BACKFISCH
Noun. Plural -e. L19.
[German, lit. 'fish for frying'.]
A girl in late adolescence, a teenage girl.
In Germany, backfisch is an old-fashioned term for a young girl that is no longer a child but isn't yet a woman. From talking to native Germans, it would seem that backfisch, in German at least, doesn't have a pejorative connotation; rather, it stresses her innocence, even naivety, and thus might even be considered quite flattering.
Good morning Eddie!
ReplyDeleteIt still sounds kind of derogatory to me. It conjures up the image of a man saying "goodbye sweetie, I have other backfisch to fry".
Guten morgen, Evi!
DeleteYes, I'm inclined to agree, which is why I was at pains to say it doesn't sound derogatory *in German*. Knowing its literal meaning, too, seems to give an almost predatory slant; this was one of the reasons I sought out the input of a German speaker to ask them: "How does this word sound in German? What kind of connotations does it have?" I would still be interested if any German speakers read this to hear more input on it. Personally, in English, I thought it was an interesting word, rather than a particularly nice one; I can't see myself using this any time soon : o )
In Dutch we have the equivalent, "bakvis", although it's more often used in the Netherlands than in Flanders. It's not completely derogatory, but it's not really a compliment either. I suppose it's more often used jokingly around here.
ReplyDeleteWe say 'small fry' in English, which is the closest expression I can think of, but it's not equivalent in meaning at all, as it means either children or something or someone insignificant ("Don't worry about him - he's just small fry around here.")
DeleteInteresting word and comments. But the picture...well... The word probably would have suited a real life picture of an angelically innocent young girl. Ah well! :)
ReplyDeleteIt's funny you should say that ... I actually had a lovely picture of my niece on standby, but in the end I decided I didn't like the word that much so chose the safe option: that of a German film called 'Backfisch'. I don't think there's any more appropriate picture than that : o )
DeleteI think a closer rendering would be "fish for baking" (from backen = to bake). Presumably they baked the littler fish since they didn't yield a nice filet. An awesome word!
ReplyDelete