Meandering

As inefficiency is commonly known as a slow, sluggish, negligent and thereby inefficient and error-prone operation understood. The dodging usually arises from a lack of motivation and / or excessive routine at work. One then speaks of the fact that "the mundane crept in" at work. Likewise, after a futile innovative venture, one speaks of the "old sloppiness" if nothing changes afterwards.

Etymologically , the first part of the word is derived from the Dutch slenteren ( walking around very slowly, strolling), which in German was used to describe leisurely, aimless walking. The second part of the word "ian" may come from the early New High German "jan" (work process).

Adaptations

In the cheerful coffee cantata written by Picander and set to music by Johann Sebastian Bach around 1734 , “Herr Schlendrian” is the father of a young girl named Liesgen who wants to forbid her from drinking coffee . Liesgen only agrees when her father promises her marriage. However, Liesgen secretly lets it be spread that she only wants a man who has nothing against coffee. At Liesgen, the "old sloppiness" wants to sneak in again.

Also in the time march (Sang der Gesänge), text: Wladimir Majakowski (German: Hugo Huppert ); Music: In the last verse, "Laziness and Schlendrian", Hanns Eisler is equated with the old habit.

The punk band Feeling B created a positive reinterpretation of the word in their song Schlendrian : They used it as a description of their attitude towards life, which was not adapted to the GDR : "If I can't pay, the landlord will be linked."

In the English original of the seventh novel in the Aubrey Maturin series ("The Surgeon's Mate", German title "Persecution in the Fog"), Schlendrian is the name of a German naturalist whom Stephen Maturin met after his lecture at the Institut de France . Without giving a first name, he is described as a man with a long black beard, a profound scholar and an outstanding German authority on Romance languages. Schlendrian is noticeably sad and, after a brief exchange of courtesies, tells Maturin of the death of a mutual friend, which is significant for the rest of the story.

literature

• Meandering. In: Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm (Hrsg.): German dictionary . tape 15 : Schiefeln – Soul - (IX). S. Hirzel, Leipzig 1899, Sp. 631–333 ( woerterbuchnetz.de ).
• Meyer's Encyclopedic Dictionary . Volume 32: German Dictionary O – Z. Mannheim / Vienna / Zurich 1981, ISBN 3-411-01833-X
• Meandering. In: Johann Heinrich Zedler : Large complete universal lexicon of all sciences and arts . Volume 35, Leipzig 1743, column 50.

Web links

Wiktionary: Schlendrian  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

1. ↑ erinnerorte.de ( Memento of the original from December 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . 
2. ^ "[...] and among them he perceived the long black beard of Schlendrian, that profound scholar, the foremost German authority of Romantic languages." ( Patrick O'Brian : The Surgeon's Mate, p. 158)