Silliness
Foolishness ( adjective and verb : foolish ) is a situation-related mood of amusement and of being taken lightly and not being taken seriously.
Foolishness or even clowning in groups, especially of small children, can be very contagious, comparable to the effect that in tense situations (for example in serious conversations or on stage) everyone present can not help laughing at once Laughed at generalities and also used platitudes . Not infrequently, being childish is given as a synonym . Colloquially found for imbecility beyond the words silliness or baloney , for silly as dolls funny . When used consciously in a literary or educational context, the silliness is not infrequently "cryptic" or "subtle". With a negative connotation, silly has the meaning “far below level”, not appropriate to the seriousness of the situation, and silliness then means “absurdity”.
History of the term
From the Old High German alawāri ("very true, friendly, open"; see English "all aware" = "very attentive") to the Middle High German alwære ("too good , stupid") the shift in meaning in Low High German leads to silly ("foolish, simple-minded "). In the Swedish word "allvar", however, the original meaning ("serious") has been retained.
In 1580 Caspar Füge wrote a report for the foolish and the simple. In 1655 Johann Lorenz Holler used the word in the context of the adjectives "poor" and "wretched". In 1765, an anonymous man created the figure of the “silly right of possession of no man's castle”.
Around 200 years ago, a "silly person" in the upscale language was a shallow dump or dude .
Sometimes silliness was seen as debility and thus as pathological. On the other hand, silly laughter is increasingly seen as healthy again. A movement founded by an Indian doctor therefore even forms laughing clubs . This “laughter for no reason” (also called “laughter yoga”) is interpreted as a new discovery of silliness.
In 2003, the Ulm magazine published “ critical reports. Zeitschrift für Kunst- und Kulturwissenschaften ”in issue 3 under the title“ Foolishness as a Method ”. It contains articles with revealing titles such as “ Showing a Long Nose to Art ”, “ Why Austin Powers is Silly, Dr. Evil however not ”or“ Foolishness knows no boundaries or Art as a hedgehog ”.
Phrases and quotes
Even in ancient philosophy, foolishness “at the right moment” is considered an enrichment in life. So Horace is translated as follows: “ Mix a little folly in your serious actions and aspirations. Foolishness at the right moment is something delicious. "
In the Old Testament, Job 35:15 (Elberfeld translation) says: “ And now, because his anger has not yet hit you and he does not care so much about foolishness, Job opens his mouth for nothing, utters many words without knowledge. "
In the New Testament letter to the Ephesians (chap. 5, 4; standard translation) Paul writes: “ Even immorality and silly or ambiguous chatter is not appropriate for you, but gratitude. "
The German saying goes: "It's a silly sheep that confesses to the wolf."
Further aphorisms on the term:
- Michel Eyquem de Montaigne : “I don't take my follies more seriously than they deserve. That is their luck. "
- Johann Wolfgang Goethe : "There is no safer way to hold the world a fool than to pretend to be silly."
- Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach : "If silly people try to hide a secret from us, then we will certainly find out, no matter how little we desire it."
- Thomas Mann used the phrase in his “Doctor Faustus”: “... and even a silly order is still better than none”.
- Peter Bamm : "Foolishness is relaxation from the environment"; "Foolishness is the touchstone of friendship as well as love." “You help a comrade. You distrust a colleague. You're silly with a friend. "; "Foolishness is a protest against the rigid and dull order of the world, an uprising of the human soul against the prison that it has built for itself."
- Dieter Bartels (School for Clown, Comedy & Theater at TuT Hanover): "Foolishness is the death of every clown."
Fiction
- Christiane Grosz: The Silly Mr. Patella , 1985
- Christian Seltmann: Joseph and the silly demon of Sais . Play in three acts, 1994
- Friedrich Karl Waechter : The story of the silly Hans , 2000
See also
literature
- [Anonymous] A pair of bright glasses for the stupid eyes of an Albern Haberechts zu Niemandsburg, who some time ago had his thoughts about the dispute between the court organist Sorge zu Labestein and secretary Marpurg printed in Berlin , 1765
- Caspar Füger: Kurtzer was a good and simple report of the book Formula Concordiae for the silly and simple questions and answers asked , 1580
- Jutta Grund: About the silliness of children , 1974
- Johann Lorenz Holler: Maul-Stopffer Against the Eytele In vain Lufft barking of an Alber , poor, miserable, Saxon alumni from Leipzig Against the unanswerable writings RP Jodoci Kedd Soc. Jesus; With which he put Lutheranism and other sects to shame during the defensive raining Reichstag , 1655
- Gerhard Kaiser: " ... and even a silly order is still better than none ". Narrative strategies in Thomas Mann's “Doktor Faustus”, 2001
- Ruth Petzoldt: silliness with a deeper meaning. Intertextual games in Ludwig Teck's romantic comedies , 2000
