Few know what Corpus Christi means (Body of the Lord). Because everything is splendoured and emblazoned, this holiday is still called Pillory Day by some. Anyone who knows this word will also be able to do something with the shooter.
pillory day
When looking for a joint research date, a colleague recently wrote: “I don’t care if it’s also on the day of the pranga!” That was somehow heartwarming, because in the caste of editors and scribblers, time-honored words like Prangertag (synonymous with Corpus Christi) are hardly heard anymore. In the countryside, however, the word is still alive. “Anyone who wants to get to the bottom of Catholic Bavaria cannot avoid marching in a Corpus Christi procession,” wrote the cabaret artist Bruno Jonas. It is indeed an impressive splendor that is offered to the eye: the altars and figures adorned with flowers, the streets lined with birch trees, the houses decorated with red cloths. The Old High German word “fro” (Lord) leads to the meaning of Corpus Christi: “Body of the Lord”. But because not everyone knows that exactly, people in the country prefer to say Prangertag or Prangdog. Perhaps because the holy of holies is put on display (pillory). But maybe also because everything is emblazoned on this day: right down to the festively dressed procession participants. On the day of the pillory, girls used to get ready as they would for their wedding. They sprinkled beer in their hair so that it was pretty neat. When the pigtails were then combed through, some looked like little angels.
shooter
A story about the public prosecutor Jakob Schmidkonz was just to be read in the SZ. When it came to a rent reduction because of an allegedly crooked floor, Schmidkonz unpacked “the court murmur, vulgo: shots” at the on-site visit, as the article said. He gently placed the ball on the ground and it stayed there without rolling. The lawsuit because of the allegedly hanging floor was dismissed on site. The word “shot” has been supplanted by the marble. For older people, the shooter certainly brings back memories of childhood, when they dug a small hole and then tried to shoot the colorful glass and clay balls into it. In concreted landscapes it is impossible to build shooting lanes. In Franconia, the Schusser is called Märbel. This is because the bullets used to be made of marble and served a variety of purposes, sometimes even as cannonballs. But the shooters were especially popular as play equipment. In old Bavaria one also said Arwa.