After a year-and-a-half of writing the Daily Bonnet, my knowledge of Mennonite Low German continues to grow. I’ve got Herman Rempel’s dictionary, I’ve consulted various online resources, and I constantly pester my Plautdietsch-speaking friends for translation help. (Thanks Mark, Sam and Steve!) Still, even with all these resources at my disposal, there are a few words I’ve been unable to find a Plautdietsch translation for. Here are ten of them. Any help?

bellybutton – How do you scold your 20-year-old niece or your 60-year-old uncle for exposing their bellybuttons if you don’t know the word for it? I’d also like to know the words for “innie” and “outie.” Also: “beer belly.”

chopsticks – Personally I know of only about seven Mennonites who know how to use chopsticks and all them were

See Full Page