4 ms·

> Borrowed from Yiddish שטום‎ (shtum, “mute, dumb, voiceless”), from Middle High German stum, from Old High German stum. Cognate with German stumm, Dutch stom,

> Borrowed from Yiddish שטום‎ (shtum, “mute, dumb, voiceless”), from Middle High German stum, from Old High German stum. Cognate with German stumm, Dutch stom, Swedish stum. [1] [1] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shtum#English https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shtum#English

shimonabi 5y ago
The funny thing is that in Slavic languages, the word for a German translates to "the mute one". For example, NEMec in Slovenian. Mute, because he can't speak our language.
- tomsto 5y ago
  Interesting tangent, but I believe this is also a slavic surname and is anglicised as Nimitz. And before you know it you have an aircraft carrier called USS Mute.
- Tenoke 5y ago
  I've wondered why we have a different word for Germans but never realized that's where it comes from (if it's true).
  - tharkun__ 5y ago
    I only knew it from Hungarian, which I guess is a slavic enough language to compare: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%A9meth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%A9meth: In Hungarian, német means "German" (the word has Slavic origin, literally meaning "he does not speak", since German is not a Slavic language)
    - kingofpandora 5y ago
      Hungarian isn't Slavic.
      - petre 5y ago
        The word is probably borrowed into Hungarian from Slavic. We have a similar word in our language as well, but it's used as someone who doesn't understand. Also used interchangeably with Turk.
        anticensor 5y ago
        Do you mean Barbar?
        petre 5y ago
        No, it's very similar to nemec, basically the same thing also borrowed from Slavic. The "c" ending is pronounced as "ts". The full phrase goes like: "Why don't you understand, are you German/Turk?" (as in not understanding the language). There's also a place, a citadel and river with that name, which your ancestors might have been familiar with: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Neam%C8%9B_Citadel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Neam%C8%9B_Citadel Barbar means what it means in Greek, because that's where it's borrowed from.
  - GeneralMayhem 5y ago
    Similarly, the word "barbarian" comes from the ancient Greeks describing the people who lived around them as sounding like they were saying "bar bar bar".
    - nielsole 5y ago
      That's amazing. Wiktionary backs you up on this and compares it to "bla bla bla". https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B2%CE%AC%CF%81%CE%B2%CE%B1%CF%81%CE%BF%CF%82#Ancient_Greek https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B2%CE%AC%CF%81%CE%B2%CE...
    - umeshunni 5y ago
      Funny, I always thought it came from the word Barba (hair/beard) because they considered them uncultured and unshaven.
      - sorokod 5y ago
        Greeks were into beards big time.
  - pySSK 5y ago
    It is true. Here's a map of what Germany is called by other countries in Europe: https://jakubmarian.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/germany-european-languages.jpg https://jakubmarian.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/germany-e... Interesting that Finland/Estonia call them, essentially, Saxony. The Latvian/Lithunian name for Germany is the only one I don't understand. Does anyone know?
    - seminole 5y ago
      Apparently it's most likely tied to the German municipality of Waake or the Swedish tribe of Vagoths. However most Lithuanians would likely explain it in the form of a joke - either about Germans being thieves ('vogti' = to steal) in reference to Teutonic/Livonic ordins, or about them being 'tough' or well armored ('vo kiets' ~= 'wow, tough/hard').
      - kungito 5y ago
        Another fun fact: at least in Croatia, we colloquially call them "schwabs" which originates from another group of germanic people https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suebi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suebi
        shimonabi 5y ago
        Can confirm (as a Slovenian), the term is used through the Balkans. For example, it is present in the old Serbian song: Četrnaeste, četrnaeste, Švaba udario, (2x) Osamnaeste, osamnaeste, Srbin pobedio. (2x) (In the 14th year, the Schwab struck. In the 18th year, the Serb won.) https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ko_to_ka%C5%BEe,_Srbija_je_mala https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ko_to_ka%C5%BEe,_Srbija_je_mal... It comes from the fact that Germany didn't unify until very late, so the people were called by the small city-states that they came from. In American revolutionary war, some British mercenaries were called Hessians....
    - elgenie 5y ago
      According to Wikipedia [1], it’s a matter of some debate, with the theories being the (standard) corruption of a name for the first Western Baltic people encountered, or a take on the “unintelligible war cry” people from the Latvian root for speaking. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_Germany https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_Germany
- elgenie 5y ago
  In Russian, at least, the country remains “Germany” but the people from it are the “mute-sies”, unlike pretty much every other pairing of country name / demonym.
  - pmontra 5y ago
    In Italy Germany is Germania, but Germans are tedeschi and German (the language) is also tedesco. (BTW, we lowercase people and languages and weekdays and months, but this is changing - English leads.) The reason seems to be the Latin word theodiscus from Old German theod / people.

