Thicker (salutation)
Dicker (also Digger , Digga , Diggah , more rarely Diggha ) is a term that originally comes from the Hamburg youth and colloquial language and is now widely used in German-speaking countries. Dicker is a form of address for a friend or buddy and is in no way meant to be derogatory - it does not refer to the body weight of the person being addressed. The modification of the word from Dicker to Digger is very likely explained by the phonetic transcription of the Hamburg dialect , which makes a ck sound like a double g.
Usage examples
“What's going on, Dicker !?”, “No plan, Dicker” or “ Chill , Dicker!” In this context, Dicker is roughly equivalent to the term “ Age ” and can be used in the form of ad libs - individual additional ones Shout out during a song - especially used in German hip-hop music . The diminutive form Diggi is also common.
Origin of the term
The origin of the word is controversial. The term is used as a salutation in Klaus Lemke's film Rocker from 1972, which plays in the Hamburg rocker scene . This use speaks against the explanation that Dicker, or Digger, has something to do with “digging in the crates”, the term for searching through record boxes. The explanation according to which the term refers to digging, the digging of gold diggers, is rather unlikely in this context. It is more plausible that Digger / Dicker was originally used as a nickname and was already in use in the Hamburg working class at the beginning of the 20th century.
"Dicker" became popular with the Hamburg hip-hop movement of the 1990s. Artists like Absolute Beginner , Ferris MC , Eins Zwo , Dendemann , Fünf Sterne Deluxe , Das Bo , Dynamite Deluxe , Samy Deluxe ensured its spread through frequent use.
An example of the use of the term in this context is the song by Das Bo Türlich, Türlich (Safe Dicker) . The Hamburg hip-hop project Digger Dance published Digger is a Dancer at the turn of the millennium .
Alluding to the fact that the term has now established itself across Germany and with an emphasis on its Hamburg origin, the refrain of the beginner's single Ahnma reads : "Everyone says Dicker these days / We're putting Hamburg back on the map".
distribution
For several years now, the use of the term has expanded to include all of Germany. It can now also be heard in Berlin , where the spelling “Digga” is more common. This is all the more astonishing since the Berlin hip-hop scene was initially rather hostile to its Hamburg counterpart and relied on its own slang , including the very similarly used “ Atze ”.
The term “thicker” is also used in the 2014 Viennese Tatort episode abysses .
criticism
Rather conservative language critics see the use of the word as a “neglect of youth language”.
Dominic Otiang'a compared the term "fat" with nigger in a column on the Goethe-Institut website . Thicker is often used in rap music in a way that is similar to how American rapper culture used the term nigger .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Why do Hamburg's youth keep saying “Digga”? ahoihamburg.net, accessed July 16, 2014
- ↑ Digger , entry on duden.de, accessed on July 16, 2014
- ↑ Digger or Digga: An honorary title for everyone , user comments on zeit.de, accessed on July 19, 2016
- ↑ Dropping
- ↑ Deutschrap 2003–2007 , juice.de, accessed on July 16, 2014
- ↑ "PISA? Wow, what is that, Digga? “ In: abendblatt.de . December 31, 2004, accessed February 18, 2015 .
- ↑ The N-word in court. Retrieved August 10, 2020 .