Waschlappen

Nobody can beat Wikipedia with the preciseness of the description of this one: "Ein Waschlappen, regional auch Seiflappen, ist ein mehr als handtellergroßes Textilstück zur Körperpflege. Er ist oft als Waschhandschuh in rechteckiger Form gestaltet, in den eine Hand hineinschlüpfen kann. Das Material ist unterschiedlich, doch wird baumwollhaltiges Frottee bevorzugt benutzt. Abgesehen von der Alten- und Krankenpflege werden Waschlappen heute nur noch selten verwendet..." - together with an excellent picture:

The Google translation for this text is even better: "A washcloth, Seiflappen even regionally, is a more than palm-large textile pieces to personal hygiene. He is often referred to as washing glove in rectangular shape into which a hand can hineinschlüpfen. The material is different, but is preferably used baumwollhaltiges terry. Apart from the elderly and nursing washcloth are today only rarely used"

Now, there you see a couple of interesting facts: I thought that it must be only me, who has never heard Seiflappen before; but as Google does not know about it, that word simply cannot exist!

Also, that Google refers to the Waschlappen as "He" is quite telling: This great tool I grew up with is in fact a male noun! Google really knows everything - this is a new breeding ground for conspiracy theories. But as this is not the purpose of the Blog, I will skip on that.

I will make a note about "hinenschlüpfen" oder the much better, because Austrian, version "einischliafn" and explain this in another post.


So, but we still did not come to the "Austrianity" about this word; I don't want to leave the impression, that this tool is nowhere used for hygienic purposes except in Austrian. Yes, it is still used here, but not only to wash. It is also used for education! Not directly, but figuratively. There is no man who did not hear that sentence when he was younger: "Bist a Bua oda a Woschloppn!?".

I guess this great sentence has made us what we are. I mean, just look at Arnold Schwarzenegger! This is how we all look here. Because clearly, we are "kane Woschloppn"