spießig

temujin

temujin

Senior Member
Hamburg - Germany
Norway / norwegian
Hi,

I have problems getting the full meaning of the word "Spisig", used slightly derogative (I think).
(sorry, but at this moment I don´t have any context...)
t.
 
    • temujin said:
    Hi,

    I have problems getting the full meaning of the word "Spisig", used slightly derogative (I think).
    (sorry, but at this moment I don´t have any context...)
    t.
    Click to expand...

    Hi Temujin,

    it spells "spießig". Similar words: spießbürgerlich, der Spießer.

    It is a derogatory word that young and old rebels use to label middle class people with uninspiring lives full of routine and with a penchant for conformity.

    If you have read Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis, that's it.

    Hope this helps.

    Jana
     
    Whodunit said:
    Possible translations of spießig into English:

    - petty bourgeois
    - (very) middle-class
    - philistine
    - narrow-minded
    - "square"
    - white-bread

    I personally prefer/use the underlined word. :)
    Click to expand...

    "Philistine" is used very infrequently. I don't know that there's a good English equivalent - perhaps "bourgeois" said with the right tone of voice...
     
    elroy said:
    "Philistine" is used very infrequently. I don't know that there's a good English equivalent - perhaps "bourgeois" said with the right tone of voice...
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    I think Philistine is excellent, but I agree that it is not frequently used. Personally I like "provincial", and it can be either an adjective or noun, so it covers both spießig and Spießer. :)

    G
     
    gaer said:
    I think Philistine is excellent, but I agree that it is not frequently used. Personally I like "provincial", and it can be either an adjective or noun, so it covers both spießig and Spießer. :)
    Click to expand...
    What about square? Would that be too colloquial? "Spießig" isn't exactly formal, either...

    Axl
     
    Jana337 said:
    And parochial? Yes, I know, not really an equivalent...

    Jana
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    Doesn't "parochial" have to do with churches or with being concerned with a specific region?
     
    sohc4 said:
    What about square? Would that be too colloquial? "Spießig" isn't exactly formal, either...

    Axl
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    For an informal word, "square" may be too square. :)

    In other words, I'm not sure it's use much by younger people.

    "White bread" is interesting, but you can never quite be sure when it is used just for people who are narrow-minded or for "white" as oppsed to "black".

    The problem is that you need informal or slang words that mean "provincial"—or "Philistine"—and that may not be possible.

    Gaer
     
    elroy said:
    Doesn't "parochial" have to do with churches or with being concerned with a specific region?
    Click to expand...

    Certainly there is no gainsaying. But "being concerned with a specific region" in a very negative sense, right?
    Isn't limited scope of concerns, a restricted outlook and an insular attitude towards foreigners and new ideas what constitutes a Spießer? I reiterate: they are by no means equivalents.

    Jana
     
    Jana337 said:
    Certainly there is no gainsaying. But "being concerned with a specific region" in a very negative sense, right?
    Isn't limited scope of concerns, a restricted outlook and an insular attitude towards foreigners and new ideas what constitutes a Spießer? I reiterate: they are by no means equivalents.

    Jana
    Click to expand...
    I agree, but provincial, I think, has all those meanings…

    Gaer
     
    gaer said:
    For an informal word, "square" may be too square. :)

    In other words, I'm not sure it's use much by younger people.


    Gaer
    Click to expand...

    Except in "be there or be square"! ;) :D
     
    Jana337 said:
    Certainly there is no gainsaying. But "being concerned with a specific region" in a very negative sense, right?
    Isn't limited scope of concerns, a restricted outlook and an insular attitude towards foreigners and new ideas what constitutes a Spießer? I reiterate: they are by no means equivalents.

    Jana
    Click to expand...

    "Parochial" can be neutral: a geographic study can be parochial, in that it focuses on a very specific region.
     
    elroy said:
    "Parochial" can be neutral: a geographic study can be parochial, in that it focuses on a very specific region.
    Click to expand...
    That's why I still think provincial is the best word:

    Noun—3 a : a person of local or restricted interests or outlook b : a person lacking urban polish or refinement

    Adj.—b : lacking the polish of urban society: unsophisticated

    Gaer
     
    gaer said:
    Is that used? :confused:

    Gaer
    Click to expand...

    Yes - like when you invite someone to a party, you can say "be there or be square," as in "be there or be .... [fill in the blank]"

    Have you not ever heard this?! :confused:
     
    elroy said:
    Yes - like when you invite someone to a party, you can say "be there or be square," as in "be there or be .... [fill in the blank]"

    Have you not ever heard this?! :confused:
    Click to expand...
    Oh, I was wondering if it is used much by people under 20, for instance. Or under 25. I know that saying, but I'm older, so I never know what is "current". :)

    Gaer
     
    gaer said:
    Oh, I was wondering if it is used much by people under 20, for instance. Or under 25. I know that saying, but I'm older, so I never know what is "current". :)

    Gaer
    Click to expand...

    It's used, just not too frequently - so you're right. :)
     
    Whodunit said:
    Well, does "a person who is square" mean "pantywaist"???
    Click to expand...

    No. "Pantywaist" means effeminate.

    "Square" basically means uncool, old-fashioned. Here's what dictionary.com says:

    A person who is regarded as dull, rigidly conventional, and out of touch with current trends.
    Click to expand...
     
