What does it really mean?
Marc & Lynn
translation program spewed out 'Victory is intact' (that can't be right??),
but then I realized that I had no idea what this expression I had heard so
often really meant.
Thanks in advance.
M&L
Oliver Neukum
Something like: Hail to victory
Heil is hard to translate, salvation comes close.
HTH
Oliver Neukum
Robin Nittka
The 'Heil' is originally taken over from the Latin 'salve' for greetings,
which literally means 'Be healthy!'. Before WW II it had changed to an
abstract greeting like 'Hello', but more formal. The phrases 'Sieg Heil' and
'Heil Hitler' simply were connections of this not very common word and some
political ideas. And because of the hate against the '3. Reich' in the
following democratic republic 'Heil' was never used again in public.
Therefor you automatically associate 'Hitler', which wouldn't necessarily
have to be the case, when you look at that expression in its historical
context.
Christian Weisgerber
> What is the exact translation of 'Sieg Heil'? I was surprised when a
> translation program spewed out 'Victory is intact' (that can't be right??),
> but then I realized that I had no idea what this expression I had heard so
> often really meant.
Good question. Etymologically, it's cognate to English "hail!",
and their use as an interjection is somewhat similar.
I'd say from a modern speaker's perspective, "Heil" is a fixed part
of many greeting formulas, with an opaque meaning in itself. For
some examples without unpleasant historical connotations, cf.
"Weidmannsheil", "Petri Heil".
According to the Duden etymological dictionary, "Heil" has been
used in this way since Germanic times. It originally seems to have
meant something along the lines of "good omen, good luck, health".
"Heil" also means "salvation" in Christian contexts, e.g. "Heilsarmee"
for "Salvation Army", but that meaning isn't inherent in the
greetings.
--
Christian "naddy" Weisgerber na...@mips.rhein-neckar.de
anker...@my-deja.com
Others have discussed "Heil". Very similar to "hail"
in English. Used as hello; its origin relating to
good health obvious.
Sieg means win. In this context, I believe it refers
to political, not military victory. So, no more sinister
than the desire of any party to win the next election.
GFH
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Bjoern Zimmermann
anker...@my-deja.com schrieb:
> > What is the exact translation of 'Sieg Heil'?
>
> Others have discussed "Heil". Very similar to "hail"
> in English. Used as hello; its origin relating to
> good health obvious.
... and as a result of this I am wondering now whether "hi" is related
to "heil/hail" in any way...
MfG
Bjoern Zimmermann
Ralf Brune
> ... following democratic republic 'Heil' was never used again in
> public.
And what's about
Petri Heil
Berg Heil
Two expresions in more or less commom use?
Ralf
Robin Nittka
>
> Petri Heil
> Berg Heil
>
> Two expresions in more or less commom use?
More _less_ I would say. Maybe it's just my own problem, but I've never
heard that IRL. Sometimes in old movies, OK. And perhaps on modern TV (but
then it intended to be funny [which it wasn't]). But I admit that I'm too
young and that I'm not in the proper groups for being sure that nobody ever
uses that seriously.
And I don't want to start a discussion about this. I would like to consider
this mail as a compromise that I may be partly wrong. But after all, even if
it is used, it is common only by elderly people or in very rural regions.
Acceptable?
D. Edward Gund v. Brighoff
I rather doubt it. The OED ties it to 'hey'; the loss of the final /l/
between 'hail' and 'hey' is difficult to explain.
Several languages have similar short, attention-getting particles. (Con-
sider German 'hee!' and 'ey!' for a start.) I don't think any further ex-
planation is necessary.
--
Daniel "Da" von Brighoff /\ Dilettanten
(de...@midway.uchicago.edu) /__\ erhebt Euch
/____\ gegen die Kunst!
Kai Henningsen
> "Robin Nittka" <nit...@t-online.de> schrieb:
>
> >> And what's about
> >>
> >> Petri Heil
> >> Berg Heil
> >>
> >> Two expresions in more or less commom use?
> >
> >More _less_ I would say. Maybe it's just my own problem, but I've never
> >heard that IRL.
>
> .. and none of my aquaintances is an angler or a
> mountaineer.
>
> (It's how they say "hello" and "good-bye")
I don't remember hearing it in the mountains, though I've certainly read
it in mountaineering mags.
No idea about fishing.
Kai
--
http://www.westfalen.de/private/khms/
"... by God I *KNOW* what this network is for, and you can't have it."
- Russ Allbery (r...@stanford.edu)
north...@gmail.com
I am sure of at least one exception. Fisherman greeting one another traditionally say “Petri Heil” to one another, even today.
Helmut Richter
> “Heil is no longer used in Germany due to association with the 3rd Reich”??
>
> I am sure of at least one exception. Fisherman greeting one another traditionally say “Petri Heil” to one another, even today.
Berg Heil (alpinists, mountaineers), Ski Heil (skiers).
For me it sounds a bit outdated, at least the last two examples, but it is
not frowned upon because of alleged associations with the 3rd Reich.
“Heil!” alone as a greeting would certainly be regarded as Nazi.
The word “Heil” as such means salvation in a religious context (e.g.
Heilsarmee = Salvation Army), and good fortune in other contexts. It is an
archaism which, just like other archaisms, is conserved in figures of
speech, e.g.
sein Heil in der Flucht suchen
lit.: to seek one’s salvation in flight
transl.: to resort to flight
to betake oneself to flight
--
Helmut Richter