Viennese humiliation

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Wiener Schmäh (also Schmäh for short ) describes a colloquial expression that is supposed to represent a characteristic Viennese type of humor in communication . It does not mean "abuse", but refers to a general, primarily linguistic form of communication .

Etymology and usage

The Duden derives the word Schmäh from Middle High German smæhe , which means "abuse" or "contemptuous treatment". In Austrian colloquial language , Schmäh means “artifice”, “trick”, “swindle” or “falsehood” as well as “binding friendliness”, “sayings” and “jokes” - especially in the idiom “to make a disgrace”. According to Peter Wehle , Schmäh was derived from the Yiddish schemá "story", "heard" (actually Hebrew "hear!", Cf. Scheme Israel ), while Robert Sedlaczek assumes a descent from the Rotwelschen , where Schmee means something like " crooks language ", " Lie ”and“ fine joke ”mean.

The German dictionary of variants defines [Wiener] Schmäh "as a typically Austrian, sometimes also perceived as superficial friendliness, charming attitude, which is attributed to the Viennese, especially in western Austria [...]". The name arose from the Viennese , passed into the standard language and is also used in Germany in the form of Wiener Schmäh .

reception

Viennese humor is sometimes equated with "Viennese charm" in travel guides, but is also considered a tourist advertising message due to its untranslatable nature . On the occasion of a call for tenders from the City of Vienna's Jubilee Fund on the subject of Vienna - Identity, Memory, Culture 2008, the University of Vienna was involved in the project “The Viennese language game in action. 'Schmäh' and ' Tractatus ' between landmarks and palimpsest ”with the term. The abuse presupposes an "ironic-cynical attitude of distance" - it is not for nothing that it is often related to the "culturally foreign": "Either by the 'Zuagrasten' themselves or through them". Already in the travel literature of the 15th century it was said that the Viennese were a cozy people who constantly sing and eat too much. These attributions also have a political dimension, since food prices were significantly lower than in Berlin, for example. Sabine Müller (literary scholar) and Vrääth Öhner (media scholar) did not call the humiliation a joke with a closed punchline that functions monologically , but rather arises from interaction or dialogue . A defamation would be “conducted” and was “an act that is not always conscious, but always actively and offensive”.

Often the Viennese Schmäh is equated with the Viennese. It is seen as subtle, indirect and full of hidden allusions, often also as black humor . The cabaret artist Reinhard Nowak described him as a coarse, lovable and usually not very serious form of togetherness. Josef Hader did not rule out charm and a certain unfriendliness: “If someone is charming, it would be almost boring if it weren't for a bit of shrewdness. So someone who is only charming, you wouldn't be able to stand him. These are sibling pairs, the charming and the mendacious, who, I now claim, cannot exist without each other. ”The 25th cabaret program by Lukas Resetarits (2015) was titled Schmäh .

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Schmäh, der , duden.de, accessed on November 28, 2014.
  2. ↑ Peter Wehle: Do you speak Viennese? Verlag Ueberreuter , Vienna 2012, ISBN 978-3-8000-7544-7 , p. 265 .
  3. ^ Robert Sedlaczek: The Austrian German. How we differ from our big neighbor. An illustrated manual. Ueberreuter Verlag, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-8000-7075-8 , p. 342.
  4. ^ Ulrich Ammon , Hans Bickel , Jakob Ebner: Variant Dictionary of German - The standard language in Austria, Switzerland and Germany as well as in Liechtenstein , Luxembourg , East Belgium and South Tyrol . Verlag Walter de Gruyter , Berlin 2004, p. 675, online in Google Books .
  5. ↑ Bernadette Ralser: With abuse, charm and grumbling. ( Memento from October 20, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Archive of the online newspaper of the University of Vienna from July 31, 2008, accessed on March 27, 2013.
  6. ^ Sabine Müller: Tractatus, "Schmäh" and language criticism . Thoughts on an alternative genealogy of Viennese modernism . In: András F. Balogh , Christoph Leitgeb (Ed.): Bilingualism and multilingualism in Central Europe. On the story of a literary and cultural opportunity. Praesens, Vienna 2012, pp. 229–254.
  7. ↑ Irene Binal: "Der Wiener Schmäh" - A guide through the Austrian soul. ( Memento from February 8, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) DeutschlandRadio Berlin from January 28, 2005, accessed on March 27, 2013
  8. ↑ Werner Rosenberger: “Schmäh? Joke about the Schreamsen ”. In: Kurier , March 1, 2015; Retrieved March 3, 2015.