Suction latism
Sauglattism is a common, negative connotation and moralizing term in Swiss High German. It stands for a superficial, meaningless or meaningless thing, which is only reduced to exaggerated fun, wit or entertainment value. There is always criticism associated with this designation, and it is very often accusatory in nature. It sometimes arises from indignation at a grievance. The Duden volume on Swiss High German also uses the word and gives the meaning of “derogatory [for] fun society , superficial appearance”.
etymology
The word is a noun from the adjective "sauglatt", which means something like "extremely funny". In Swiss German colloquial language, “smooth” is a synonym for “funny”, “fun”, “entertaining”, “original”, “famous”; the prefix "sau-" is used for reinforcement. Similarly, the creation of the word "extreme passigism" would correspond to sucking latism . "Smooth" in the meaning of "fun" comes from the youth language . It is not yet included in the second volume of the Schweizerischer Idiotikon, which was completed in 1885 , but the word “slippery” can be found in schoolchildren in the early 1940s.
The term Sauglattismus can be traced back to the late 1980s, for example it was used in 1988 by Niklaus Meienberg during a critical speech at the yearbook opening of the Art Directors Club Zurich . The expression can also be found at this time among music critics (for example Peter Rüedi or Michael Lütscher ) and at that time referred to a style of music in the jazz area. The publicist Benedikt Loderer defined the term in the magazine " Hochparterre " and used it for his criticism of the advertising and design industry. He criticizes the post-modern concept of working with happy content and thus breaking the creative boredom with a surprising joke. Loderer warns against this development, which could slide into the short-lived and into the meaningless and in the end only what is allowed is allowed.
“Sucking Latism doesn't need any content either, because its first law of education is: What it is, how it is, what it is for, as long as a gag is built in. Sauglattism is the style that fits the much-invoked zeitgeist: anything, garnished with daily jokes. All that matters is the entertainment value. [...] Only: What is this moralizing excitement about? What is allowed is what pleases, so only what is pleasing is allowed. "
The expression was taken up in 1990 by the then Zurich city councilor Ursula Koch when she refused permission for a local trade project to set up water features on Zurich's Bahnhofstrasse . She condemned the project during a council meeting on August 29 as "Sauglattismus", " Brimboriums convincing", "none other than the production of waste" "city and as kitsch ." These words angered the artists, who shortly thereafter publicly asked them to apologize.
The term became known to a wider public through the political controversy and has thus entered the vocabulary of German-speaking Switzerland and is used today by a broad group of people across the political spectrum and in a larger context. It is sometimes used by the bourgeoisie to criticize state-subsidized art. In left circles the term is used in the context of a criticism of an exaggerated culture of fun. In 1994, for example, the filmmaker Mathias Knauer criticized the decline in culture in favor of entertainment programs in the public media as a “regime of sucking latism”. The writer Peter Bichsel described in the reason for his departure from the Social Democratic Party of the canton of Solothurn in 1996, the slogan "SP - kiss-like and bird-free" as "post-modern sucking Latism". He criticized the slogan as "unspeakable and pathetic" and spoke of a dangerous "arbitrariness" that horrified him politically.
Pragmatics
The term is dysphemistic , exaggerated and ironic in its rhetorical style, since whoever uses it means the opposite. He does not find a matter "perfectly smooth", but expresses his rejection and thus criticizes the attitude of those who, in his view, find it "perfectly smooth". This usually includes the charge that the proponents lack the necessary seriousness or appropriateness towards something. The expression is to be interpreted relative to the basic attitude of the speaker, because there is no issue that generally falls into a category of sucking latism .
Although the adjective "sauglatt" part of the vernacular, is Sauglattismus also from reputable media such as the St. Galler Tagblatt , the Neue Zürcher Zeitung and the evening news of the Swiss TV uses. The adjective is pejorated through the frequent media use of the negatively connoted sucking latism .
Examples
- In 2002, Weltwoche described Strategy 18 of the German FDP as a "suction latism strategy" and criticized it as meaningless and misguided.
«The strategy of sucking latism was only questioned when the Elbe flood washed the Guidomobil into the ditch. The party leadership was apparently so incapable of (self-) criticism that the forces of nature were required so that they could recognize [the] fun society for what it is: a Fata (l) Morgana. "
- In 2006, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung described an event (“Superzehnkampf”) to raise funds for sport aid as “Olympic sucking latism” and criticized the poor quality and the lack of fun of the event.
“Olympic sucking latism […] 12,000 spectators enjoyed the games, admittedly not far removed from sucking latism, in which the sports cracks dueled in teams of four. Daniela Meuli, Tanja Frieden, Maya Pedersen-Bieri, Evelyne Leu and Philipp Schoch, who all won the gold medal at the Olympic Winter Games in Turin, made good faces to the bad game […] »
- In 2012, Weltwoche described the planned Zurich Transit Maritime exhibition as “art sucking lattism” and criticized the object as useless and ugly, and accused the city of wasting taxpayers' money.
