Advent is actually a time associated with beautiful memories of snowy landscapes, baking cookies and the glow of candles. It’s just a shame that the commercial and secular Advent magic now begins at the beginning of November. That’s why many Advent wreaths and Christmas trees have been lighting up in the month of the dead, and the chocolate Santa Claus has been on the shelves since the end of August. As a result, Advent has lost some of its magic; too much is now vague.
However, Abfent is still reliably spoken of in the dialect. The fact that the “d” in the word Advent is smoothed into a “b” is explained by grammar using the technical term consonant alignment. This applies not only to Advent, but also in cases such as d’Frau (b’Frau), d’Fiass (b’Fiass) and d’Feierwehr (b’Feierwehr). Something similar can be observed with the adjective satisfied. This became zfrien and then bfriem. “If it stays like this, that’s fine,” many an old farmer’s wife still says today.
The term Abfent became famous thanks to the stage artist Gerhard Polt, whose program “Abfent, Abfent!” can also be heard on a CD. The word advocate, as lawyers were once called, also offers a nice example. The past shines in such terms. In the country they say about someone who speaks very cleverly: “He speaks like an idiot.”
Aungglasl
The author’s eyesight is also starting to weaken, which is why he has to stare so hard at the screen while writing and reading. “You need new eyes,” he regularly hears from well-meaning advisors. Aungglasl (eye glasses) is a beautiful, figurative, almost cozy-sounding dialect word for glasses.
Another clever synonym is the word Spektifi. “Times of Reign, where is my Spectifi?” This is how older people once complained, using a word that is derived from the term spotting scope and means small binoculars. In the rural dialect, such a device is still called Zuawaziaga or Zuaraziaga because it brings things close to the eye.