This branch of the Austrian Hesch family is descended from Johann Hesch and his wife Marya (Schlinz) Hesch, who came to America from Oberschlagles, Bohemia with three sons: Paul, Mathias, and Anton. +++Johann & Marya settled in Buffalo County, Wisconsin but moved to Pierz, Mn in about 1885. .+++Mathias settled in Waumandee, Wisconsin and moved to Pierz in 1911. +++Anton never married but farmed with his dad in Agram Township, where he died in 1911.+++And Paul, my great grandfather, settled five miles away, in Buckman, Minnesota. He died there in 1900.

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Friday, January 28, 2011

More Childhood German

This week, I had more than one chance to use "German" words with clients, one of which came to mind out of the blue.  (I take care of old people so they can stay in their own homes).   This couple (C and B) grew up speaking German first, plus they farmed for much of their lives AND they used German the way my parents did--to keep stuff from the kids...lol
My company has us journal about what got done each time, and after the particulars, I wrote that of course we had time for "schnissing".  (That's the word that came to me as I was writing--wow!)  B said he wasn't familiar with the word, and I explained what I thought it meant: banter, with teasing and laughing.  I said it was a lot like "schputt" which means pulling someone's leg...?
He may have been schputting, but he didn't recognize that word either, he said.

SO, when I got home I emailed Anon, who speaks fluent German, and here's what he said:


"Schnisse is a dialect word meaning to chat, actually talk too much all the time from my recollection.  The other word I never heard of,  probably "spotten" with a German-American spelling according to its sound.  "Spotten"  means to pick on or tease in a kind fun-loving way". 


HURRAY!  That's exactly what those family words meant.  It's so clearly Hesch to use words that describe talking and teasing...lol


Go here, type in Spotten, and click the "Listen" button.


BTW, remember when you got a putch ?
Posted by Marlys Hesch Sebasky at 8:13 PM
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