There are synonyms for crying in Bavarian that go back to Old High German. Moaning, for example, a word that is also in the name Maundy Thursday.
whining
The musician Stefan Dettl told the radio a few days ago, his band La Brass Banda once played in a yoga class. “Very calm, meditative, beautiful brass sounds,” he said. Soon people would have been crying and letting go of emotions, “and then we’ll have aa mitgread!” he admitted. A touching story that also contains a linguistic treat. Namely the wondrous participle gread, which Dettl pulled out of the depths of the dialect. It may come from the verb to rear, which is sometimes used in place of crying. From an Easter point of view, however, one could also use the verb groin, which is also known as a synonym for crying. Many poets have used it. In Lena Christ’s “Lausdirndl Stories” one can read, for example: “Grandfather! What are you whining about?” Oskar Maria Graf also adorned his novel “My Mother’s Life” with it: “Let her whine and squabble!” Groinen probably goes back to the Middle High German grinen (pucker your mouth, cry). Maundy Thursday, which is just around the corner, also has the word groan in it. Although green herbs play a central role on this day, the day still owes its name to the old verb to whimper. It is a day of weeping and mourning, which is why organ sounds and bells stop ringing on Maundy Thursday.
water boats
Recently, this column was about the water level. Several readers also pointed out that the Grandl integrated in the cooker was also called Schifferl or Wasserschifferl. Richard Unterauer raved about the fact that this boat always provided hot water during the cooking time. However, the minerals contained there were deposited on the walls, which is why the stagnant water became softer and softer. “That’s why it was said of stale beer that it tasted empty like a Grandlwasser,” wrote Unterauer.