“The city of Zurich is rubbish and pays 600,000 francs to the controversial project. In general, people in Zurich seem willing to waste almost any amount of tax money on bizarre art. [...] Such expensive art sucking latism does not only take place in Zurich. Ten years ago, artists in Basel accumulated 150 cubic meters of ice in the Dorenbachkreisel, which then melted over a few months. "
- Immediately after the affair about nude self-images at the workplace of the green politician Geri Müller in 2014, fake nude photos were passed around on the internet to make fun of the politician and the cause. The newspaper 20 Minuten criticized this behavior with “suction lattism on the net” as improper.
«Sauglattismus online with Geri selfies. Manipulated photos of a shellless Geri Müller in a clear pose are passed around via forums, e-mail and messenger apps. Most of them are immediately recognizable as fakes. "
- In August 2015, the online newspaper watson.ch featured the Swiss People’s Party's soft toy mascot , a Bernese Mountain Dog named “Willy” and the campaign song “Wo e Willy isch, isch ou e Wäg!” (In high-level language: “Where there's a Willy, there's a way”) for the Swiss parliamentary elections 2015 criticized as “smear theater” and as “sucking lattism” and thus lamented the lack of seriousness in the political discussion.
«The serious political argument is becoming a Gaga election campaign. Even SVP greats like the Zurich party president Alfred Heer condemn the smear theater around the stuffed dog Willy and the associated Schunkelsong as sucking latism. "
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Benedikt Loderer: We are all cool . In: raised ground floor. Magazine for Architecture and Design, 1989, issue 4
- ^ Hans Bickel , Christoph Landolt : Swiss High German. Dictionary of the standard language in German-speaking Switzerland . Duden Verlag, Mannheim Zurich, 2012, p. 60
- ↑ See for example Markus Gasser, Annelies Häcki Buhofer , Lorenz Hofer: New Basel German Dictionary. Christoph Merian, Basel 2010; Otto von Greyerz , Ruth Bietenhard : Bern German dictionary. 9th edition Cosmos, Muri bei Bern 2008; Albert Weber , Jacques M. Bächtold : Zurich German Dictionary. 3rd edition Hans Rohr, Zurich 1983; ever under smooth .
- ↑ «sau-, Sau-» part of speech: prefix . In: Duden spelling. Retrieved August 24, 2015
- ↑ Schweizerisches Idiotikon, Volume 2, Column 652 f., Article smooth .
- ↑ Hanna Brack: You could have said it differently. From lessons in life studies. In: Schweizerische Lehrerinnenzeitung 46 (1941–1942), issue 3, pp. 47–49.
- ↑ Niklaus Meienberg: To the gentlemen water heaters of Kaufwut . In: Die Weltwoche, December 22, 1988, p. 51
- ^ Peter Rüedi: Anderson fairy tales . In: Die Weltwoche, November 10, 1988, p. 69
- ^ Michael Lütscher: Christian Boni Koller, September 13, 1961, Zurich . In: You: Die Zeitschrift der Kultur, Issue 2, February 1989, p. 33
- ↑ Meeting of the Zurich City Council. Councilor's Pot . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, August 30, 1990, p. 53
- ↑ Solid words - disgruntled artists. Ursula Koch should apologize . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, August 31, 1990, p. 55
- ^ Rainer Hoffmann: Media, Power, Markets. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, February 23, 1995, p. 44
- ↑ kfr .: Solothurner SP stumbles over their offspring. Background to the controversy over an advertising slogan. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. July 12, 1995. p. 13.
- ↑ Water as a top ornament Article in the St.Galler Tagblatt dated November 10, 2009
- ↑ Advertising German, Moralic Acid and Raid Control Article in the NZZ from May 22, 2007
- ↑ Calmy-Rey protests against sucking latism article of the Tagesschau of March 22, 2007
- ↑ See Balthasar Glättli sucking smooth. "The federal Johannes speaks on the subject of plush dicks" . In: look. 4th March 2015
- ↑ See Peter Blunschi: Sauglatte Videos instead of relevant topics: Switzerland is in the Gaga election campaign In: watson.ch. 15th August 2015
- ↑ Simon Heusser: The agitator and the hypocrite . In: Die Weltwoche, issue 40/2002
- ↑ Jan Mühlethaler: Olympic sucking latism In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, November 4, 2006
- ↑ Alex Reichmuth: 600,000 francs for art sucking Latism In: Die Weltwoche, edition 30/2012
- ^ Christian Messikommer: Sauglattismus in the net with Geri-Selfies . In: 20 minutes, August 21, 2014
- ↑ Philipp Löpfe: The best election campaigners on the left are Schäuble, Trump and Willy, the stuffed dog . In: watson.ch. August 21, 2015