In parts of the United States where Pennsylvania German is spoken, the term schussel means “to wiggle” or “to fidget.” The German word schusselig means “hasty,” “clumsy,” or “sloppy,” and Schussel refers to a “scatterbrained person” or “dolt.” This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Pennsylvania German “Schussel” Means to Wiggle or Fidget, While German “Schussel” Is a Scatterbrained Person”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hello.
Hello, who is this?
This is Denise calling from Wisconsin.
Hello, Denise in Wisconsin.
I’ve lived here over 30 years now, but I was raised in South Central Pennsylvania.
I’ve used this word with my daughters while raising them. It’s shushly.
And the context is kind of kids being too hyper, like stop being so shushly.
And when they’ve in turn used it now as young adults in their work environment or friends, people look at them like, what are you talking about?
So we have this big argument or debate of whether this is a word or not.
And I was hoping you could help me.
I’m assuming it comes from some sort of Pennsylvania Dutch or German derivative.
Yes. That was all around me.
Yes. But please help me win this argument with my daughters.
Well, your instincts are spot on, Denise. It’s from Pennsylvania German, and that dialect is spoken in mainly Pennsylvania, but also some in Ohio and Indiana and a few other places.
But schusel means to rush or to do something in a quick way or a sloppy way.
And schusel can mean clumsy or, you know, fidgety.
Schusel in German is spelled S-C-H-U-S-S-E-L. That word means adult or a scatterbrain or somebody who’s clumsy.
And schuselig means hasty or clumsy or sloppy.
And that has evolved over time to also mean wiggly or fidgety.
So I was right. I’m right.
Yeah. Heck yeah.
Well, thank you so much. This has been an ongoing debate with my daughters.
And I’m like, I’m not crazy. This is a word.
It is a word. Denise, we’re high-fiving you from afar.
Yep. Take care.
Thank you. Bye-bye.
All right, you too. Bye-bye.
All right, bye-bye.
At least 100 years of that word being recorded in Pennsylvania Dutch, so that means it’s even older in this country.
There is a longer expression in modern German, eine Sprung in der Schöschlhaben, which means to be cracked in the bowl or the head, because there’s all these puns in German about Scheuss und Schuss.
So one means bowl and one means scatterbrained.
So they make puns about a cracked bowl and being scatterbrained and stuff.
Yeah. So there’s lots of different kind of wordplay happening there.
This is a multilingual country and this is a multilingual show.
Talk to us about the languages you speak.
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