Travelling around Austria with a Local - #016 Talk like a local: Hand shoes, shield toads, and the arse card

Weird words

Hi, servus - and welcome to my blog Travelling Around Austria with a Local!

I'm Theodora from Austria. Together with friends from abroad, I'm exploring my home country - and I talk about its beauty and its curiosities. In the sixteenth episode, I will give you another insight into our language. Let's get figurative!

Austrian German - is there a more figurative language?

I would say there probably isn't. In today's episode of Travelling Around Austria with a Local, I'm going to teach you 10 Austrian words you wouldn't believe existed. I'll let you guess what their meaning is - you'll find the translations of each word below. Have fun guessing and let me know in the comments if you got any of them right and if there are similar words in your native language.

Let's talk! Picture by Pixabay/suju

Can you guess what these words mean?

1. Hand shoe
2. Shield toad
3. Tear closure
4. With-knower
5. Secret counsellor's corners
6. Arse card
7. Johann's garden
8. Coal acid
9. House
10. Sky tractor

Alright, now it's time to guess - and scroll down! Let me know in the comments below how many of them you actually got right!
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1. Handschuh [hand-shoe] (hand shoes) = a glove. It's a shoe for hands!
2. Schildkröte [shilled-crow-tay] (shield toad) = turtle / tortoise / terrapin. We really don't see the difference. (Unless you're a biologist.)
3. Reißverschluss [rice-fair-shluss] (tear closure) = a zip fastener. Actually, many Austrians call it a "Zip".
4. Mitwisser [mit-wisser] (with-knower) = a confidant.
5. Geheimratsecken [gay-hime-rats-ugh-ayn] (secret counsellor's corners) = receding hairline, which is apparently often found in Geheimräten (a title for high-ranking officials, who were, typically, a little bit older and therefore more prone to have bald spots).
6. Oaschkoatn [wash-coat-en] (arse card) = bad luck. "Ich habe die Arschkarte gezogen." (I have drawn the arse card.) means that you have a lot of bad luck.
7. Schanigarten [shah-knee-garden] (Johann's garden) = Schani is an old Austrian abbreviation of Johann (or actually Jean, the French version of Johann). Even composer Johann Strauß was called Schani by his friends. Apparently, many waiters used to be called Schani. Hence the expression "Ich bin ja nicht dein Schani" (I am not your Schani), which you can use if someone asks you to do something and you really don't want to do it. Schanigarten is the name for the outdoor dining area of a restaurant.
8. Kohlensäure [coal-ayn-sire-eh] (coal acid) = carbon dioxide in drinks (and carbonic acid). Or, in other words: The bubbles in lemonades, beer, sparkling wine or mineral water. In some regions, you may be asked if you prefer to drink mineral water "mit oder ohne Kugerl" (with or without small balls). Don't worry, they are not perverts (well, not necessarily) - they just want to know whether you'd prefer sparkling or still water.
9. Heisl [high-sale] (house) = the toilet. This expression stems from the time when people still used outhouses. The term "Heisl" can also refer to a person - if you don't like him oder her too much. Or, in fact, also as a term of endearment among young male Austrians who want to be cool.
10. Himmeltraktor [him-ale-track-tore] (sky tractor) = a helicopter. Isn't Austrian German poetic?

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Are there any weird words in your native language? Did you guess the words right? Let me know in the comments below!