i thought it was kinda like black farmer
Posted on 11/03/2013 1:06:33 PM PST by elengr
Schwarzenegger == "black Amish person"
This misinterpretation of the meaning of Governator Ah-nald’s name is commonly made by English speakers with a just enough knowledge of German to get into linguistic deep do-do, PC-wise. :)
Several theories exist about the etymology of Arnold’s surname, but before I go there, first note that in German, his surname linguistically breaks down to Schwarzen-Egger. The position of the glottal stop makes it completely impossible for the “n” to belong to the back half of the compound word.
Apparently, several decades ago, Arnold once told David Letterman that his name meant "black farmer" (I don't think his English was very refined back then - and how many people really know where their names come from?).
If his ancestors had hailed from northern Germany, “Egger” could possibly be a dialectal version of Acker, which loosely means field or acre(s) in a farming sense. Thus a similar English name might have started as “John of Blackacres” (referring to fertile land or just black soil). However, this usage apparently was unique to Prussia and the German north lands (and, of course, Arnold is Austrian).
“Egge,” meaning “harrow” (a plow-like farm tool used to break up the soil), also could be the name root, so Arnold’s ancestors might have been “black harrowers” (either referring to the type or color of the tool or the dirty appearance of the people - sort of like black coalminers). But, unlike Baker, Smith or Farmer (Bauer in German), harrowing was not a profession, being commonly done by all farmers, but only briefly on a seasonal basis. So this occupational name origin also is not very likely.
I lived for a time in Switzerland. “Egg” is common to place names there (I vaguely recall that there even is a Swiss village of Schwarzenegg). The farm dialects in Bavaria and Austria, though not as extreme, are similar to Swiss. I was told that Egg means Eck[e] - corner (or edge in a geographical sense), so Schwarzenegger could be one who comes from “black corner” as in coming from a village on the edge of a “black forest” or nestled up against a black soil ridge or dark cliffs on the edge of the Alps.
Anyway, this geographical name origin seems the most likely to me, that is, Schwarzenegger is just a serf or inhabitant who hails from the town or dominion of Schwarzenegg (a geographical description of place).
i thought it was kinda like black farmer
Finally, an explanation of the highly implausible TV show, “Vanilla Ice Goes Amish.”
It's like a hyphenated surname.
Are you really?
Majestic!
Welcome to Free Republic.
Dark-haired ploughman.
Finally, I will be able to sleep the sweet dreamless sleep of the enlightened! Bless you!
"Dark-haired ploughman."I like it. -- I'll be bahhck.
i thought it was kinda like black farmer
I always thought it meant prevaricating RINO, Kennedy wanna be, at least that is the definition his actions wrote.
The schwartz is strong with this one.
that too...
Interesting article in a way but in another sense, who cares? I guess that some leftist think that the sins of past generations are passed to the children and grandchildren or that appears to be what the term “White Privilege means but I don’t.
My last name technically means “Son of a Friar” which is odd in that friars are supposed to be celibate. Maybe that is an unconscious psychological reason that I’m not a Catholic but somehow I don’t think so.
Family names are oddly done in the West in that very few Smith’s. Baker’s, Wheelwright’s, or Patterson’s, Johnson’s and and Miller’s actually are those things or members of that occupation though I guess most Walker’s do walk. I think this comes from the late Roman Empire which had instituted sort of a cast system or perhaps the Doomsday Book in England though that is speculation.
In China the Family names delineate a clan or family rather than an occupation. There were fewer clans than occupations so there are very family names, especially when you realize that Chan, Chen, Chin, Ching and Chang can all be the same word in Chinese just pronounced differently as are Wong, Wang, Won and Pan, Ping, Poon.
Anyway, it was an interesting read.
An appropriate moniker for a politician, eh?
the Egg is the plow; the Egger the plowman.
Schwartz not to the person, but to the plow.
SchwartzenEgg er
a plowman who uses a black plow
a forged plow
IMHO
It means ‘black plowman.’
Arnold “From the Black forest” seems to make sense as far as a european surname goes.
>> An appropriate moniker for a politician, eh?
“You FIELDMUCKER!” Yeah, kinda rolls off the tongue.
But field mucking, unlike politics, is honest necessary work. I don’t think I’ll disparage field muckers by associating their name with politicians.
That’s a nice field mucking rig, by the way; probably cost as much as my house. :-)
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