Dirndl or Poplin?
 

Which word do you prefer? Dirndl or Poplin? (Sorry--no context--which word do you prefer in and of itself.)

Well, a Bavarian lady dressed in her Dirndl could have made it with Poplin fabric, or bought it. Guess it would depend on who, or what, I was dressing up, or down.

In absolute terms, I enjoy the sound and look of the word dirndl. Poplin seems more predictable. But then I do German stuff, I'm acclimatized. I'm also quite fond of the word Lederhosen (oh and hey, I like Dirndl with an initial cap).

Cheers,
John

Everything depends on context.

I’d prefer to see
Dagmar in drindl
Than Poppins in poplin

Michael Cantor, won't you come play with the other kids? Which of the words do you like more?

Yes, it does seem that "Dirndl" is winning. I mean, wtf kind of word is that--four consonants in a row?

I see the word has its origin in a very unfortunate time in German history:

Dirndl:
1937, from German dialectal diminutive of dirne "girl" (in dirndlkleid "peasant dress"), from a diminutive of Middle High German dierne "maid," from Old High German thiorna, which is related to Old English þegn (see thane).

Hmm. Well, deutsche Tracht is making a comeback among the young these days, in Bavaria in particular. You also see it in the Munich Hofbraeuhaus where Hitler launched his putsch. I didn't know the word was coined in 1937; the outfits go back to the C19th as far as I know, if not earlier.

Cheers,
John

Uh-oh. "Dirndl" has suggested a correlation between resurgence of traditional dress and anti-immigrant sentiment. "Dirndl" seemed so innocent. Now I prefer "Poplin."

The correlation is certainly possible, but a) Germany remains about the most immigrant-friendly country in Europe and b) the place you most run into anti-immigrant and far-right activity in Germany today is in the former East Germany, for various reasons. Bavaria is in the West. We have a Kazakh family member who's been in Munich several years with no problems.

Cheers,
John

After more careful consideration I prefer Dirndl. I like its pronunciation for potential hillbilly love lyrics: Wear your derndl darling and we'll go a sparkin'. Leave your papal broadcloth hangin', Sugar; all that work is just a bugger-- Lover.

'Dirndl' for the sound.

'Poplin' reminds me of Mary Poppins, which goes neither in its favour or against it, except that as a sound it's closer to something I'm more familiar with, and I like 'dirndl' in part for the unfamiliarity of it.

"Dirndl" is back in the lead!

Aaron - you should have seen the one I didn't post. It was Trumpian in its ignorance and arrogance. But, if I must, I'll go with dinlin. Or maybe popdl. llinddinprop?

I'm voting for poplin as homey and humble. Dirndl may be homey for a small portion of humankind, but it's foreign at first blush--costume-y and affected.

My two cents, and worth about that much.

Maryann: "Dirndl may be homey for a small portion of humankind..."
Well, this argument might equally be applied to the term poplin. It depends on which small portion of humankind we're referring to. :-)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poplin

Cheers,
John

Which word do you prefer, Aaron, "thicket" or "blimp"?

Allen, I prefer the word "jumbo" to both.

I don't like any of these words. They're like "nuance." What kind of word is that? You don't know where you stand with a word like that. "Gesture"--that's a good word. Or "muslin."

Dirndl pretty much strikes out if one wants to place it in the rhyming position, whereas

The late Janis Joplin
Wore dresses of poplin.

I won't wear Dirndll
but Bob and Vern will

I saw a soldier in a dirndl,
authoritative like a colondel.

Frau Snarfenstein turned ill
and barfed on her dirndl.

I earned a little from my dirndl,
But I earned less in my red dress.

Somewhat randomly, here's a German tongue-twister or Zungenbrecher:

Es sprach der Herr von Rubenstein,
"Mein Hund, der ist nicht stubenrein."

Thus spake the Lord of Rubenstein,
"My dog is not housebroken."

John

"Zungenbrecher" is even better than "dirndl".

Yup, German has words. Weeds are Unkraut: "not cabbage."

I like the pairing Rubenstein-stubenrein.

Cheers,
John

"Dirndl," without doubt. Mostly, because it is associated with the term, "dirndl skirt," which has marvelous sound which I cannot help but hear, even when the "skirt" is not present.

J

Es sprach der Herr von Rubenstein,
"Mein Hund, der ist nicht stubenrein"
ist kein ,,Zungenbrecher'' bei mir. Es geht einfach am Zunge, und geht angenehm im Ohr.

"Dirndl" ist eppes pictorisch. Also: Dirndl, neh?

My favorite word in this thread is "Unkraut."

One could paraphrase Rilke:

Du musst dich Unkrauten.

You must un-cabbage yourself.

[Pls note I am not using Kraut as slang here, definitely not as ethnic epithet. This is for all ethnic groups, nationalities, etc.]

Another strange "not/un-..."-word is the Russian word for week, неделя (nedelya), literally "not working", because it originally referred only to Sunday, while Sunday, Воскресенье (Voskresn'ye) is "Resurrection (Day)" because it originally only referred to Easter Sunday.