Oil idol
Ölgötze , sometimes also Ölberggötze , is a colloquial mocking or derogatory term for a person who appears stiff and dumb, like an idol , in the sense of boredom. According to Grimm's dictionary, the term derision was mainly used in the sense of haughty and stupid. “Sitting or standing there like the oil idols” is a fixed expression for people who sit or stand mute and stiff and who do not contribute to the conversation or act stupid.
origin
The term was used in two different meanings from the 16th century. It cannot be detected beforehand.
On the one hand, the name was used mockingly after the disciples of Jesus who fell asleep in the olive garden on the Mount of Olives , derived from ( Mt 26.40-43 EU ). The original name was "Ölberggötze".
On the other hand, the German dictionary of the Brothers Grimm describes "an idol anointed with oil or painted with oil paints" as an oil idol. During the Reformation, the term was used as a mockery for images of saints in Catholic churches, for example by Zwingli . Derived from this, the term was then also used for the worshipers of these images, i.e. as a mockery for Catholics, as well as for the Catholic priests anointed with holy oil and also for the Pope.
According to Grimm, the term has a regional meaning in the area around Henneberg , namely “a post on which the lamp is hung”. For this purpose, old, worn wooden idols were used in the early days of the introduced Christianity.
In Thuringia , the figure-like carved drainpipes of the oil mills and a pastry were called oil idols.
swell
- ↑ a b Oil Idol. In: Heinz Küpper: Illustrated lexicon of German colloquial language. Stuttgart 1982.
- ↑ Knaur: The German Dictionary. 1985, p. 714.
- ↑ a b c Oil idol. In: Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm (Hrsg.): German dictionary . tape 13 : N, O, P, Q - (VII). S. Hirzel, Leipzig 1889, Sp. 1278-1280 ( woerterbuchnetz.de ).