    How would you then say in german?
    Do germans have a „square“ mentality?
    Haben die Deutschen eine spießige Mentalität?
    And in this same context :
    Do you find my friend Jenny too square?
    Yes, i do.
    weil, she is half german!
    Would the word „spießig“ fit ?

    Many thanks.
     
    Schlabberlatz said:
    So sehe ich es, aber ich bin kein englischer Muttersprachler. Frage an diese: Kann man es auch mit "straight" ausdrücken? "She is so straight!" – „Die ist so spießig!“
    Click to expand...
    At least for AmE, straight wouldn't work. If I heard that, it would mean the person is extremely heterosexual.

    I always hear spießig along with (gut)bürgerlich to describe neighborhoods, like a neighborhood wouldn't have too many good bars because it's too spießig and bürgerlich. In this case spießig would be closer to conservative.

    "Square" is way too old fashioned for me, and I would never say philistine. The question is what makes this person spießig? Is it their politics, or their attitude about sex/drugs? Kleinkariert is a really nice adjective in German that might describe that behavior, but it doesn't apply to every instance of Spießigkeit.
     
    deltron said:
    I always hear spießig along with (gut)bürgerlich to describe neighborhoods
    Click to expand...
    Spießig is quite negatively connotated, a mild form of insult. I don't think English has a good equivalent for it, unfortunately. The term square seems to be somewhat restricted to AmE and is colloquial, isn't it?

    Spießig as personality trait is a mixture of not being modern, being narrow-minded, very much into rules and "the way it always was", old-fashioned decoration, focused on neatness by the book, often lower middle-class.

    Gutbürgerlich is mostly used for traditional, hearty food, simple bürgerlich for traditional, conservative middle-class (but of course also in the sense of "civil", depending on context).
    deltron said:
    Kleinkariert is a really nice adjective in German that might describe that behavior, but it doesn't apply to every instance of Spießigkeit.
    Click to expand...
    No, this is just one aspect of it and of course can also be true for people who are not "spießig". But yes, it co-incides quite often.
     
    Kajjo said:
    Spießig is quite negatively connotated, a mild form of insult. I don't think English has a good equivalent for it, unfortunately.
    Click to expand...
    Take a look at "uptight." I think it ticks most of the boxes as a character attribute.

    Kajjo said:
    The term square seems to be somewhat restricted to AmE and is colloquial, isn't it?
    Click to expand...
    Don't know about BrE, but I'm sure they said it in the 70s as well (haven't seen Austin Powers for a while). The word is extremely dated and not really actively used anymore. Square is the opposite of hip, which isn't said anymore either.
     
    deltron said:
    Take a look at "uptight." I think it ticks most of the boxes as a character attribute.
    Click to expand...
    No, uptight is different. It's "verklemmt, verspannt". Verklemmt is similar to prudish or inhibited, verspannt to tensed. People that are uptight might be unapproachable, have a rigid demeanor... right? Are contrast at ease, easy-going, open?

    That's not spießig. There really is no word for it in English, square might be closest, but still different.

    deltron said:
    Square is the opposite of hip, which isn't said anymore either.
    Click to expand...
    So it does focus more on old-fashioned, out-dated, too traditional, the opposite of trendy, stylish, modern?
     
    elroy said:
    Maybe “prim and proper” (as a criticism)?
    Click to expand...
    No, spießig is not primarily about prim and proper. It does not focus on neatness, even if this property might be common.

    Spießig is a strange concept, mostly used to express negative thoughts about people that behave properly and a bit too middle-class. I don't like the concept, because it is mostly the social distance of often even envy that makes someone say something like that. Often it's just a malicious term of those who feel excluded from the middle-class establishment.

    There is an legendary TV advertisment spot with the punch line "I would like to be a Spießer, too" said by a child. <MOD: allowed to post the link?>
     
    Last edited:
    elroy said:
    “prim and proper” is not only or even primarily about neatness.
    Click to expand...
    Yeah right, that what I imagined. I know prim and proper. This is not spießig in general. Some of the old-fashioned styles might be considered (partly jokingly) to "ein spießiger Look" though. But not the more tidy, neat, prim dresses, only the old-fashioned, boring ones.
     
    sound shift said:
    Personally, I use "philistine" a lot.
    Click to expand...

    Wikipedia defines:
    Wikipedia said:
    the derogatory term philistinism describes the 'manners, habits and character' of a person whose anti-intellectual social attitude undervalues and despises art and beauty, spirituality and intellect.[1] A philistine person is a man or a woman of smugly narrow mind, and of conventional morality whose materialistic views and tastes indicate a lack of and an indifference to cultural and æsthetic values
    Click to expand...
    This does not fit to Spießer, only "smugly narrow mind, and of conventional morality" fits quite well.
     
    Kajjo said:
    There is an legendary TV advertisment spot with the punch line "I would like to be a Spießer, too" said by a child. <MOD: allowed to post the link?>
    Click to expand...
    Yes, I remember that one:
    Schlabberlatz said:
    Yes, some call them "Spießer". There was a TV commercial by a building society which featured this. If you don't mind watching commercials, you can google it: "Papa, wenn ich groß bin, will ich auch mal Spießer werden". (A link cannot be posted here because it is a commercial.)
    Click to expand...
     
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