Tuesday 27 March 2012

Spiesser

A while ago, some German colleagues introduced me to the word "spießer".  I didn't know who they were describing, but it was clearly pejorative.  Failing to think of an adequate translation, they attempted to explain its meaning.  The origin story -- as it was told to me -- dates to the seventeenth or eighteenth century.  The basic grunts of the Prussian army were pikemen, the German for which was "spießer".  (My amateur philology, unencumbered by either training or a solid knowledge of any language other than English, leads me to conclude that "spieß" is the German reflex of English "spit", i.e. a long pointy stick.)  Those selected to be spießer (as opposed to cavalry or officers) were the least educated of the available recruits, so the term came to be derogatory, associated with people of little sophistication.  One usage example offered was of some relatives, who always ate their dinner at a certain time, not because it was particularly convenient or pleasurable, but simply because they lacked the imagination to do otherwise.

I suggested "bourgeois" as a possible English (*cough*) equivalent, and indeed Wiktionary offers:
  1. (pejorative) square (socially conventional person)
  2. (pejorative) philistine (person who lacks appreciation of art or culture)
  3. (pejorative) bourgeois (individual member of the middle class).
As is so often the case, while the word does indeed overlap with the ones above, in the Venn diagram of noun-space, it is not exactly the same as any of them.  I've found it a (disturbingly) useful word, such that I sometimes wonder how I got on without it.  I therefore offer it to my fellow anglophones and encourage, nay, urge them to make room for it in their wordhoard.

Update:  Another blogger sharing the love for "spießer".

4 comments:

  1. The problem is, when dealing with pikemen, you really do want someone who is unimaginative and will do what is required of them when it is so ordered.

    If you don't believe me, get a bunch of people together and get them to try and drill with long spears, let alone pikes, without hitting themselves.

    And forming squares is a desirable trait for pikemen. <grin>

    Actually I'd argue that hoi poloi comes closest. Of the masses. But with a greater emphasis on being set in your place.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The problem is, when dealing with pikemen, you really do want someone who is unimaginative and will do what is required of them when it is so ordered.

    If you don't believe me, get a bunch of people together and get them to try and drill with long spears, let alone pikes, without hitting themselves.

    And forming squares is a desirable trait for pikemen. <grin>

    Actually I'd argue that hoi poloiis a closer *English* equivalent.* Of the masses. But with a greater emphasis on being comfortable in your place as one of the mob and being told what to do. Without imagination. A drone. A cog in the machine. Interchangeable.

    [* Although hoi poloi is much to a disorganised term for a proper Deutsche frame of mind.]

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "And forming squares is a desirable trait for pikemen." Nice one! I certainly accept what you say about the type of person you want in a pike formation. However, I think hoi polloi is a snide remark about a collection of people, while spiesser is a snide remark about a person.

      Delete
  3. Wow! You linked to my blog. Thank you! You are right, "Spießer" is the kind of word that nobody should live without. And German has so many more of those :)

    ReplyDelete