Glossary entry (derived from question below)
German term or phrase:
jugendliche Großschmuserei
English translation:
youthful blather
Added to glossary by
Timoshka
Sep 19, 2023 00:36
8 mos ago
43 viewers *
German term
jugendliche Großschmuserei
German to English
Social Sciences
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
From a 1940 letter, written by a Jewish woman in Vienna to her sister in New York:
"Über die Art und Weise, wie Beppo seine diversen Stellungen liquidierte, hat er seinen Eltern merkwürdige Dinge geschrieben: von Gästen, die er die Treppen hinabbeförderte, von zu kleinem Trinkgeld, etc. Ist das wahr oder nur jugendliche Großschmuserei?"
I haven't found the word "Großschmuserei" in any reference book or anywhere online. My only clue comes from Wolfgang Teuschl's Wiener Dialekt Lexikon, in which Schmus is defined as "leeres Gerede, Unfug," and schmusen is defined as "dummes Zeug daherreden."
Thus, it could be "youthful nonsense" or something similar, but I'm not overly confident, since Google translates it as "grandstanding." Any ideas?
"Über die Art und Weise, wie Beppo seine diversen Stellungen liquidierte, hat er seinen Eltern merkwürdige Dinge geschrieben: von Gästen, die er die Treppen hinabbeförderte, von zu kleinem Trinkgeld, etc. Ist das wahr oder nur jugendliche Großschmuserei?"
I haven't found the word "Großschmuserei" in any reference book or anywhere online. My only clue comes from Wolfgang Teuschl's Wiener Dialekt Lexikon, in which Schmus is defined as "leeres Gerede, Unfug," and schmusen is defined as "dummes Zeug daherreden."
Thus, it could be "youthful nonsense" or something similar, but I'm not overly confident, since Google translates it as "grandstanding." Any ideas?
Proposed translations
(English)
Proposed translations
1 day 17 hrs
Anna Wright
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in English
United Kingdom
Top-notch tailored DE>EN translations
Native in: English (Variant: British) 
Works in: German to English, English
Related KudoZ points
:
4
Selected
youthful blather
'Youthful exuberance/folly' are standard collocations, but lack the negative meaning of 'Großschmuserei', suggesting overblown, misleading nonsense, bombast, hype(rbole), etc., according to your explanation. 'Hyperbole' and 'exaggeration' are semantically apt, but don't match the colloquial register.
More colourful alternatives might be 'youthful baloney', or similar, if a dated US English favour is desired. (More vulgar compound & rhyming options exist.)
'Youthful posturing' suggests a conscious intent to mislead or impress (not sure that really applies here).
'Youthful fancy' connotes innocent, but slightly conceited flights of imagination, without intent to mislead.
'Blather' evokes excited hot air, insubstantial nonsense, and fits the register, while lacking the colour of the source cultural term. As ever, there are no perfect matches.
Apologies for answering late.
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Note added at 2 days 8 hrs (2023-09-21 09:02:25 GMT) Post-grading
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Yes, your right: something like '*overdone* youthful blather', or *over-egged* might do nicely.
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Note added at 2 days 8 hrs (2023-09-21 09:03:00 GMT) Post-grading
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not sure what happened to *you're*, sorry
More colourful alternatives might be 'youthful baloney', or similar, if a dated US English favour is desired. (More vulgar compound & rhyming options exist.)
'Youthful posturing' suggests a conscious intent to mislead or impress (not sure that really applies here).
'Youthful fancy' connotes innocent, but slightly conceited flights of imagination, without intent to mislead.
'Blather' evokes excited hot air, insubstantial nonsense, and fits the register, while lacking the colour of the source cultural term. As ever, there are no perfect matches.
Apologies for answering late.
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Note added at 2 days 8 hrs (2023-09-21 09:02:25 GMT) Post-grading
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Yes, your right: something like '*overdone* youthful blather', or *over-egged* might do nicely.
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Note added at 2 days 8 hrs (2023-09-21 09:03:00 GMT) Post-grading
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not sure what happened to *you're*, sorry
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you! I might add to your answer to get in the "Groß-" prefix. Perhaps "the exaggerated blather of youth" or something along those lines."
7 hrs
Adrian MM.
Austria
Austria
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:
24
youthful, sweet-talking exaggeration
Schmus: Geschwätz, but Schmusekatze e.g. schmusen: Zärtlichkeiten austauschen, küssen; die Schmusereienen, ugs -> umgangssprachlich, österr. WB, ÖBV.
It could mean 'youthful BrE: skylarking on a grand scale', but the original and pre-eminently current Viennese/ Austrian meaning - that seems to have been lost on lexicographers and in the discussion entries so far - of a big 'smacker' on the lips or a big cuddle ought IMO to be retained.