shimonabi 5y ago

The funny thing is that in Slavic languages, the word for a German translates to "the mute one". For example, NEMec in Slovenian. Mute, because he can't speak our language.

tomsto 5y ago
Interesting tangent, but I believe this is also a slavic surname and is anglicised as Nimitz. And before you know it you have an aircraft carrier called USS Mute.
Tenoke 5y ago
I've wondered why we have a different word for Germans but never realized that's where it comes from (if it's true).
- tharkun__ 5y ago
  I only knew it from Hungarian, which I guess is a slavic enough language to compare: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%A9meth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%A9meth: In Hungarian, német means "German" (the word has Slavic origin, literally meaning "he does not speak", since German is not a Slavic language)
  - kingofpandora 5y ago
    Hungarian isn't Slavic.
    - petre 5y ago
      The word is probably borrowed into Hungarian from Slavic. We have a similar word in our language as well, but it's used as someone who doesn't understand. Also used interchangeably with Turk.
      - anticensor 5y ago
        Do you mean Barbar?
        petre 5y ago
        No, it's very similar to nemec, basically the same thing also borrowed from Slavic. The "c" ending is pronounced as "ts". The full phrase goes like: "Why don't you understand, are you German/Turk?" (as in not understanding the language). There's also a place, a citadel and river with that name, which your ancestors might have been familiar with: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Neam%C8%9B_Citadel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Neam%C8%9B_Citadel Barbar means what it means in Greek, because that's where it's borrowed from.
- GeneralMayhem 5y ago
  Similarly, the word "barbarian" comes from the ancient Greeks describing the people who lived around them as sounding like they were saying "bar bar bar".
  - nielsole 5y ago
    That's amazing. Wiktionary backs you up on this and compares it to "bla bla bla". https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B2%CE%AC%CF%81%CE%B2%CE%B1%CF%81%CE%BF%CF%82#Ancient_Greek https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B2%CE%AC%CF%81%CE%B2%CE...
  - umeshunni 5y ago
    Funny, I always thought it came from the word Barba (hair/beard) because they considered them uncultured and unshaven.
    - sorokod 5y ago
      Greeks were into beards big time.
- pySSK 5y ago
  It is true. Here's a map of what Germany is called by other countries in Europe: https://jakubmarian.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/germany-european-languages.jpg https://jakubmarian.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/germany-e... Interesting that Finland/Estonia call them, essentially, Saxony. The Latvian/Lithunian name for Germany is the only one I don't understand. Does anyone know?
  - seminole 5y ago
    Apparently it's most likely tied to the German municipality of Waake or the Swedish tribe of Vagoths. However most Lithuanians would likely explain it in the form of a joke - either about Germans being thieves ('vogti' = to steal) in reference to Teutonic/Livonic ordins, or about them being 'tough' or well armored ('vo kiets' ~= 'wow, tough/hard').
    - kungito 5y ago
      Another fun fact: at least in Croatia, we colloquially call them "schwabs" which originates from another group of germanic people https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suebi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suebi
      - shimonabi 5y ago
        Can confirm (as a Slovenian), the term is used through the Balkans. For example, it is present in the old Serbian song: Četrnaeste, četrnaeste, Švaba udario, (2x) Osamnaeste, osamnaeste, Srbin pobedio. (2x) (In the 14th year, the Schwab struck. In the 18th year, the Serb won.) https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ko_to_ka%C5%BEe,_Srbija_je_mala https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ko_to_ka%C5%BEe,_Srbija_je_mal... It comes from the fact that Germany didn't unify until very late, so the people were called by the small city-states that they came from. In American revolutionary war, some British mercenaries were called Hessians....
  - elgenie 5y ago
    According to Wikipedia [1], it’s a matter of some debate, with the theories being the (standard) corruption of a name for the first Western Baltic people encountered, or a take on the “unintelligible war cry” people from the Latvian root for speaking. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_Germany https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_Germany
elgenie 5y ago
In Russian, at least, the country remains “Germany” but the people from it are the “mute-sies”, unlike pretty much every other pairing of country name / demonym.
- pmontra 5y ago
  In Italy Germany is Germania, but Germans are tedeschi and German (the language) is also tedesco. (BTW, we lowercase people and languages and weekdays and months, but this is changing - English leads.) The reason seems to be the Latin word theodiscus from Old German theod / people.