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  1. adiwan adiwan

    Working for a project in northern Germany. Every morning it begins with everyone greeting with "moin". It is not a abbreviation for "morning" but it is an old lower German word for "good" and "pleasant".

    about 8 days ago from web
    1. Scribus Scribus

      @adiwan Wait, "lower" German comes from the North??

      about 8 days ago from web
      1. adiwan adiwan

        @scribus East Frisea up to Hamburg is the main turf of lower German also called "Plattdeutsch" but it is also "common" up north along the coast of the North Sea. Some words are also heard in south Lower Saxony to the Harz mountains. I use sometimes "moin" because it is universally applicable at any time of day and it is short.

        about 8 days ago from web
      2. Matt Matt

        @scribus one time I was driving around Holland with a friend and his local friend. I commented on how flat everything was. Dutch dude mentions that we’re technically below sea level, then looks at me and goes, “Netherlands means ‘lower countries’”. I go, “but we’re in the north”. Nobody found it quite as funny as I did.

        about 8 days ago from web
        1. Scribus Scribus

          @zeldatra I guess it's an English language native thing?

          about 7 days ago from web
      3. adiwan adiwan

        @scribus Just to be clear: Lower German is not that common, however in casual conversation it has some foothold in everyday use, especially common expressions and traditional stuff like in food or handiwork or hunting. In comparison the Bavarian dialect is 20 times more common. It is not dead but there is definitely a dying trend. A local broadcaster has a one hour news block that uses lower German throughout.

        about 8 days ago from web
        1. Scribus Scribus

          @adiwan That actually is pretty interesting, language stuff is always a trip to me.

          about 7 days ago from web