It could mean 'youthful BrE: skylarking on a grand scale', but the original and pre-eminently current Viennese/ Austrian meaning - that seems to have been lost on lexicographers and in the discussion entries so far - of a big 'smacker' on the lips or a big cuddle ought IMO to be retained.
Example sentence:
flatter -sweet talk: Honig um den Bart schmieren, jemandem schmeicheln, schmeicheln, *schmusen*, schöntun [
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Andrew Bramhall
: 'Schmusen' typically means canoodling, cuddling, smooching, petting;
6 hrs
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8 hrs
Andrew Bramhall
United Kingdom
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4
Youthful over-exhuberance
It was the ways and means Beppo used to manage his various positions, he wrote strange things to his parents: about guests he carried down the stairs, about tips that were too small, etc. Is this true or was it just youthful over-exhuberance?"
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Steffen Walter
: exuberance (without the H)
8 hrs
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Sorry Stfan, yes you are absolutely correct. I was wondering who'd be the first to spot my deliberate mistake. Well done!
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22 hrs
German term (edited):
nur jugendliche Großschmuserei
just a young man showing off
I'm posting this because 'jugendlich' forms part of the asker's search term/phrase and I don't think the literal rendition as 'youthful' sounds natural.
Is what he says true, or is it just a young man showing off?
Alternatively acting big which conveys the 'Groß' element but may be slightly anachronistic.
Is what he says true, or is it just a young man showing off?
Alternatively acting big which conveys the 'Groß' element but may be slightly anachronistic.
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Anna Wright
: or maybe 'a lad having a laugh / taking the mickey' (GB En), or 'a young guy fooling around' (US En)
19 hrs
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Thanks for the EN-GB and EN-US offerings, though the context suggests to me that the translation should ideally be language variant neutral. // Congrats! However, 'blather' is something I would associate with an older slow-witted person.
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22 hrs
AllegroTrans
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31
adolescent folly
seems to describe what he was doing
1 day 2 hrs
Michael Martin, MA
United States
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Creativity wins in the long run
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:
98
juvenile hyperbole
...comes to mind.
Compare with this:
"Leaving aside the fact this reads like the kind of juvenile hyperbole you'd expect from a six-year old, it illustrates a woefully inadequate understanding..."
https://www.lse.co.uk/profiles/babyinvestor/?page=7
Compare with this:
"Leaving aside the fact this reads like the kind of juvenile hyperbole you'd expect from a six-year old, it illustrates a woefully inadequate understanding..."
https://www.lse.co.uk/profiles/babyinvestor/?page=7
1 day 10 hrs
juvenile grandstanding
there are a lot of good suggestions there, but adding another one as grandstanding immediately came to mind and also has a literal link to groß via the grand...
and well, grandstanding is a lot of hot air as well....;-D
and well, grandstanding is a lot of hot air as well....;-D
Discussion
However, it makes little sense in context; telling your parents about having pushed a few guests down the stairs is certainly not sweettalking anything.
Your answer, minus the "sweet" part, would do it for me, tho.
Best
PS
Something like "tall tales" might be enough here.
I'd say close to the Hebrew meaning, the word conveys that you're telling someone an (unlikely) story.
The "Groß-" bit has the same function here as in "großes Gerede" or "große Klappe"; it essentially means boasting, bragging, so "youthful boasting" or the like isn't far off:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/apr/07/police-commission...
Or, just "Großschwätzerei"; so we're back to what you found--"leeres Gerede, Unfug"-- just a lot of it!
Best wishes
Did you look at the Wörterbuchnetz link I gave you? Searching for "Schmuserei" won't yield much that's relevant, except for:
"SCHMUSEREI, f. gespräch, rede. ebenda."
https://woerterbuchnetz.de/#1
"Schmuserei f. : 'unnötiges Gerede, Lobhudelei'. Die Schmuserei kammer net oⁿnheere [KU-Schmittw/O]. ElsWb Els. II 489; 1DWb DWb. IX 1135."
https://woerterbuchnetz.de/?sigle=PfWB&lemid=S04051#0
Looking for "Schmus," on the other hand, will produce a lot of relevant results, even in this Swiss dictionary (most words and phrases you're asking for are not specific to Viennese dialect):
"1. Gerede, Geschwätz mit dem Nbsinn t. der Übertreibung, des Schwindels, t. des Durcheinanders"
https://digital.idiotikon.ch/idtkn/id9.htm#!page/91023/mode/...
As seen there, and in the following dictionary of South Hessian dialects, the word comes from Hebrew:
https://www.lagis-hessen.de/de/subjects/rsrec/sn/shwb/entry/...
Which means that this time around, it's also a Jiddish word.
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