makes sense: You kick the ground to get going on a skateboard. Thus, why not call it a "kickboard" like the Swiss?
If you said "Handy" instead of mobile phone in the UK, you might get some blank stares as it stands for "hand job"...
"I've spent the holy day calling on the handy - just to try and get a hold of this guy!"
"I did quite some snow shuffling this weekend!"
"Your sweater is totally trendy!"
"I became a gift from my girlfriend today!"
"It was so funny skiing the other day!"
"I was so drunken on the weekend..."
"The cooker at this restaurant is famous!"
"The rabbits were all action at Migros today!"
"Let's go wellnessing this weekend!"
"Hello together!"
Have you ever been offered "du" informality like this? "You can say you to me!"
"Horny Chicken" on a restaurant menu... HUH?
"Frosted the lemon"
Now, please share your own findings in the comments below!
(Photographs courtesy of auto-exclusive.ch, Imprefectly Perfect, Skateboardfreunde NBG)
Indira
my mum keeps asking me… ‘did you have pleasure tonight?’ meaning ‘fun’!
OMG this is hilarious! Just a month ago I had lunch in a restaurant where they offered “Frosted the Lemon”, meaning lemon ice cream…
Thanks for sharing – I love it!
Two of the bunch are germanisms: The “hello together” is simply a direct translation of the alemanic “hoi zäme” and “bekommen” means “receive”. I can’t find any reasonable explanation for the horny chicken though…
Jo: I think they used horny in meaning of “scharf” (Hot chicken).
do you think they meant Honey (honig) Chicken?
the tram stop resterant in Bern has an award of the wall stating it has the ‘best of swiss gastro’ :P
You must be referring to this seal of approval, Lucy. Is it the “gastro” part that struck you as odd?
And given that the British coined the term “gastropub”, I don’t think “gastro” is an odd root in English any more.
“Handy” is decidedly Denglisch, not Swinglish. “Handy” was used in Germany for years and years before the word made it to Switzerland. The historic word here is “Natel”.
Thanks for sharing in your linguistic knowledge, Antonio! With the advent of smartphones like the iPhone, the terms “Handy” or “Natel” are probably going to disappear soon… What do you think?
I think “Natel” is going to die out, since that branding hasn’t been used in a while. (“Natel” is what the old PTT, predecessor to Swisscom, used to market mobile telephony as. It stood for Nationales Auto-Telefon.)
I think “Handy” is going to remain the generic word for a mobile phone. I’m not aware of any language where smartphones have changed the everyday generic word.
in italian switzerland you only hear natel, and it’s not going away anytime soon. swisscom still uses it for commercial purposes since it has the trademark.
Well, this article was about Swinglish (that is, Swiss German English), and for sure, in the years I’ve lived in Switzerland — all in Zurich — the usage of the word “natel” has dropped steadily. (But you are correct, Swisscom still uses it to brand their plans… not sure what I was thinking when I wrote my post!)
Be aware that the ‘kickboard’ is not a skateboard. It only exclusively refers to that thing with the handle, the one that got invented by the brand ‘Micro Scooter’. A skateboard is a skateboard in Swinglish ;-)
Living now for 12 years in the UK and coming to Switzerland once a year to spend time with my mum, I often roll my eyes at expressions. Mind you some are just hilarious when you are used to English. One year my English partner nearly had the hysterics when he saw “Heisse Knacker” advertised at the local Bahnhof Kiosk. It took me a few seconds to realise why he was laughing so much.
How about German immigrant to America asking his wife if she could “please suck the dust”:)
Hi there :) I have been living in Australia for 27 years and have been able to visit my home country Switzerland almost every year. ~ I have noticed how much more Swinglish there is every year! A few expressions (said in the Emmental Valley) are these: “Willst du mit uns “fooden”? – Instead of “Anlass”, it’s always an “event”. – A “Brückenfest” is now a “bridge party”, of course! – A “camp” has replaced the Schul-Lager. – Of course all the computer related language is English as well. – I often have to smile, though, when a real Emmentaler farmer is trying to speak English… Lovely!